The Hit (Team Zulu 1) by Julie Weaver-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 3, 2021

He’s her one chance for survival.
She’s his last hope for salvation.

Former member of Team Zulu, a clandestine black operations unit, Elias “Shep” Shepherd believes the only use he has nowadays is taking out human scum on home soil. After years of harrowing military deployments, the one place he finds peace is at his remote Appalachian Mountain cabin, far from civilians and the world he doesn’t fit in anymore.

When Shep accepts a Mafia contract, he doesn’t expect his mark to be a woman, or the sexiest thing in grease-stained overalls he’s ever laid eyes on. She stirs something inside Shep’s battle-hardened heart. Despite the risks, he’ll do whatever it takes to protect her, even if it means breaking his no visitors rule at the cabin.

Muscle car mechanic Cameron McKenzie only needs one look at the towering wall of muscle who’s abducted her to know he’s a killing machine. Too bad for him, she’s not going down without a fight. Hidden away in his isolated mountain home, Cameron is reluctant to admit Shep might not be the heartless beast she thought he was. And as their mutual trust builds, so too does an intense attraction for her unlikely savior.

If the Mafia discovers Cameron is still alive, Shep will need every one of his elite skills to keep them both safe. Although he’s no longer sure which is more dangerous—The Mob’s demand for merciless retribution, or the woman who makes him wish he was worthy of her love.

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REVIEW:THE HIT is the first full-length instalment in Julie Weaver’s contemporary, adult TEAM ZULU romantic suspense series focusing on the former members of an undrcover Black Ops Unit known as Team Zulu. This is thirty-six year old, former US Special Forces soldier Elias ‘Shep’ Shepherd, and twenty-seven year old, auto mechanic Cameron McKenzie’s story line.

WARNING: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be trigger for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Shep and Cam) THE HIT follows in the wake of a contract kill against our story line heroine. Cameron McKenzie’s brother stole from the mob, and Cameron is about to pay for her brother’s sins. Hitman Elias ‘Shep’ Shepherd, doesn’t kill woman and children, having lived through fifteen years of service in the Middle East. His latest target is Cameron McKenzie, the woman with whom Shep would fall in love. On the run together, trying to stay one step ahead of the Mafia, Shep and Cam find themselves playing house but someone ratted out our couple, and Cam finds herself facing the possibility of losing everyone she loves. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Shep and Cam, and the potential fall-out as their time together comes to a close.

Cameron McKenzie is a feisty, sassy, no nonsense heroine who tries everything to free herself from her sexy captor. Cam has always known her brother was trouble but his latest act of defiance finds our heroine with a target on her back but when hitman for hire Elias ‘Shep’ Shepherd takes Cameron hostage, she has no idea that time spent together meant losing her heart to a killing machine. Hoping to get the woman with whom he is falling in love to safety, Shep calls in a favor, a favor that is about to expose our couple to their possible demise.

The relationship between Cameron and Shep is an enemies to lovers; a contracted hit against our story line heroine, one in which our assassin grows a conscience in the face of killing a woman who has done nothing wrong. On the run in the Appalachian mountains, Cameron and Shep’s relationship ups to the next level, but Shep knows their time together will eventually come to a close. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Cameron’s embattled brother Justin, and her boss Tom; Team Zulu members -former US Navy Seal Kane Daniels, and Brandon aka Ben. The requisite evil has many faces including Mafia boss Franky Russo. Brandon and Sage’s story line is next.

THE HIT is a story of betrayal and revenge, family and friendships, acceptance and love. The fast paced, action packed premise is edgy and intense; the romance is provocative and intimate; the characters are energetic, and impassioned.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy