Compelled to join an operation by an admiral with a personal agenda, Lieutenant Kyle “Mikey” Hammond finds himself thrust into the harsh desert terrain of northern Pakistan. Four American engineers have been kidnapped, and Kyle is tasked to work with Samantha, a civilian authority on Pakistan, whose expertise in terrorist negotiations is the hostages’ only hope. However, this is just one part of Kyle’s assignment. He’s also operating off a set of top-secret orders that could ruin his military career.
From the outset, Samantha’s negotiations with the terrorists walk the sharp edge between life and death. But she is an expert at such shrewd tactics…tactics that soon begin to mirror her personal dealings with the enigmatic Navy lieutenant. Determined to unearth the true Kyle, Samantha engages in a cat-and-mouse game with him that ends up peeling away some of her own carefully concealed layers. Once both their masks are lowered, love blossoms between them. But when the daring hostage rescue finally gets underway, a horrifying accident nearly shatters everything they’ve worked to attain. Their survival will hinge on the strength of their love…and if the man she’s certain can save the day will become the hero he’s convinced he’s not.
Content warning: contains profanity and adult situations.
“Dammit.” Kyle moved over to Samantha's cot and sat down. “I hate doing
nothing.”
“Me, too.” She picked up a small, locally made purse off the top of
Kitty’s bookshelf and ran her thumb over the colorful Sindhi patchwork design.
“But we don’t have a choice. It’s out of our hands.”
Kyle hefted a large breath and glanced outside the tent door. “Nothing to
do around this Deliveranceville aid station, either,” he mused. “I never
thought I’d get a hankering for a steel beach barbeque.”
She laid the purse down. “What’s a steel beach barbeque?”
“It’s a like a picnic we have sometimes on the ship while we’re underway,”
he said, bringing his attention back to her. “We clear the flight deck and put
out barbeques, cook up dogs and burgers, maybe set up a basketball hoop in the
hangar.”
She smiled. She could imagine Kyle doing all of that. Maybe in a pair of
shorts…? “Sounds like a kick.”
He shrugged. “Kills time when we’re not working.”
“I think there’s a movie tonight in the mess tent,” she offered.
“Eleven hours from now,” he complained.
She grabbed a deck of playing cards off Kitty’s second shelf and held it
up. “We could play cards.”
Kyle glanced at the cards, then his gaze moved up to her face, holding
there for two beats before slipping to meander down her body. One corner of his
mouth lifted. “I think I’ve got a better way to chase off some boredom.” He
languidly stretched out on her bed, crossing his legs at the ankles and folding
his hands behind his head. The pose displayed a set of wide lats and his
beautifully formed biceps to perfection. Not to mention that his crossed legs
bunched up the sizable bulge at his crotch. “Let’s have sex.”
She hiked a single brow at him as she lay down the card deck. “Because
you’re bored?”
“Because it’s fun,” he countered, his voice softening to a velvety rasp, a
teasing light dancing into his eyes.
Hello. The seductive predator from the Jebel Ali Club was back.
She sighed to herself. This time, however, she knew what waited for her on the
other end of Kyle’s charm. How to let him down easily…? She ran her
fingers through her bangs as she considered options. She was a firm believer in
truth-telling, but she didn’t want to hurt Kyle’s feelings with an outright, No,
thank you, it wasn’t enjoyable for me statement. Because beneath this
smooth operator, she’d discovered a man with a lot of heart. I seem to be
making a nasty habit of killing people on deployments. She’d never forget
the hurt confusion she’d seen flicker over his expression when he’d said that.
He grinned. “You’re not going to start playing shy on me now, are you?”
“No. Just…”
His grin turned into a knowing chuckle.
Oh, boy. “I’m just not a casual hookup woman, Kyle. I’d never had
a one-night stand before you, so…” She broke off. Drat. She hadn’t
wanted to spill that.
“You are trying to play shy,” he said, his words interwoven with
continued laughter. “Look, honey, I know you had a good time with me.”
Er…
“A guy can tell these things, especially a man like me whose equipment
is…hmm, how shall I put it?” His hands whipped out from behind his head and he
shot up onto his elbows, his eyes narrowing down to tight slits.
“What the hell??”
She startled. “What?” Talk about a sudden mood change. “What’s what
the hell?”
“You did something with your mouth.”
I did? “My mouth?” What had she done?
“You grimaced.”
“I…”
He swung up to a sitting position, his boots hitting the floor with a
solid wump. “Did I hurt you?”
Mayday, mayday. Hard collision with his male ego imminent. “No.
It was, uh, a little uncomfortable at first, but then—hey!”
He’d just slammed to his feet, his eyes on fire with a mixture of
emotions. Pissed off was a prominent one, but she was reasonably sure she also
saw mortified in there.
Another great book by Tracy
Tappan. As I said before (many times) I
love military romance so there is no doubt that I love Allied Operations.
This book grabbed me from the
very start. It gutted me when this man (Kyle)
found that a former girlfriend (one he continually returns to) kept secrets
from him. Knowing they were not good for
each other Kyle continually falls into old habits.
Allied Operations focuses on Lieutenant
Kyle “Mikey” Hammond. Mikey meets Samantha
"Max" Dougin when they are both looking for a hook-up before starting a
mission. Samantha, not Sam, vowed to
sleep with the next man who walks in the bar.
She didn’t take the next one or the next one after that but waits for
Kyle to walk in. He has all the physical
qualities she was looking for in a casual hook up.
Lo and behold and imagine Samantha’s surprise the next day when she finds out her casual hook-up is the Lieutenant that she will be working with on their operation. This isn’t what she expects or wants but she would do her job.
Tracy Tappan knows how to
write. It is obvious from the beginning
that she is very familiar with the subject matter. Her character development is everything you
want in a good story. These two
characters are complex and it takes a while to really understand them as their many layers of protection are peeled away.
The way Ms. Tappan unfolds the
story is spot on. I’m not at all
surprised that I loved Allied Operations but I am amazed and impressed by the
emotional depth and intensity of the story.
There is not a shadow of the doubt that the military scenes are very
real events that happen in real life.
(The author does reveal that this book is based on real life events and
is very personal.)
You will go
through every possible emotion and then some while reading.
I laughed, cried, held my breath, cried again, and loved these
characters to pieces. What a great
read. My only criticism if you want to call it that, is the first
couple chapters confused me because of flashbacks. I’m sure this is completely on me because the
time frame is clearly noted at the beginning of the chapter. I just flipped back a couple times to make
sure I understand the timeline of events.
Tracy created an amazing story
that has everything a lover of military romance could possibly want including
new beginnings, self-discovery, and romance. It
works perfectly and now I will download some of her other books while I wait
for the next book in the series Man Down.
4.5 STAMPS
Tracy is the bestselling and award-winning author of gritty romance,
her books spanning genres across paranormal (The Community series),
military romantic suspense (The Wings of Gold series), and medieval
historical (The Baron’s War trilogy). During nearly twenty-five years
spent as a naval aviator’s wife, she lived all over the United States
and in Europe, enjoying seven years overseas in the diplomatic
community, first in Rome then in Madrid, until she settled back in San
Diego. Tracy holds a master’s degree in Marriage, Family, and Child
Counseling (MFCC), loves to play tennis, is a volunteer puppy raiser
for Guide Dogs for the Blind, and enjoys a good glass of wine.
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