Review by Booklist Review
In the latest in Ashenden's Nine Circles series, Temple Cross, an assassin-for-hire, is looking for nothing more than revenge. She wants to take out the man responsible for the loss of her sister, Thalia, seven years ago to a vicious sex-trafficking ring. To accomplish this, Temple signs what might be her most dangerous contract yet. Jericho, the billionaire behind the trafficking ring, is growing increasingly wary of the double life he has been leading. He is actually Theo Fitzgerald, and only a select few know that he is working to destroy the criminal syndicate his father built. Temple becomes part of his network in order to fulfill her contract, but as she spends time with Jericho, she finds that they may have more in common than she could have imagined. Temple and Jericho are complex characters who need to find their lines in the sand. Fueled by sex and desperation, their story careens towards an explosive ending. It's said that revenge is best served cold, but Ashenden serves it up hot with a side of sexy alpha male.--Lefkowitz, Ilene Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The intense fifth and final Nine Circles erotic contemporary (after Kidnapped by the Billionaire), which crisscrosses the underworlds of Paris and New York, showcases Ashenden's talent for creating fascinating, morally gray characters. For 16 years, billionaire Theodore Fitzgerald has consolidated power as crime lord Jericho with the goal of smashing his father's criminal enterprise. Assassin Temple Cross has a contract from the Nine Circles to kill Jericho, but she discovers the part of Theo that hasn't been corrupted by years of evil. Theo, a sexy hero with a tortured past, is a sizzling match for Temple, who has her own demons. Neither of them is interested in candy hearts or soft music; their affair is dark, explosive, and gritty, with a splash of dominance. Ashenden is brilliant at crafting complex characters, and she interweaves sensuality with suspense as Theo and Temple both reach past their criminal lives for that sliver of redemption. The love story is as intensely captivating and compelling as the previous ones in the series, and Ashenden provides fans with a tremendously satisfying conclusion that ties up all loose ends. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An assassin is hired to take out a notorious crime lord, but she finds herself caught in a web of desire and uncertainty when it turns out that the infamous villain just might be a hero. Seven years after her sister disappeared into the horrifying maze of a sex-trafficking ring run by an enigmatic man known as Jericho, assassin Temple Cross has been hired to kill him. It's a job she's pleased to accept, and she hopes to find out what happened to Thalia before he takes his last breath. Allowing herself to be caught in the slave trade gives her the opportunity to get up close and personal with Jericho, who's movie-star handsome and so sexually compelling it takes her breath away. Even more surprising, their incendiary attraction to each other keeps them both alive long enough to create an odd sympathy between them that leads to the realization that neither is what they seem, and beneath their cruel reputations and emotional armor, they are both righteous warriors whose missions have led them down questionable paths. After Temple learns the truth about what happened to her sisterand Jerichos role in her fateshe begins to dig deeper into his secrets, and as she becomes aware of the dangerous game hes playing, shes more worried about his survival than fulfilling her contract to see him dead. Jerichos many enemies are closing in, and just when Temple begins to believe in redemption, time may run out on their chance for a happy ending. Theres no question that Ashenden has a knack for redemptive characters, pulse-pounding conflict, and a roller-coaster plot, though the occasional slipped detail or not-quite-believable element pulls us out of the story here and there. The book dances on a dark edge and frolics in naughtiness but is mostly a hot "villains redeemed" fantasy romp. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
