Top-Secret Bride

Mission: Impassioned #3

by Nina Bruhns

Lazlo Group agent Witt von Kreus had spent his life battling injustice. But his purpose was suddenly lost in the heated caress of a woman he'd just met—Marina Bond. She was an SIS agent, involved in a dangerous undercover op that seemed to lead back to the Lazlo Group. Once their kiss ended and the bullets started to fly, Witt knew the only way to protect Marina and her mission was to keep her close... bound to him... with a ring.

Genres: Romantic Suspense, Silhouette

241 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

New York Times and USA Today best selling author Nina Bruhns is an avid world traveler and adventurer with two graduate degrees in archaeology -- all great fodder for her stories, giving them broad dimension, vivid settings and characters that are out of the ordinary. In addition to hitting both the NY Times and USA Today bestseller lists, her novels have earned two RITA nominations, and won numerous other awards, including three prestigious Daphne du Maurier Awards of Excellence for Overall Best Mystery Suspense Novel of the Year, five Dorothy Parker Awards, several RT BookClub Awards and a National Readers Choice Award.

A native of Canada, Nina grew up in California and currently resides in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina.

Reviews

[Dina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my 1st book by Nina Bruhns, and it was a very good one. As a romantic suspense, it had the right balance between romance and suspense, with some fast paced thrilling scenes as a bonus, just the way I like it.

While working undercover at a jewelry boutique in Paris, SIS (British Secret Intelligence Service aka MI6) agent Marina Bond - no James Bond jokes, please - overhears a phone conversation about some kind of threat against the Lazlo Group, one of the most elite private investigation agencies in the world. Corbett Lazlo, the head of the Lazlo Group, is a friend of her father and saved her life once, so she feels obligated to return the "favor" and warn him about what she's heard. So she sets up a secret meeting with him in a seedy hotel in the Monmartre district so she can give him the heads-up. But it isn't Lazlo who shows up at her hotel room door...

DeWitt von Kreus is one of Lazlo's agents and was sent to the meeting in his boss' place because the man himself couldn't make it. But Marina has been in the spy business for too long to trust Witt blindly and, out of the blue, invokes the so-called "Denmark protocol", an old-school safety measure that requires Witt to strip naked to prove he's not wired. Obviously, Witt invokes the protocol in return. Uh-oh. Marina isn't shy and has nothing to hide, and neither does Witt. So strip naked they do... and the attraction between them is explosive and unmistakable.

Marina takes a deep breath - after all, she's a professional - and manages to control her libido long enough to give Witt the info she's gathered, all the while intending to leave as soon as possible before she gives in to temptation and jumps his bones. But he has other plans, and when she tries to leave the hotel room, they end up having wild, hot sex against the door. Wow, that was fast! ;) Witt wants to see her again but Marina doesn't do casual sex - what happened in the hotel room was just a fluke - and knows he isn't up to a long-term relationship, so she's ready to dismiss him the moment they step out of the hotel and get back to their separate jobs.

But then someone starts shooting at them, and Witt decides to stick to Marina like glue until they find out what's happening. Who's the shooter after, Witt or Marina? Is the attack related to the threats against the Lazlo Group? Or has it something to do with the undercover operation Marina's working at the moment? While they work together to try and solve these mysteries, the initial attraction between Witt and Marina grows and they soon find themselves falling in love.

This was a very entertaining and edgy read, full of action from beginning to end. Bullets started flying in the 1st Chapter and only stopped in the last. Witt was one very sexy hero, marriage-shy due to a traumatic event that happened when he was only a teenager growing up in South Africa, and he had more than a professional interest in bringing down the Angolan broker who worked for several African terrorist groups, trafficking illegal conflict diamonds in exchange for firearms. Marina didn't have a "tortured" past but she loved her job and, based on her parents' experience, she didn't think it would be possible to have a lasting relationship with anyone and keep her job at the same time. Witt and Marina had some rough spots along the way - he really had to work on his protective instinct and accept the fact that she was a competent agent and could take care of herself - but they were good to and with each other.

As mentioned before, this book had an "instant coupling" scenario. It takes a good writer to make me buy that, and I'm happy to say Ms. Bruhns made it work for me. She built the sexual tension in those 1st pages in a very believable way, so when Witt and Marina acted on their attraction so fast and furious, it was hot instead of icky. Plus, Ms. Bruhns didn't have Witt and Marina thinking they were in love with each other immediately after "the deed", so kudos to her.

The ending was a bit frustrating because not all the mysteries were solved. I should have expected that considering this book is part of a miniseries, but I only found that out after I finished it and was left hanging in the air. Anyway, I'm not holding it against the book, since that's how it was supposed to be. All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book.

Note: Top-Secret Bride is the 3rd installment in the multi-author miniseries Mission: Impassioned. I didn't know that beforehand, or I would have tried to find and read the previous books before reading this one. Anyway, I didn't feel lost in the story, so it's fair to say you don't have to read this series in order - except for the last one, I'm guessing. As a rule, I'm not a big fan of multi-author series because the stories can be a bit uneven and I don't necessarily like the writing style of all the authors engaged in the series, but I'll have to find and read the last book, Lazlo's Last Stand by Kathleen Creighton, if I want to know who the master villain of the overall story arc is. Oh well, I might as well try and find all the other books in the series since I enjoyed this one so much...

[Mojca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Working undercover in a jewelry store, Marina Bond, with the SIS, overhears a suspicious phone conversation about the man who once saved her life, Corbett Lazlo. She immediately contacts him, requesting a meeting, but he sends one of his top agents, DeWitt von Kreus instead.

Inside the hotel room, a rather flustered Marina invokes the Denmark protocol, he invokes it as well, and the two end up having their conversation naked. Unfortunately being naked inside a hotel room with a South African stud-muffin quickly leads to things that don't require much conversation, but when she decides to leave without even considering Witt's demand to see her again, he follows and someone shoots at them in front of the hotel.

Witt's protective instincts (coupled with a severe case of lust) kick in and he soon horns into her operation. Now they must work together to uncover just who wants one of them dead, the mole inside SIS, and bring to justice an Angolan crime lord trafficking in blood diamonds. All the while without constantly jumping each other's bones and risking their hearts in the process. Tough gig.

I don't believe in God, but let me take a moment....Thank you Lord! Hallelujah!...Moment over.

I was truly beginning to despair, but lucky I have the wonderful Nina Bruhns to thank for putting me out of my misery.

This story had it (almost) all. The plot was great and perfectly (compared to the first two in the series) executed, I loved the style, the pacing...Everything.

The characters came alive for me. Finally! Marina with her tough-as-nails attitude but so scared deep inside, DeWitt with his devilish charm that hid the deep emotional scars from his past. What is there not to love about these two? Well, maybe the lack of communication, but we can't have it all, can we? The man has to be a little thick (chicks aren't mind readers, you know) and the girl has to be a bit too insecure so she runs from him, and realizes her mistake when it's almost too late, but then a light bulb light up above the the guy's thick head and he swoops in and saves the day.
They were perfect together, you could see where they were headed, despite their stubbornness, and the wait (though painful at times) was worth it.
My favorite part of their story? When he was high and loopy from the painkillers in the hospital. Awww.

This wasn't as suspenseful as it could've been, but the pace certainly didn't suffer for the lack of it. I missed the Dumont (DuMond) family from the first two books, though. Yes, the villain was obscurely connected to them, but the total lack of appearance kinda bugged me, while still keeping me at the edge of my seat wondering just how deeply they are connected to everything going on and what they might plot next.

A great read that restored my faith in the rest of the miniseries. Lazlo's story couldn't come soon enough.

[Nina Bruhns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mission Impassioned! book 4

Her name is Bond…
Marina Bond
Of course she’s a spy.
But is he the enemy…or her future?

Marina Bond is a British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS—also known as MI6) agent, currently on an undercover operation targeting a cartel which traffics African conflict diamonds for illegal arms. Marina has no time for love, and even if she did, she has no desire to repeat the heartbreak of her divorced parents. She is practical enough, however, to know a girl occasionally needs a good man. And she certainly knows a good man when she sees one.

Dewitt von Kreus is an expatriate South African who left his homeland after helping Nelson Mandela’s rebels bring down Apartheid rule. He currently works for the enigmatic LAZLO GROUP as their Information Retrieval Specialist (read: interrogator). Because of his iffy occupation and his turbulent past, Witt has too many emotional scars to let himself fall in love. But when a sexy SIS agent invokes the outdated but highly provocative “Denmark Protocol” at a top-secret meet, he likes what he sees, and can’t resist taking it–her–for himself.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is why I read this book.. When I read this in a review of the books I just couldnt resist. Plus I like Nina Bruhns. Both Hero (Witt) and the Heroine (Marina) are spies.. She found out information that she needs to tell Witt's boss. She expects the boss to show up at the meet at the hotel room and instead he has sent one of his guys - Witt.. S000..
Marina invokes the so-called "Denmark protocol", an old-school safety measure that requires Witt to strip naked to prove he's not wired. SO he in turn invokes the protocol in return... That line there is what made me intrigued enough to purchase.. Will it you???

[T.M. Carper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another Lazlo Group adventure. More romance than suspense, but Witt and Marina are strong characters. Marina's a woman in a man's world of espionage and has never had an op like this. Witt wants to protect her and coddle her, even though he's injured. Together they have to learn to trust each other and work together as a team in order to survive and find out who is targeting one of them.



A quick, light read.

[Mom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really fast read, lots of excitement.