Secret Enemy

Secret Enemy by Katie Reus is suspenseful and romantic, as any romantic suspense should be. However, this novel has that “something extra” beyond a rugged male protagonist who is protective and a female protagonist who has moments of insecurity, but when deeds require it, she comes out strong and fighting.

Lyosha brings in a stray cat to an animal shelter where he meets Mila, a volunteer, and they quickly become friends. He works for Red Stone Security and is their security lead. Mila has finished her degrees in marketing and design and starts work at the same company. However, they are keeping it to a “friends-only” relationship. When a threat from his past walks into their lives and threatens Mila, their lives change in multiple ways.

There was a lot more character development in this book for them than I expected. Lyosha and Mila are very different characters, but each is well-developed revealing both their tough sides and their flaws. I got a good sense of what they enjoyed when they were relaxing as well as how they handled threats and what their vulnerabilities were. The supporting characters of Mila’s family and Lyosha’s friends and co-workers had the right amount of depth for their roles.

This book is set in Miami, Florida and is exactly what you would expect from a well-written romantic suspense novel, with plenty of concern over how to protect someone, working to determine who is threatening them, and just the right amount of friendship and romance. The one thing that I felt was somewhat missing was a strong sense of Miami. This could have taken place in almost any city.

There is a twist to the story that adds another dimension. Suspense and action abound. Steamy scenes don’t come into play until about two-thirds of the way through the book so there isn’t the instant love that so many authors overuse. Themes include threats, family, friendship, attraction, protectiveness, kindness, jealousy, romance, and revenge.

Overall, this book was suspenseful, riveting, fast-paced, and action-oriented. If you enjoy action thrillers that have both strong male and female characters, then this may be the series for you.

This exhilarating novel is the sixteenth in the Red Stone Security series, but it reads well as a standalone. This is the second book that I have read by this author and I can’t wait to find out what is next in this series as well as go back and read the earlier books.

Author Collection 20 – KR Press, LLC and Katie Reus provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for June 22, 2021.