Hold On Tight [Kindle Edition]

Chris's story is the finale of Stephanie Tyler's "Hard To Hold" trilogy and I loved this book and the trilogy so much I was sorry when it ended. I have to admit to being a little bias about this novel because I had a thing for Chris Waldron right from the beginning when he was introduced in "Hard To Hold". As his character was developed and integrated into the plot of "Too Hot To Hold", I new he would likely become my favorite. There is the fact certainly that I am attracted to heroes with a New Orleans drawl, but there is far more to Chief Petty Officer Chris Waldron then just an accent. He is the SEAL team's sniper and therefore focused and lethal, however he is also their medic, is sensitive and very intuitive, he in fact has a psychic gift. Chris is like a force of nature, he ia driven, charismatic and has a special way with women, a "magic touch" as it were, likely related to his `gift' which he never really wanted or appreciated.

FBI Agent Jamie Michaels is a complex heroine, raised in witness protection under the US Marshal's jurisdiction she built a thick wall around herself, sharing the secrets of her family with no one. Jamie met Chris as part of a romance/suspense subplot in "Too Hot To Hold", and their sexual chemistry and attraction was instantaneous and undeniable. In a downed plane, surrounded by danger and under the worst of circumstances they became intimate. Chris wanted to be with Jamie, but she wasn't ready to make any sort of commitment so at the end of the day, she let him walk away.

As the synopsis of "Hold On Tight" indicates Chris and Jamie are thrown back together following the dismal failure of a high stakes mission in Africa. Chris and other SEAL teammates were part of a Joint Task Force, the leader of the mission, an FBI agent `Josiah' is killed during a chaotic riot outside an embassy. In addition, Chris's friend and teammate Mark is tortured and killed by the rebels. It was a horrific mission marked by tragedy and loss as only Chris and one other SEAL escape. Chris wakes up in a military hospital in Africa wounded both physically and emotionally.

Jamie Michaels is the FBI Agent assigned to investigate the circumstances surrounding Josiah's death. Following an initial investigation into what happened Chris is suspected of killing Josiah for a variety of reasons. It is under these unfortunate and unlikely circumstances that Chris Waldron and Jamie Michaels are forced back together and while she particularly is reluctant to get involved with him again, neither can deny their feelings, or attraction.

Upon their return to the United States, Jamie's past comes back to haunt her, there is a break in at her home. Then Chris, against best advice arrives on her doorstep and shares some shocking personal news that will either help to bind them together or push them apart. The love scenes between Jamie and Chris are erotic, special and amplified by ever present danger. I have to comment that Chris Waldron has the best medicine for migraine relief on the planet. *g*

As the investigation into the failed mission in Africa comes to a close, the threat against Jamie escalates resulting in a life and death situation that requires Chris, Jake, Nick and their commander John "Saint" St. James" to work together to protect and save her and her sister Patricia Jean or "PJ". The plot of this story is extremely fast paced, complex and full of twists and turns.

I really liked Saint, as with Jake, Nick and Chris, he is career military and a "tortured" hero. Saint meets PJ on the beach outside his home and their relationship quickly turns from adversarial to lovers. PJ's story is a complicated one and both she and Saint help each other to `feel' again.

There are some particularly heartbreaking scenes in "Hold On Tight", and I was moved to tears on more than one occasion. Chris is suffering from significant PTSD because of what happened during that last mission in Africa, he has a secret and he is keeping it close. As a result, he hasn't been able to fire his weapon since returning from Africa. During a tense, frightening climax to this story involving a deranged psychopathic killer and a hostage standoff he is faced with having to use his exceptional skill as a Navy SEAL sniper or lose someone that has become very important in his life.

If you enjoy military suspense stories involving tough, focused and exceptionally strong Navy SEAL's that are thwart with danger, intrigue, packed with action and sensuality, you may like to give Stephanie Tyler's "Hard To Hold" trilogy a try. I do think it is important to read the books in order.

HOLD ON TIGHT is the enthralling conclusion to Stephanie Tyler's Navy SEAL trilogy for Bantam Dell (Feb. 2010). In Djibouti, Africa, Navy SEAL/expert sniper, Chris Waldron has been hospitalized when he's injured from a mission gone bad. The Joint Task Force team is all killed except for Chris and Delta Force, Cameron Moore while rescuing a U.S. ambassador, his movie star wife and two kids from a hostile takeover of an embassy. Unfortunately Chris was knocked unconscious and doesn't have total recall of the event that killed one of his best SEAL friends, Mark Kendall and FBI agent, Josiah Miller. The FBI sends Special Agent, Jamie Michaels to the hospital to question both Chris, whom she has a past involvement with, and Cam. Their stories seem to agree of Josiah, the leader of the mission, ordering them not to go into the building but Mark disobeying the order first and then the rest of them following him. Jamie has to act all business with Chris during her initial interview with him due to his CO being present. However, later that night Chris secretly sneaks out of the hospital and visits Jamie in her nearby hotel room. Jamie and Chris' chemistry is just as hot as when they initially had sex in a downed plane on a mission two months ago, except this time Chris remembers to use protection. They both think they have a chance to pursue their relationship when they return to the U.S. However, Jamie has a dark past and was recently involved with her FBI partner, who was killed and Chris has had trouble breaking ties with his childhood sweetheart, who is now a famous actress. Shortly after, Jamie gets a phone call from her superiors letting her know that Josiah wasn't killed from an explosion but from a bullet between the eyes which makes Chris the primary suspect! Upon his return home, Chris first reports to the JAG office but then goes to visit Jamie, who suspects an intruder has been in her home. Chris takes after his Cajun father, who has second sight and his gypsy mother, who also had special gifts and died of cancer when Chris was a teenager. His parents raised not only Chris but also his friends, Jake Hansen and Nick Devane, who were troubled teens with bad childhoods, all joined the Navy SEALs and still share their family home in Virginia. To further add to their problems someone is after Jamie. Can Jamie and Chris figure out what really happened on Chris' mission to get him out of trouble and perhaps clear the way for them becoming a family? Stephanie Tyler not only delivers her signature passion but really ratchets up the suspense in the fantastic HOLD ON TIGHT with another hot double love story. Romance fans will not only want to hold onto this book for their keepers shelves but also its two predecessors: HARD TO HOLD (Jake's story/Dec. 2009) and TOO HOT TO HOLD (Nick's story/Jan. 2010). Plus the anticipation will be great for more terrific military romantic suspenses from Ms. Tyler coming fall 2010 with LIE TO ME (Cam's story) and PROMISES IN THE DARK (Zane's story).

The Joint Task Force mission rescued the U.S. ambassador and his family from a hostile takeover of an embassy in Djibouti, Africa but left team members Navy SEAL Mark Kendall and FBI agent Josiah Miller dead in an explosion. Navy SEAL Chris Waldron and Delta Force operative Cameron Moore survived.

FBI Special Agent Jamie Michaels questions Chris, who has some memory lapses from the moment of the explosion, and Cam to tell what went wrong. Chris and Cam separately insist leader Josiah ordered them not to enter the embassy, but Mark disobeyed the command. Later that night Chris sneaks out of the hospital to spend time with Chris alone as both remember the heat from their last mission together two months ago. Each wonders where their relationship will go as both have ghosts from their past haunting them. However, her boss informs her that Josiah did not die from the explosion as first thought. Instead he was murdered from a bullet between his eyes; a bullet that super sniper Chris could have fired using a war scenario as fog to cover up the crime. He is the only suspect. When someone breaks into her home, Chris vows to uncover the truth and keep his woman safe.

The third SEAL romantic suspense (see Jake Hansen in Hard to Hold and Nick Devane in Too Hot to Hold) is a terrific investigative tale as the hero is the prime murder suspect and the woman who loves him is the Fed assigned to prove he committed the homicide. With a second romance enhancing the exhilarating story line, fans will want to hold on as Stephanie Tyler completes her best friends' SEALS trilogy with a rousing roller coaster finish.

Harriet Klausner