Review: Mine to Crave by Cynthia Eden

I really like Cynthia Eden's Mine series.  Reading this series reminded me of how much I used to love good mystery/suspense novels.  I was so happy to get this fourth book in the series, I set aside everything I was doing or was supposed to do, and read the entire book beginning to end in one sitting on a Saturday morning.  Suffice it to say, time well spent, loved this book.

This series focuses on a group of men who share a very dark, dangerous past.  They were involved in the military, went on some top secret missions and did things they don't like to talk about or think about now.  They've moved on, each successful in their own business - security, hotels, and in this case, casinos.  They bonded over the shared events in their past and are always there to watch out for each other.

Mine to Crave is Drake's story.  In the earlier books in the series, we've seen his friends succumb to obsession, or in other words, fall in love and get married.  He thinks he's above all that "falling in love" stuff, thinks his friends are fools for falling as hard as they've fallen.  Then one night he notices Jasmine sitting at the bar as a casino he owns in Vegas.  Some time with Jasmine has him thinking all kinds of things he's never thought before.

I especially like the heroine in this book.  Jasmine is tough and knows what she wants and what she has to do to get it.  There are so many layers to her character. Nothing weak about this woman at all.  She's the perfect match for Drake. 

I enjoyed reading about how their attraction develops.  While it may be instant lust, it's their time together than turns that into something more.  (One of my big complaints about some romance novels is the lack of buildup before the characters decide they're "in love".)  This book handled that well, had me thoroughly convinced of their feelings for each other.

As always with this series, the suspense and danger is there.  Lots of bad guys, mystery, secrets from their pasts, cool Vegas and New Orleans settings, explosions and trips on private jets.  So good.  And did I mention how hot Drake and Jasmine are together?        

If you are a fan of romantic suspense - the kind with all sorts of action, twists and turns and no clue who the bad guy is until the very end, and lots of hot, hot sex - this series is for you.  Anxiously awaiting the next in the series.  

I received a copy of this via NetGalley.