Review: Circle of Desire by Carla Swafford

Title: Circle of Desire

Author: Carla Swafford

Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Harper Collins/Avon Impulse
Received by: Goddess Fish Promotions
Overall Rating: 4/5
Heat Rating: 4/5 

~*~Book Blurb~*~

As the top assassin at The Circle, a shadowy group of mercenaries, Olivia St. Vincent can hunt down anyone. She's been trained since she was a teenager to kill without feeling, to interact with men without love. But when she's kidnapped by the enigmatic leader of a rival organization, she learns she's been lied to for years. She never worked for the good guys.

Collin Ryker believes the sultry woman he's abducted knows more than she's telling about The Circle and its plans for complete domination. Over time, as they work together, Olivia's tenacity and vulnerability captivate him. But if he isn't careful, Collin will fall into the biggest trap of all: caring for a woman who can betray him to his greatest enemy.

Right from the very first page, Circle of Desire was captivating, mysterious, suspenseful, and hot! With this debut book, I was surprised by how much I was hooked with the action-driven unfolding of the plot and anticipating the interactions and developments between the hero and heroine.

The character of Olivia was interesting. Living through a childhood nothing short of hell, Olivia's teenage years are filled with just as much trauma and pain when she is taken in by the perverse and ruthless leader of The Circle, a shady group of militant mercenaries. It is during this time that Olivia is trained to become an expert assassin with one hell of a harden exterior, the only thing that is able to keep her surviving in a harsh world and under the leadership/ownership of her boss. But when she is kidnapped by the sexy leader of the rival group, she learns that the world she's always known is not what it seems and that her heart is not as immune to the ideals of love and family as she thought.

Olivia is a survivor and her personality resonates that on the pages. She's bold in her language and uses her body to get her way -- something that she's learned throughout her childhood that has allowed her to survive as long as she has. She tough on the exterior, but as the story unfolds, her vulnerability and secret desires of having a love and family of her own, as well as the need to be loved, protected, and cared for, are slowly reveled. Oddly, I have no idea what this character looks like due to a lack of detailed information, but it didn't hinder my ability to create my own image of what she should look like. I liked Olivia. I felt for Olivia and all the horrible hardships of her childhood, and the continued hardships and betrayals of her present. I was rooting for her to find that connection, love, and acceptance from Collin. I felt for her when she shed her "first" tear for feeling affection and rejoiced for her at the end.

What had she truly expected? She'd just wanted him to be different. Just once she wanted someone to give a damn about her.

"Don't cry," he said as his thumb wiped a tear from her cheek.

The warmth running down her face felt so strange.

She blinked. Crying? She never cried. Angry and hopeless. Feeling sorry for herself wouldn't solve a damn thing. She hated feeling this way. This craziness running through her brain and making her so malleable around him drove her to believing in a future with him.

Collin Ryker ... hmm, where to start? This is another complex character. He, too, is part of a militant type of organization, in fact he's the leader, which creates for some "harsh" decisions and personality traits. However, with that said, Carla Swafford allowed for his own "softer" desires and personality traits to shine through enough to know that he was just as environmentally hardened as Olivia, seeking love and peace just as much as she, but not necessarily knowing how to attain it with the type of work they were in. This allows for the characters to understand each other better -- including the meanings and reasons behind their actions and words.

Was there apparent chemistry between the hero and heroine? Absolutely!! I was left feeling as though I couldn't imagine both the hero and heroine with anyone else. Their dynamics are not "mushy", they mirror the atmosphere that one can only imagine comes with the territory of assassins. The lust they feel for each other is more than obvious -- and this lends to some serious hotness!! The sex scenes are graphic and are semi-frequent, but fit into the story perfectly. There is also a lot of sexual tension between them prior to them finally coming together about half way through the story.

The plot is definitely action-driven!  While I had an idea of what may be coming at each turn of the novel, there was always a little twist that kept me on my toes and turning the pages. It was fun and engaging to always be held in that suspense of what would happen next.

Which leads me to what will happen next! The story ends with a little introduction into the next book -- which takes the lead of a hero that was introduced in book one and a character which I was hoping to find out more about!! I'm definitely looking forward to the next installment!

Overall, this was a great romantic suspense debut!! It was very sexy, with characters that don't follow the typical swoon-romance mold but leave the reader feeling satisfied in their relation dynamic and their HEA. Readers will find lots of action, hotness, a couple killings, a few twists, more hotness, and more action.