Out of Time by Monica McCarty

A team of Navy SEALs go on a mission and disappear without a trace—they are The Lost Platoon.

With his men scattered to all corners of the globe after a disastrous secret op in Russia, Lieutenant Commander Scott Taylor is trying to find out who was responsible for leaking the information that killed half his platoon. Were it not for Natalie Andersson, the woman he'd been secretly dating in the Pentagon who'd warned him of the danger, he knows they'd all be dead. Scott is devastated when he hears that the woman he loved and hoped to marry has been killed for helping him—until he learns that Natalie was the spy who betrayed them. But when his search to clear his name brings him face-to-face with a very much alive Natalie, Scott realizes that justice and vengeance might not be as clear-cut as he thought.

Natalie Andersson, or as she was born Natalya Petrova, has put the memories of her early childhood in Russia behind her. She never dreamed that she would be at the center of an elaborate "sleeper" espionage program. Even when she learns the truth, she refuses to spy for the country of her birth, until the Russians threaten the lives of the only family she's ever known. But Natalie is the worst spy in the history of spying, falling for her target. When her attempt at misdirection leads to irreversible consequences, she's forced to run for her life, with her lover hot on her tail.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33259027-the-duchess-deal

Title: Out of Time
Author: Monica McCarty
Series: The Lost Platoon
Pages: 384
Genre(s): Contemporary, Romantic Suspense, US
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Before I start to wax lyrical about this fantastic book - let me first say that this is the third book in the Lost Platoon series. It does stand alone but had I read the other books before this one, I would have been a bit more up to speed with who the supporting characters were and what the general background of the whats and whys of the mission of SEAL team nine. I’m assuming these stories fit in nicely to the timeline of this one and characters from those books (Going Dark and Off the Grid) make very minor appearances in this one. Except Kate and Colt - but more on them later.

This story features Scott and Natalie and I just couldn’t have loved them more. Despite the assassins, spies, and general death and destruction - their’s is the kind of relationship that I want!! Scott is a by the book, very alpha, very capable navy SEAL. And, obviously, he’s gorgeous to boot. His job is his life…until he meets and falls in love with Natalie. From there, he’s still all about the mission - but he can’t get Natalie out of his head or heart - even when she’s outed as a Russian spy. Natalie was a really relatable character (Russian spy business aside). She was fun, feisty and her emotions were always right there for us to see. She’s the kind of girl I would want as a friend. Her and Scott together - oooft - it was intense! Lots of tension, lots of smouldering and, when we finally get to it, lots of deliciously enthusiastic sex. The emotion fairly smoked off the pages as you read. Yum!

The story was fairly simple and while there was some ‘wonderings’ of who was doing what to whom, the author didn’t use confusion or a smoke-screen in order to tell her story and make it suspenseful and gripping. The writing was fresh and clever with the romance, suspense and action all managing to take centre-stage yet not over shadow each other. For me, the most telling thing about this book was that I fair devoured it. I couldn’t stop the pages from turning and I even found myself thinking about it when I wasn’t reading. Who needs to think about anything else than reading anyway?

As a bonus, we get another second chance love story included with this book. I’m assuming that Kate and Colt popped up in the earlier Lost Platoon books - we certainly hear that there’s been some more recent history between this ex-husband and ex-wife. And their story gets its resolution in this book. If I wasn’t already in love with the book because of Scott and Natalie - I certainly was after Kate and Colt. Their story was almost heartbreaking in its intensity. Everything that had gone on between the pair seemed almost insurmountable except that they truly did love each other and want it to work. This could have been a full-length novel in and of itself so I was delighted to have it included with the main story.

Out of Time is a gripping and intense story with interesting and relatable characters - highly recommended. I’m now off to buy and read the first two books in the series and keeping my fingers crossed that there are will be more from the Lost Platoon. 5 stars.