Victoria 'Tory' Jones needs to help her brother. She needs Marc 'Phantom' Savin's help. She keeps her life neat, tidy, and safe. Her brother and Marc's spy lifestyle doesn't mix well with her comfort zone, but she is willing to do anything to save her brother's life.

Tory was a little confusing...she was meek and 'mousy,' but got some backbone on occasion. What bothered me is that by the end of the book, she didn't seem to have changed. Her character was flat and a little dull. I just didn't feel her.

Marc was a bit rough around the edges, but smoothed out by the end. He made a lot more sense than Tory, but I still didn't feel for him enough.

The story was good, but I felt like there were just a few holes...some gaps that could have been filled in. It could have been a little longer and added more depth and given more understanding to the characters. I get this is the first in the series and her first book (I think, but don't quote me on that), so hopefully things get better from here. I did read one other work by her (in Rescue Me Includes: T-FLAC 12 Tempting SEALs 6) and thought it was pretty good, especially for an anthology story.

So, I read this to get into the T-FLAC series and I am happy I did and also hoping the series gets better from here. ( )

Good -- not great, but there are a few books I consider great, so "good" is a decent recommendation. The Mercenary is an older book, revamped by Adair, featuring the founding character of her T-FLAC Series. What makes it good? Good writing, good plot, good sex appeal. Here's the bad news -- I didn't quite buy the romance. Victoria is an excellent character, fully-fleshed, and I totally get Marc's attraction to her. I could "see" him falling in lust and then love with her. But things on her end... not so much. I see the falling in lust, but not love. Maybe I just didn't like him. Sure he was manly and all, but his issues and crankiness didn't leave much room for love -- when he wasn't being a heckling jerk, that is. He was nicest to her whenever she was asleep or otherwise out of it. Shall we say, the only chance she had with him was when she was unconscious. ( )

It is obvious this is one of Adair's first attempts to write a novel, though it is not clear why it was published the first time, let alone why it was published a second time, with the author allegedly adding more to the story to enrich it. The first publication of this story revealed a breezy and lite romance, such as it is. Later books of Adair's are romantic, thought-out, hot, and good reads. This one is not. During what I can only assume was supposed to be a sex scene, the male character "rotates" the female character's nipples; I had to put the book down. Nipples are not radio knobs. Adair's writing has grown far better (of course, from this story, she only had up to go) than this. In addition, Adair added to this story to make it more coherent. It does not. The main character's long hair (which approaches fetish-like description throughout the novel) will be in a braid in one paragraph, and in the next, be flowing down her back. Many of the "clarifications" added to this edition leaves the reader flipping back, thinking she's missed some plot point or perhaps skipped a paragraph, or even, a whole chapter. An aggravating, confusing, and unintentional laugh-out loud book. ( )

PACING: fast paced; reveal characters during action; quick read; CHARACTERIZATION: immediately recognizable; reader identification; roguish; sympathetic; emotional involvement; predictable; omnipotent narrator; STORYLINE: action-oriented; resolved ending; somewhat exually explicit; FRAME: military; special forces; paranormal subtheme; suspenseful; contemporary; conversational ( )