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Interior decorator Suzanne Barron's new tenant is the most dangerously sexy man she's ever met. Navy Commander John Huntington, a former SEAL (aka 'Midnight Man') works best under cover of darkness. Within hours of meeting him, Suzanne has wild, no-holds barred sex with John, then panics at the depth of her passionate response to such a powerful and dangerous warrior. Suzanne doesn't do sex like that. John is definitely someone she needs to avoid for her own peace of mind. But when killers show more come for her, Suzanne knows she can turn to only one man. John will guard and protect her body. But who will guard and protect her body against John?

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21 reviews
Ex-SEAL, John Huntington is looking for new office space when he meets property owner and interior designer Suzanne Barron. John is immediately overcome with fierce desire for the elegant woman and determined he will make her his.

This was painful to read. It's only really romantic suspense if you squint - it's mainly erotica. I'm not even sure where to begin with all the things that bothered me about this book. I like alpha males but this was too aggressive - borderline rapey. It's not like Suzanne seems to like him or want him or is willing to stand up for herself - or even talk. She's basically a non-entity waiting for him to do whatever he wants. It was awkward and wrong.

John says: I'm a gentleman.
What he actually does: But I'm show more not going to take no for an answer, crowd your space and take over every inch of your life whether you like it or not.
Suzanne's really not that much better. She's supposedly self-assured and confident but she spends all her time freaking out and being overwhelmed by everything he does - and frankly not in a good way. It's not like she's overcome with lust - it's like she's terrified.

I liked the Men of Midnight series. The first two books; Jacko and Metal were alpha males - but they weren't aggressively ignorant of their females thoughts and feelings. John just doesn't seem to care if it's what he wants. There's lots of talk about how he shouldn't and wouldn't hurt her but no actual proof.

The suspense plot was farfetched and very lightly used. And what the hell was with Todd's murder - John just doesn't even tell her? It's her friend for fks sake?! Plus how the hell is she supposed to remember everything or anything of importance if he doesn't tell her something that's relevant to the situation. I mean for godsakes her and Todd are working together on one job - with one client - who is also murdered. It's not fkn rocket science.

“As long as it takes,” he answered bluntly. He debated, briefly, telling her about Todd Armstrong, then decided against it. She had a right to know, and she’d be angry later. But now it was his call and he decided not to overwhelm her. He needed her to think straight and she wasn’t going to do that knowing a friend was dead, because of her. “We’re going to have to figure out what’s going on, honey. As long as we’re in the dark, we’re vulnerable. I need to ask you some questions.”

Rice, Lisa Marie. Midnight Man (Midnight series Book 1) (pp. 163-164). Jasmine Jade. Kindle Edition.


Plus is there any point not telling her when at the start they made her look at the dead freaking body with his sliced throat to ID him? Made no sense.
But I could roll with the light suspense if the romance was decent - but it's not. I mean this beauty.

He made sure the women he had realized he had a strong sex drive and that they were going to be used hard. If that’s what they wanted, fine. If not, there were plenty of other women around.

Rice, Lisa Marie. Midnight Man (Midnight series Book 1) (p. 159). Jasmine Jade. Kindle Edition.


Used hard? Charming. Apart from that winner, in all of the sex scenes - he knows he's hurting her but can't control himself enough to stop himself? Seriously? All that talk about control and SEALS and he can't stop? It's so much worse than him hurting her by accident. He is actually aware that he's hurting her but does it anyway. And it's not like she's there saying hey it's okay I like it or I want it - she does not - he just can't help himself. This just perpetuates the idea that rapists are not guilty of their own actions and that's a load of crap.

All men and women are responsible for their actions. Sexual assault is not okay. Rape is not okay. Hurting someone because you can't control yourself - is not okay.

1 star.
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This book was recommended to me by a colleague and it didn't disappoint. It is my first Lisa Marie Rice novel and it is filled with suspense and tons of sexual tension.

Former navy SEAL John Huntington, The Midnight Man, is a dangerous man. He is now a civilian, a lifelong serviceman who is now head of security for a large corporation. A civilian with a warrior's mind. Good at action, but bad at words. His next mission is to get his new landlady in bed, but his lack of charm is going to be a problem.

Suzanne Barron is an up-and-coming designer who has a new client for her office space. She thought he would be a safe bet for the part of town they were in, but the last thing she felt was safe. He's like a crouching tiger ready to pounce and show more in his own words, she was his prey. He's not her type, but the attraction is strong and his protective instincts are lethal as he saves her life from an extremely dangerous man.

The sexual tension is powerful between John and Suzanne right from the start. John is an uncompromising alpha male who knows what he wants and he wants Suzanne from the minute he meets her. Unfortunately, John is a man of little words and plenty of action. In fact, his tactics are caveman-like at best while he immediately invades Suzanne's personal space and tells her he plans to sleep with her. It's so hot how intense and focused he is and their first sexual encounter is animalistic and scorching. As she pushes him away, he only pursues her even harder until her life is in danger and he is all she has to keep her safe. Protective John is even hotter and seeing these two opposites slowly fall for each other is a pleasure to watch.

Suzanne is at a loss when John walks into her life. She's used to dating charming gentlemen with a slow build-up to dinner and sex. What she gets is a relentless pursuer, a quick dinner, and steamy sex in her entryway. Her immediate attraction is frightening and exciting at the same time. Apparently, opposites do attract and her softer nurturing side brings out some sweet moments with John.

This story has some suspense as well as romance when Suzanne is targeted by an assassin. It's John's training as a SEAL that keeps her safe as he uses his skills to save her life. It's that private time together on the run that brings them closer only to be ripped apart by Suzanne's decision to do the right thing. No worries. There is a HEA, though abrupt, and left me wanting more.

I recommend you read this fast-paced, romantic suspense with intriguing characters and a gripping storyline.
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Suzanne is an interior designer who works and lives in a converted factory and she’s looking for a tenet to share the building. John “Midnight Man” Huntington becomes her new tenet…and savouir. Someone is trying to kill Suzanne and John – a retired Navy SEAL Commander – is the only person standing between Suzanne and certain death.

This book…wow. LOL! I enjoyed it greatly but there are so many things wrong with the actions of the hero it makes my head spin.

In reading the book – and submerging myself in the situation – I thought John was a great super Alpha hero…and I love some stalkeriffic heroes but John was a little scary. The book starts with these descriptions of John meeting Suzanne for the first time:
“'She
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was already leery of him and she didn’t even know about the Sig-Sauer in the shoulder holster, the K-bar knife in the scabbard between his shoulder blades or the .22 in the ankle holster, otherwise she would have probably ordered him out of the building.”

“...his mission here was to find a new office and now that he’d seen this place, he was determined to have it. And the landlady. But first, he had to get his hormones under control; otherwise he’d come up empty-handed on both counts.”

“She had two expensive-looking rings on her right hand, no rings on the left.
Good. No other man had her and now that he’d spotted her, no other man was going to get her. Not until he’d finished with her and that was going to take a long, long time.
Her hands were trembling slightly.”


Suzanne goes out on a date with John the day that they meet. He takes her to a nice restaurant but he crowds her. A lot. This is after he’d broken into her building and scared the shit out of her to “make a point” that she needed a better security system. Can we say “stalker?”

Suzanne coughed and fidgeted. He was so close to her she felt she couldn’t pull in enough air in her lungs. She tugged gently at her hand, then harder. His large hand tightened.
“If you’re trying to get me to back off, it won’t work.” He leaned even further forward and buried his nose in her hair. “You’re too alluring for me to even think of backing off,” he murmured. “You smell too good, feel too good. Christ, I want you.” When his right hand moved from the back of the settee to cup the back of her neck she jumped.
“Am I spooking you?”
“A little,” she whispered.
“Too bad. Because I’m not backing off. No way.”


I felt I had to bring this up because the hero would be really scary to meet in real life and in no way were these actions ok.

Later that night John takes Suzanne back home, rips all her clothes off of her in the hallway and takes her – roughly- up against a brick wall. Real smooth.

The next evening Suzanne calls John because she finds herself trapped in her apartment with a man who had a gun. She decides to call John and not the police because she did the location/arrival time in her head and realized the police were too far away.

Always remember this point, ladies and gentlemen. “When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.”

John is close and arrives in time to kill the man who was there to kill Suzanne. He also takes out a second sniper before he grabs her and runs off into the night.

Suzanne falls in love with John – who is portrayed as completely overwhelming and totally outside Suzanne’s comfort zone – rather quickly. I’d say within 3 days of them meeting she was in love. Normally I would roll my eyes at something like this but I do know that high adrenaline situations cause people to fall in love…and nothing can be more high adrenaline than someone trying to kill you!

The sex in this book, while being kinda hot, was mostly unbelievable.

All in all, I enjoyed the hell out of this book, lol. I have a special soft spot in my heart for crazy obsessed stalker-like Alpha male heroes.
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Suzanne is an interior designer who works and lives in a converted factory and she’s looking for a tenet to share the building. John “Midnight Man” Huntington becomes her new tenet…and savouir. Someone is trying to kill Suzanne and John – a retired Navy SEAL Commander – is the only person standing between Suzanne and certain death.

This book…wow. LOL! I enjoyed it greatly but there are so many things wrong with the actions of the hero it makes my head spin.

In reading the book – and submerging myself in the situation – I thought John was a great super Alpha hero…and I love some stalkeriffic heroes but John was a little scary. The book starts with these descriptions of John meeting Suzanne for the first time:
“'She
show more
was already leery of him and she didn’t even know about the Sig-Sauer in the shoulder holster, the K-bar knife in the scabbard between his shoulder blades or the .22 in the ankle holster, otherwise she would have probably ordered him out of the building.”

“...his mission here was to find a new office and now that he’d seen this place, he was determined to have it. And the landlady. But first, he had to get his hormones under control; otherwise he’d come up empty-handed on both counts.”

“She had two expensive-looking rings on her right hand, no rings on the left.
Good. No other man had her and now that he’d spotted her, no other man was going to get her. Not until he’d finished with her and that was going to take a long, long time.
Her hands were trembling slightly.”


Suzanne goes out on a date with John the day that they meet. He takes her to a nice restaurant but he crowds her. A lot. This is after he’d broken into her building and scared the shit out of her to “make a point” that she needed a better security system. Can we say “stalker?”

Suzanne coughed and fidgeted. He was so close to her she felt she couldn’t pull in enough air in her lungs. She tugged gently at her hand, then harder. His large hand tightened.
“If you’re trying to get me to back off, it won’t work.” He leaned even further forward and buried his nose in her hair. “You’re too alluring for me to even think of backing off,” he murmured. “You smell too good, feel too good. Christ, I want you.” When his right hand moved from the back of the settee to cup the back of her neck she jumped.
“Am I spooking you?”
“A little,” she whispered.
“Too bad. Because I’m not backing off. No way.”


I felt I had to bring this up because the hero would be really scary to meet in real life and in no way were these actions ok.

Later that night John takes Suzanne back home, rips all her clothes off of her in the hallway and takes her – roughly- up against a brick wall. Real smooth.

The next evening Suzanne calls John because she finds herself trapped in her apartment with a man who had a gun. She decides to call John and not the police because she did the location/arrival time in her head and realized the police were too far away.

Always remember this point, ladies and gentlemen. “When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.”

John is close and arrives in time to kill the man who was there to kill Suzanne. He also takes out a second sniper before he grabs her and runs off into the night.

Suzanne falls in love with John – who is portrayed as completely overwhelming and totally outside Suzanne’s comfort zone – rather quickly. I’d say within 3 days of them meeting she was in love. Normally I would roll my eyes at something like this but I do know that high adrenaline situations cause people to fall in love…and nothing can be more high adrenaline than someone trying to kill you!

The sex in this book, while being kinda hot, was mostly unbelievable.

All in all, I enjoyed the hell out of this book, lol. I have a special soft spot in my heart for crazy obsessed stalker-like Alpha male heroes.
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I liked the first half of this story - it gave a good little mystery; an alpha male, John, with an interesting background; and Suzanne, our h, maintained her head in a crisis so that boded well for the rest of the story. There was some repetition, but this was easily overlooking in the excitement of a few dead bodies.

Then came the interminable internal thoughts, the loooooong love-making sessions, more internal thoughts, and many many repeated actions and thoughts. Goodbye momentum and my interest... I turned the audiobook to 'fast' and 'speed'-listened to the rest of the story :(

Audiobook, narrated by Alexandra Josephs.
3 stars.
John's characterisation is a bit quiet, but overall it was easy to listen to. I noticed that Josephs actually show more has a slight lisp, which I found interesting given the audio industry (radio, TV etc) used to avoid like crazy a couple of decades ago. It did not detract from the narration. show less
I read this book back when it first came out and I fell in love with former Navy SEAL Commander John Huntington and the woman that steals his heart Suzanne Barron. This is the story that put Lisa Marie Rice on my must buy list. It is difficult to write much about this story and not give away any of the important parts. John is what we all expect a Navy SEAL to be, dominant, protective, lethal and just a little out of his league with Suzanne. He is a little rough around the edges but he has a big heart and he will do whatever is necessary to protect Suzanne.

Suzanne is as clueless as the rest of us about the dangers that lurk just outside our doors. She is smart and independent but she has never had anything bad happen to her. She is show more about interior design and her career. She is a little shocked when she first meets John. There aren't any men in her life like him. When danger comes sneaking into her home she is smart enough to call John and follow his orders to the letter. It is probably what saves her life.

Ms. Rice can write some of the hottest love scenes in the business. Those scenes can be gritty and rough, a refection of the men that a part of the action. Ms. Rice doesn't write about metro-sexual men. These guys are military, career military and they have survived in the hell holes of this planet. She writes real people in real situations and I sometimes think she has a man that is providing her with inside into the male mind. Keep the tissues handy because the last ten or so pages will have you crying. I love these stories and look forward to each new book.
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Interior decorator Suzanne Barron's new tenant is the most dangerously sexy man she's ever met. Navy Commander John Huntington, a former SEAL (aka 'Midnight Man') works best under cover of darkness. Within hours of meeting him, Suzanne has wild, no-holds barred sex with John, then panics at the depth of her passionate response to such a powerful and dangerous warrior. Suzanne doesn't do sex like that. John is definitely someone she needs to avoid for her own peace of mind. But when killers come for her, Suzanne known she can turn to only one man. John will guard and protect her body. But who will guard and protect her body against John?
That right there should be enough for you to want to read this book and if it is not, then I don’t show more know how to please you. J
This book had me glued to my Kindle for hours. I couldn’t put it down. I loved how John just embodied the ultimate, alpha man. You don’t mess with him and you definitely don’t mess with his woman. *Eck!* His want for Suzanne blew my mind away. His appeal to her is like none other. John wants this woman and he isn’t going to wait for her to decide. This book is filled with lust, longing, action, and love and I enjoyed every minute of it. If you are looking for a book to get your blood pumping, pick this one up and try it out.
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Common Knowledge

Canonical title
Midnight Man
Original title
Midnight Man
Original publication date
2004-05-05
People/Characters
Suzanne Barron; John "Midnight Man" Huntington; Tyler "Bud" Morrison; Pete; Steve; Les (show all 12); Morton "Jacko" Jackman; Harris; Todd Armstrong; Lou; Loren Bannister; Alan Crowley
Important places
Portland, Oregon, USA

Classifications

Genres
Romance, Fiction and Literature
DDC/MDS
813Literature & rhetoricAmerican literature in EnglishAmerican fiction in English
BISAC

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114,596
Reviews
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Rating
(3.93)
Languages
English, French, German
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
6
ASINs
5