Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Frostbitten by Rebecca Zanetti Narrator: Stephen Borne
Series: Deep Ops #6
Published by Tantor Audio on February 13, 2024
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Length: 10 hours, 28 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
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Enigmatic. With a wildly gifted mind, and an untamed head of hair to match, petite powerhouse Millicent Frost is brilliant when it comes to gadgets and electronics—less so with people. After an attempt to bust a bank scam goes awry, Millie is in hot water with Homeland Security and targeted by lethal enemies. In the midst of the trouble, she heads home to help out with the family hunting and fishing business. But when their rival competitor and Millie’s ex is murdered, she’s the number one suspect . . .
Irresistible. Former Marine turned lawyer Scott Terentson devotes himself to getting his clients out of tricky binds. A loner, the last thing he wants is to belong to any team, yet the Deep Ops group considers him one of their own—and he pays the price by getting shot at by their enemies. Now Millie is seeking his help—just as he’s dealing with a brutal fail regarding a recent trial. Both are a headache, yet he’s drawn to Millie in spite of himself. They’re opposites, but maybe the old adage is true . . .
The Deep Ops series is romantic suspense with a new couple in each story. The characters and situation are rather over the top, not quite realistic or believable. Although the humor is a bit ridiculous with quirky characters, the violence is gritty. There’s a dog and a cat on the team.
Frostbitten highlights Millicent Frost who I LOVE. She’s the Q on the team, a whiz with technical gadgets. She has appeared briefly in several other books in the series. She’s smart and now we learn about her family, friends, history and how caring she is. Scott is a lawyer who has a military background. I don’t recall him much in the series previously. We get to know him and his family and more of his friends and history.
Millie and Scott create an enemy in a powerful man whose company is under investigation by government. Scott is representing his wife in an acrimonious divorce because she is a friend of his mother. Millie goes “home” to her Aunt May when her aunt has a health scare. Almost immediately, she becomes a suspect in the murder of her ex-boyfriend from high school and Scott becomes her lawyer.
From there, things go downhill. There are several attempts on their lives. Is it Millie or Scott they want dead, or both? It’s hard to tell since they stay together after the first attempt. It’s obvious to everyone in Millie’s hometown that she is not guilty but the prosecutor is dead set on convicting her and the circumstantial evidence is against her. Scott and Millie get to know each other better and develop their attraction. Things get pretty spicy.
It’s a little bizarre how some aspects are so professional and others are just not. The team has some quirky methods that are standard for them though. For almost the entire story, Millie and Scott are working on their own other than law enforcement. The actual team doesn’t come in until the end, and only a few members of the team.
The series is based on a member of the team having a personal issue and the team coming in to support them. In some earlier books, it felt like the issues were more related to big government cases, or at least the whole team was involved for more of the story. Frostbitten felt disconnected from the team mostly and I liked it when the team was involved earlier. The various times people tried to kill Millie and Scott felt over the top in a small town without the team involvement somehow.
I enjoy this series and the talents of the various team member, their personal styles and the way they support each other. Hopefully, there will be more stories with adding new team members or further developing ones we know. I’d like the story to be a bit more connected to the team’s actual cases though.
Narration:
Frostbitten is the first time I have listened to a book in this series rather than reading the ebook. All the previous books were narrated by Roger Wayne, and now we have Stephen Borne as the narrator here. He is a new to me narrator. The male and female voices sounded appropriate for their gender. I was comfortable listening at my normal 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Rebecca Zanetti
New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti has worked as an art curator, Senate aide, lawyer, college professor, and a hearing examiner – only to culminate it all in stories about Alpha males and the women who claim them. She is a member of RWA, has won awards for her works throughout the industry, and has a journalism degree with a poly sci emphasis from Pepperdine University as well as a Juris Doctorate from the University of Idaho.
Growing up amid the glorious backdrops and winter wonderlands of the Pacific Northwest has given Rebecca fantastic scenery and adventures to weave into her stories. She resides in the wild north with her husband, children, and extended family who inspire her every day-or at the very least give her plenty of characters to write about.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 24-COYER
I started this series and got to book three, but I ended up distracted and missed several in a row. I always appreciate how each of her series have the camaraderie of a team or family team so I think I’d want more of that through the story, too.
yes the team being missing most of the case felt a bit odd. I mean both members of the couple have worked with the team but haven’t been on the team for 100% of their work time like some people.
I’m not familiar with this series, but it sounds both fun and interesting. And Millie sounds intriguing.
I LOVE Millie! She’s the gadget girl.
I really love her books. I haven’t read this one yet so I’ll have to give it a go.
These are very quirky but I like them.
I’m glad switching to audio worked for you.
Thanks it usually can work.
I have a few of her books on my shelf. I hope to get them soon.
I hope you enjoy them!
I’m glad this worked overall, even with a few elements that didn’t. Sometimes “over the top” doesn’t work for me, but if the other elements are strong, it does.
yes that’s exactly so Tammy.
Yes, I prefer when the team is all together. Great review.
Thank you Kimberly. This just felt a bit series adjacent to me although it came together in the end. I do really like Millicent.
I’ve read and enjoyed this author in the past, but haven’t got around to this series yet.
I am enjoying it with a big found family of sorts, romantic suspense action and mystery. But the quirkiness is a bit over the top sometimes.
This sounds a lot like some of the series my stepmom really likes, so I need to see if she’s heard of them before. Glad you enjoyed this one, great review!
Thanks Lisa. I enjoyed it even though the quirky was a bit much.