Mine to Hold by Cynthia Eden

She was one man’s obsession…

Nine years ago, Claire Kramer’s lover brutally killed her family, and he tried to kill her. She escaped, but she’s been haunted ever since that attack. Too afraid to trust another man and too worried that her past will catch up with her, Claire never gets too close to anyone. But then she meets Noah York.

He must have her.

Noah York is a man with secrets. The world sees him as a billionaire hotel tycoon, but Noah has a dark and dangerous side. For years, he worked covert military operations before he built his fortune. When it comes to death, Noah is a master. He knows that he should steer clear of Claire, but the white-hot attraction Noah feels for the delicate beauty is instant—and consuming.

He will never let her go.

Someone else is just as consumed by Claire—someone who will kill to possess her. And if Noah can’t stop the hunter in the darkness, he may just lose the one woman that he can’t live without.

Mine to Hold continues with Cynthia Eden’s Mine series. This series has a darker hero, who isn’t always the good guy. Noah York is just this side of the law…most of the time. Sometimes, he isn’t even in the gray area. He’s a man who gets what he wants.
Meeting Claire Kramer in the last book showed him that he wants her. But she leaves and he doesn’t find her for a while. Several months later, she calls him. She’s desperate and needs his help. She wants a job.
Claire is at the end of her rope. Her past caught up with her, actually it never really left her alone. She wants a job. She has an MBA and has worked in the hotel industry for years, so asking Noah for a job at one of his hotels should be easy. He feels he owes her a favor, and she’s calling it in.
So why can’t she bring herself to walk into the hotel?
This series has heroes who walk the line of possessive/obsessive much more than most of Eden’s other heroes. I think that’s the point though. With a stalker who won’t leave Claire alone, even from prison, and a powerful man who wants to protect her, Claire wonders if love even exists? Or is it varying degrees of obsession?
I think that obsession fascination the heroes in this series have for the heroines is what makes the men so much darker than some of her other men. But it works with this series, this book in particular. I think that there are a couple of unpredictable twists in this book that took me by surprise.
Cynthia Eden is a master of Romantic Suspense. Creating darker heroes, who can’t let go only intensifies the anticipation and the edge-of-your-seat feel. Mine to Hold held me in suspense from the get-go, and didn’t let go, even when you think you’re safe.

***Review copy courtesy of the author