Forged in Steele (KGI series Book 7)

When I first heard Rio and Steele were getting books before Donovan Kelly, I was disappointed. But I am not disappointed any more. Wow, I fell hard for Steele!Steele is the tough team leader, the Ice Man, not known to show emotion or care for anyone other than his team. He is normally a closed mouth, stoic alpha, but gets even more tongue tied around Maren. She is the Doctor working in Costa Rica who often patches up KGI members. He can't seem to get her off his mind and she gets under his skin and sets him off balance. She also has had the hots for Steele for a long time, but thought his behavior meant he did not like her and never knew how to act around him.(Quote)His blue eyes cut into her, piercing deep, making her feel suddenly bare and vulnerable. Almost like he could see right inside her. It was a stupid thought and it was even dumber to attribute superhuman powers to this man. He was only human, Fallible. But damn if he didn't make a strong argument for invincible. Regardless of what he was or wasn't, he absolutely sold it with every look, every nonword. Every action.Steele wants to enjoy one night of passion with Maren to get her out of his system. He thinks that will take care f it. It is scorching hot and humorous at the same time. Maren has a fun sense of humor and is was good to see the sexy playful Steele.They are absolutely sweet, passionate, and steamy together. So different when they are together than how we have seen them in previous books. Sure Steele is still manly and bossy, but he is showing more of his softer side. A smiling, laughing, thoughtful Steele is a beautiful thing. And Maren is feisty, but becomes more flirty and knows how to push all of his buttons. She is still a bit insecure, but is also intelligent and shows strength and determination when needed."I like that you give as good as you get...Love that saucy tongue of yours, and I love that you give me s***. No one else does that.""Yeah, I'm into you, Maren. I'm in deep and I don't see any way out for a very long time. I hope to h**l you're in this with me because if not, things are going to get way messy.""If I was any more into you, I'd never find my way out."But just as things are getting interesting, Maren finds herself is a whole lot of danger. It is up to Steele and KGI to find her and protect her and he takes it very seriously. Suddenly he risks losing her just as they are getting started. It is a long, scary, and difficult process and it takes it toll on everyone involved.Will Steele and KGI be able to keep her safe? And once Maren reveals what she has been hiding, will Steele still be willing to be her protector?This was a sweet, emotional, love story set in a romantic suspense backdrop. Steele and Maren became one of my fave KGI couples. I loved that she melted the Ice Man.I can't remember what it was like before you. Only that until you, my life was cold, lifeless and mechanical No color. No Vibrancy. I didn't live. I existed. You changed all that.This couple did not have it easy. But atleast they had the support of all of the KGI teams. I loved being back with all of them and their wives. One of my favorite parts about this series is how it focuses on the bonds between the teams and their families. I am looking forward to Donovan's story FINALLY in After the Storm. She kept alluding to it in this book as Donovan kept teasing the others about their women. It will be great to see him finally get his wake up call. And she gave us glimpses of Rusty and Sean too. Those two definitely have a story to tell. And the mysterious Hancock that we met in Rio's book is back. I think he needs his own story too. He is full of surprises. And new team members Skylar and Edge are intriguing too. So many possibilities for this series!This was probably my fave KGI novel to date. I could not put it down...literally. Before the Last book Shades of Gray, Steele did not really appeal to me much. But Steele totally won me over. He showed such a different side of him in the last book and this one. We got to see the softer, human man under the tough unemotional alpha facade. And he was amazing....strong, caring, protective, loving and willing to do whatever he had to for Maren. I loved how he adapted to the changes swirling around in his previously controlled life. He took the challenges head on without hesitation or trepidation. I laughed, held my breath, tensed up, and teared up. It was suspenseful, action-packed, romantic, and hot. Maya has done it again and this is another fantastic addition to this series.

Warning - there will be spoilers/spoilerish comments ahead.This book succeeded for me on a number of levels - I liked Steele and Maren both individually and together. I thought the overall plot and nature of the threat was solid, though a bit more tension and focus on the craziness of the villain (Tristan) would have upped the suspense. We could have seen more of this rather than simply being told. That said, I was happy to get a break from the paranormal elements of some of the most recent books in the series. While I did enjoy those books, I was ready for a switch back to more traditional "bad guys". The final confrontation with Tristan was quite nerve-wracking (well done!) and there were a few twists that I wasn't entirely suspecting in terms of how he tried to trick the KGI team and take Maren away.I also appreciated the fact that we got to "spend time" with Steele and Maren before the drama began. I liked the fact that Steele had returned to Costa Rica to be with/get to know Maren better - that he was already realizing they were worth more than a one-night stand, even if he hadn't yet realized they were meant to go the distance. This gave more texture to their feelings and plausibility to Steele's razor-focused commitment to rescue Maren when she was taken.I see that some of the reviewers felt that Steele changed too much and too quickly for it to be believable, and that this flip-flop damaged the character. I can certainly see how it might have played that way for some, yet Steele's back-story made it genuine for me (though it was a real shift and maybe others preferred the hard, stoic version better). He had had a very loving family. Two parents who loved each other and their 2 children. An older brother who was his hero. He lost his whole family in a violent incident in the country in which his diplomat father (and therefore the whole family) was stationed. Steele was the only survivor, and after he got over his fury at being saved, he came to admire the marine who had risked his life saving Steele and that prompted his own military and special ops career. So, Steele had a solid, loving foundation and had seen close-up what a loving couple and family looked like. Yes, he had closed himself off from emotions in order to protect himself, but that history was still there and Maren tapped into that. Her kindness, goodness and heart reminded him of some of his mother's best qualities. So, for me, Steele's ability to completely embrace Maren, a baby and a lifelong commitment wasn't a non sequitur and revision of this character. The change in him was more of a revelation of what rested at his core, underneath the protective layers. This came even more to the fore in the end when he interacted with Maren's also-wonderful family. Loved his scenes with Maren's mom.I enjoyed the ways in which Maya showed Steele's self-protective layers being chipped away, especially some of the scenes when he found himself at the hospital with all the Kellys and other KGI team waiting for Rachel to give birth to her and Ethan's twins. For instance, when he was suddenly holding an infant, fighting the panic and then becoming somewhat enthralled. Also his inner stream of consciousness that made it clear he knew how scary he could seem was revealing. It prompted him to begin a conversation with Rusty that was both cute and productive - and also sowed some seeds for future stories, particularly given his subsequent conversation with Sean.There was less action in this story than the last, but given the latter's intensity, that isn't necessarily a bad thing; a break can be nice. Yet, the fall-out from what PJ - and all her comrades - went through echoed through this story as well. And I liked that continuity, as I did the chance to once again catch up with the past and future leads of other KGI stories. I am looking forward to getting to know the new team that will be led by Nathan and Joe. In the same vein, seeing more of the competitiveness between Rio and Steele was interesting, yet Steele had to trust Rio with Maren's life/safety even though it went against everything in him. Which leads me to Hancock and his group, Titan. Very interesting. Also sets the stage for either a continuation of KGI or a spin-off series.Enjoyed this... ready for more.

this is the 7th books in maya bank's 'KGI' series, and in my opinion one of the better ones. i have read all the books in this series and the majority of them have been really good, however, for me this one does stand out.the story is paced well, but i think it is perhaps the characterization that done it for me.i really loved the leads. i loved Steele, a brooding alpha male who is not the man he is perceived to be. Maren who was no damsel in distress either, she may have needed to be rescued but she did enough off her own back too.i think this book, to a degree, could be read as a stand alone, but i honestly feel that without prior knowledge of Steele's character, his relationship with his team and others, he wouldn't perhaps come across in the same light as i think he is meant too.overall this was a good read.it had great characters, a decent plot, action and romance. it may not however be the most suspense filled book,but it was still a good pleasant read. 4.5 starsseries order:1. The Darkest Hour (2010)2. No Place to Run (2010)3. Hidden Away (2011)4. Whispers in the Dark (2012)5. Echoes at Dawn (2012)6. Shades of Gray (2012)7. Forged in Steele (2013)

Maren and steele are just begining to have a romantic relationship with eachother when she is kidnapped by a drug lord to oversee his recovory after his surgury and he becomes obsessed with her, it is upto kgi and steele to find maren and save her as he blames himself for not being there when she wad taken.this book start off really well and is full of romance and action that had me hooked from the first page but it sort of drifted off when maren was rescued and the main characters did nothing but sit around and talk and it became boring also the characters had pages of what they thought and it was always boring and unemotional but had no dialogue in so i began flicking through those pages, the action part of the story picks up near the end of the book but the romance is boring except at the begining but it is nothing hot and emotional like her earlier kgi books.

For the KGI readers.This is Steele`s story. If you are expecting this series to fall off its not this book, all the 7 books are excellent but I enjoyed this one most.I am now hoping Hancock is going to feature in the follow on books.For those of you who have not read these series of 7 and you enjoy stories of ex seals/dark opps these books are for you. I bought the whole 7 and proceeded to read them one after the other, keeping up with the Kelly family without going over and over stories from the previous books and I am looking forward to book 8 in 2014. I have already read these books twice and I shall read them again probably over Christmas.Buy them and enjoy.Marrianna.

Having read the previous stories in the series I knew what to expect from Steele. Although the story started promisingly: as it progressed I found the total change in Steele made him less impressive as a character. Yes I know love is supposed to change people to some degree. But Steele became mushy around the Doctor in a way that seemed too far stretched for such a strong personality as Steele had always shown in previous books. The plot was also a little stretched and the bad guy too stereotyped.It was readable and that was all really. Certainly could have been better.

I am big fan of Maya Banks books and in special her KGI series and yet again she hasn't disappoint her readers with another amazing book in this series.I have no words to describe how i feel about Steele. He is just AMAZING. An ICED MAN, ALPHA MALE, HOT, SWEET, TOUGH, he is everything a woman will want. I loved to watch him change in his relation with Maren. So different than we know him in the previous books, Cold as a Steele but he can melt for the right woman.If you read the previous books from this series don't miss this one either. It's so worth it.