Forged in Steele (A KGI Novel) Mass Market Paperback – June 25, 2013

I have read all the KGI novels, and the novella. The series, for those who have not read any of them, is based around 6 brothers who run a quasi-military 'company' that specializes in hostage rettrieval, among other things. That is the short and sweet synopsis of KGI. The first 4 books, and the novella, were about 4 of the brothers, who own the company. The other two, and this one, are about the other teams that work for the brothers. Most of these books contain a lot of action and adventure, some spicy love scenes, and some VERY alpha, fit males. This one was a little different. In this book we get to know Steele, one of the other team leaders, much better. He is known as the 'ICE MAN', since nothing ever seems to faze him. His HEA is Maren Scofield, an American Doctor who lives in Costa Rica. She is the go-to doctor whenever the KGI teams need medical attention. I really loved this book, even though it seemed to deviate a little from the other KGI stories. There seemed to be more character development, and more delving into the actual feelings of the main characters. I felt that there was not nearly as much action in this book as in the others, but, it was still great. There were funny parts, and there were some parts that really had me emotionally. Maren and Steele faced off in some very moving, and heart warming emotional scenes. The Kelly family was prominent in several of the chapters, and it is always nice when an author keeps us up to date on other 'family' members of a series. There were some plot twists, that very obviously paved the way for another new book, especially for Hancock. The camaraderie between team members, and especially the Kelly brothers, is fun to look forward to. Maya Banks does a great job of giving us a minimal background of the other characters, just enough that if you have not read the other books, you are intrigued enough to want to go and get the rest of the books. Overall, the book was another great read in the series, and keeps us waiting for the rest of the family's books.

What can I say? I've been reading all the KGI series by Maya Banks--I love this series, but I believe I have a new favorite in Forged in Steele! Steele is known as the "Ice man". His brooding demeanor and no-nonsense tactics have earned him a hard-nosed reputation, until his heart has a total melt-down for field doctor, Maren Scofield.When one of his team members is injured, Steele is forced to stop by her clinic for medical attention. The doctor has been under his skin for quite some time and he decides to make a move on her to rid himself of the itch, only after a night of hot love making she is imbedded deeper than he ever imagined possible. Little does he know that during his first visit there was a bit of a slip up and the doctor is now pregnant with his child. After a second visit with the good doctor, Steele realizes that she is the one for him. Maren wants to tell him about the baby but puts the news on hold until he comes back from a dangerous mission, only someone else has his sights set on Maren, and she is abducted while Steele is on his mission.The race is on to find the woman who has melted Steele's heart, and KGI finds an ally in an unlikely individual.Forged in Steele is an action-packed romance hot sex filled adventure that only Maya Banks can deliver! That said I almost gave this story a 3 or 4 star rating. Why? Because Banks has a very bad habit of repeating information over and over and over again. Example: How much Steele is devoted to his team. How much KGI means to Steele. How confused Steele is by his feelings for Maren. I found myself skipping paragraph after paragraph and page after page of repeated information. I don't know if Banks was falling short of page count, but it would be really nice if she would put a lid on the endless pages of stuff that the reader has already been told and told and told. The fabulous climax and the heartwarming ending redeemed Ms. Banks to this 5 star rating.

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.