Review: The Russian Seduction – Nikki Navarre

Victor Kostenko was the golden boy of the Russian Navy, a submarine captain with a maverick image, until he lost his command for an act of treason he didn’t commit. Arrogant, aggressive, and super-smart, the captain pairs his daunting reputation with an appetite for adventure. And he’s never met a rule he won’t break. Now it’s rumored he’ll do anything to get back in his government’s good graces. 
Political Counselor Alexis Castle is one of the highest-ranked diplomats at the U.S. Embassy, a rising star who yearns to live up to her father’s legacy as a legendary ambassador. Brilliant and driven, she’s always played by the rules. She’ll torpedo her career for sure if she falls for one of the world’s most dangerous men – a bad-boy Russian sub captain who breaks every rule in the book.
When a hard-line Russian leader invades a country the U.S. promised to protect, war can only be avoided by a risky undercover liaison between one man who has everything to gain…and a woman who has everything to lose.

Series:
Release Date:  October 1, 2012
Publisher:  River Valley Publishing
Source:  Lit Connect
Buy the book at:

Reviewer’s Thoughts:

Oh my!  Nikki Navarre has provided us with political / romantic suspense story that kept me on the edge of my seat.  For political junkies, it was the perfect mix of intrigue, political tension and romance to hook you.

Alexis Castel has worked hard to earn the post of Counselor at the US Embassy in Moscow, despite who her father was and the fact that she reports directly to her ex-husband.  With tensions rising between Russia and Ukraine, it’s Alexis’ job to make contact with her Russian counterpart, ex-sub captain Victor Kostenko, and try to find a way for Russia to back down before the President’s visit in a few weeks.  She didn’t count on the sparks flying when she mets Victor or to become embroiled in a Russian cover-up about what exactly happened when one of their ballistic missile subs went down two years before.

I love a good political thriller and The Russian Seduction is a really, really good one.  Told for Alexis’ point of view (in the third person) we find a woman torn between the expectation of her father, her ex-husband and what she really wants.  While she excels at her job, she’s finding herself restless.  When she mets Victor, he (unknowingly because she hides it behind political bravado) unleashes the adventurer in Alexis.  She fights herself, for three quarters of the book, because despite wanting to be a woman in control of her life she finds herself hopelessly attracted to Victor and willing to let him take charge (a place she never wanted to be in again).  Alexis has to look deeply at herself and her desires to discover that a little adventure with a former Russian sub captain is exactly what she needs.

I look forward to reading more from Nikki Navarre.