Maya Banks – Echoes at Dawn

The fifth book in the Kelly/KGI series, published July 3, 2012.
Genre: romantic suspense
Cover: I like hot men on my covers.



Grace Peterson is desperate, in hiding, and on the run after escaping a shadowy group determined to exploit her extraordinary ability to heal others. Her only lifeline--an unerring telepathic ability she shares with her sister--has been severed, leaving her alone and vulnerable. And time is running out...
Enlisted to bring Grace home is Rio, relentless member of the KGI. He's unprepared for his reaction to this wounded, damaged woman, and he's fiercely determined to protect her from those who nearly destroyed her. In Rio, she finds a safe haven, and for the first time...hope. But the mission is far from over. The danger Grace has eluded is fast closing in. And now it's pitching two lovers toward an unfamiliar horizon, with no place left to hide.


From the first time Rio saw Grace on some surveillance video, he knew she was his woman. And he would do everything to find her, to safe her and to keep her safe. She was out there somewhere, wounded and on the run, and he would be the first to get to her. There was no other option. Keeping her safe was not as easy as finding her, now Titan was after her. Rio used to work for Titan, and he new they never failed a mission yet. He thought them that, nothing is as important as the mission. But who has hired them, when even he thought they were disbanded a few years ago?
Grace is on the verge of dying, ready to give up, tired of running and being tortured. And now some guy has found her, and he wants her to keep living, to push herself even more. Why is he so interested in her? Is it true that he knows her sister Shea? She never had the chance of living a normal life, being home schooled by their “parents”, and to shy to go out and meet people. Then their “parents” get murdered, and she and Shea spent the next years on the run, never staying long in one place. And still they got caught and experimented upon. She is determined never to go back to that.

Being in Rio’s home in Belize gives Grace some much needed time to heal, both physically as psychically. She misses the psychic connection with her sister, and fears that it will never come back. But Rio is there to support her, to give her hope. He wants her, and she cannot think why. No one ever cared for her, apart from her sister. And slowly, she blossoms, and dares to explore a relationship with Rio. They won’t have much time together before they have to return to the normal world and normal life again.

But the rich man who needs Grace to heal his daughter won’t give up. She is his last hope, and he will have her, no matter the costs. And Titan is not about to fail on this mission. Not even if the whole of KGI is there to protect her. And Grace is not willing to have other people die for her sake. Not even Rio can prevent her from doing what she needs to do, nor their new love for each other.


I love Maya Banks KGI series. A bunch of tough as nails brothers and the men they work with. Doing the things the American government and black ops teams cannot or will not do. But with a conscience. Rescue missions, stealth missions. Armed with cutting edge technology and weapons, they will get the job done. Shea has become part of their family in the previous book, and now Grace needs rescuing. They will do what is necessary to protect her, and they will free her again if they can.
I liked Grace. She comes back from the brink of death again and again, and she still is a sweet woman. But she has a backbone of steel, as Rio soon finds out. He cannot push her farther than she is willing to go, and she will stand up for herself and her man. She really stole the show a few times on that account.
Rio made some bad choices back then, and he deeply regrets it, thinking not very highly of himself. Thinking he does not deserve a woman like Grace, but also determined not to let her go. He is honourable, good at what he does, and of course very handsome, muscular and hot. Together they make quite the pair.
Mix those two great main characters with meeting all the Kelly’s again, and you have a recipe for a great book. Some things in the plot sure surprised me, and I am looking forward to the next book, which should be on its way home already.

9 stars

© 2012 Reviews by Aurian