REVIEW: COVERT ASSIGNMENT BY MISSY MARCIASSA (COVERT #1)

Covert Assignment is a New Adult, Coming of Age Novel with a strong romantic element. Elle is ready for graduation and full-fledged adulthood: no more living like the leftover of her parent’s divorce. She’s about to graduate with her degree in Information Science (the 21st century term for Library Science) and has a ten-year plan as well-designed as any model for analyzing metadata: earn her JD/MBA, enjoy a couple of years as a single professional, then marry her college sweetheart, Adam, and start her own family.

Yet Elle feels like she returned to an alternate universe her final semester. There are pictures of Adam with a classmate who must be surgically enhanced, but he insists he wants Elle. CIA recruiters show up on campus, and they aren’t just interested in recruiting Elle for future employment: turns out she’s already working for them since they’re funding her thesis. Hot operative Preston Raddick is tasked to work with her. Preston isn’t just hot: he’s hot for Elle, but is he offering happy ever after or happy for right now? A fling with Preston could be the beginning of a new life plan, which is exciting and scary, especially with espionage thrown in. Elle needs a predictive model to tell her which decisions have the greater likelihood for happiness…

Covert Assignment is about the unexpected turns life can take when making “adult” decisions.

Kindle Edition, First, 234 pages
Published December 1st 2013
Source: received from publisher via Netgalley
Purchase: Goodreads | Amazon

Our Review:

It helped knowing that this is a 3 book series before I started because I didn't expect a simple and easy wrap up at the end. And before we go any further you should know that all 3 books are out...so if this series looks good to you, there will be no waiting to get to the end. Right...though even knowing it was a series ahead of time still had me worried how it would end. Rest assured though, this one wraps up and doesn't have an ugly cliffhanger, in case you were worried! 

Honestly, the plot isn't really fast moving for the first half of the book. Instead this first part gives us some insight into Elle and her plans and her douchey boyfriend, Adam. We come to learn that because Elle has divorced parents who somehow lost her in the shuffle of remarrying and children, and because of this, stability and having a game plan are very important for her to feel safe. As we continue to learn and understand her in this first part, it's easy to see that her friends (while sometimes pushy and frustrating) take on the role of family and begin to push Elle to think about straying from the plan.It helps when she begins to work with Preston, a CIA operative, who also shows her the benefit of looking beyond the plan...to learn how to be flexible and relax when things don't go the way you think they should. Her friends and family had me sympathizing with her, and wanting her to develop that backbone a bit from the very first few pages. I agree, the beginning was slow...but not terrible considering there was quite a bit of story to set up. I can say that it didn't begin how I thought it would...and how she gets landed in the middle of this operation was unbelievable, but fun. I love the idea, as I am a big Covert Affairs TV show fan. 

As the novel progresses, the plot involving her and Preston becomes more prevalent. It isn't just their "fling" that changes things for her, but also her desire to change some things in her life...her plan changes. She begins to question life after college. But as she contemplating all of this, some unsettling things happen that cause her to stop and ponder if maybe she should go back to the plan. I loved how he helped her start making decisions for herself. And still, it was funny when people starting pointing changes out to her, she still doubted herself. That was hard, but you know that is unfortunately how it can go. There is one plotline that she hung onto tooth and nail for far too long, and I think you'll see it too...if she had held on much longer I wouldn't have been sympathizing with her anymore! 

Before you know it, this first novel in the series ends. In the very near future, we'll have book two reviewed for you to give you a little insight on where these characters are headed next. I hope in a good place, but you know how second books in a trilogy are destined to go. I sense more heartbreak for Elle in the future even though she is starting to develop a fierce sense of self. And don't you worry...there is bound to be more espionage and CIA lingo in the mix. I like it. 

Shelley: 3 stars
Courtney: 3 1/2 Stars

About Missy Marciassa: 

So who am I? It’s a reasonable question. IRL I did the practical thing, spent a very long time in school, and am supposed to be a responsible professional. Well, I am a responsible professional, but this nagging urge to write just Will Not Leave Me Alone.

So I’ve finally decided to stop fighting the urge and go with it. Going with the flow isn’t something I typically do very well (why go with the flow when you can try to control it?), but this time, I’m going to do it.

I learned about this new category called New Adult and knew it was time. Trying to make that transition into becoming a full-fledged adult is exciting, terrifying, crazy, exhilarating… what’s not to like? That is exactly the type of character that keeps speaking to me, and it’s time I gave them voices. I hope you enjoy these characters and their stories as much as I do.

If you want to hear about new releases coming up, then join my Mailing List! I won’t share or sell the list with anyone and will only send out an email when there’s a new release. I know we all get more than enough email these days.

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