This was the 1st book in the Elite Ops series and I have to say it was pretty good. I’m a huge fan of Leigh’s Breed series and was a bit wary to try a series by her that wasn’t paranormal. Nathan Malone was a Navy Seal who goes away on a dangerous mission leaving behind his wife. Then one day his wife, Bella, is told that Nathan is dead. This isn’t true. Nathan had been held hostage and tortured by a drug cartel. Once he rescued it takes year of reconstructive surgeries and retrain before he can function again. The only thing he asks is that Bella not be told that he’s alive. He leaves the SEALs to join the Elite Ops. Well 6 years after his death, Nathan, who is now Noah , must return to his home town to help bring down a group that is kidnapping and killing illegal immigrants. Trouble is, the wife he left behind is in the centre of the madness, so it up to Noah to protect her, without ever letting her know his true identity. The was a touching story that was hot in all the right places. I liked that just because Bella thought she lost her husband that she didn’t just fall apart. She stepped up and became the person she needed to be in order to take care of herself instead of waiting for someone else to do it for her. I fully intend to read the rest of the books in these series.

This one is a keeper. One of those books that you can't stop reading and then find yourself sad as you approach the end because you don't want it to be over. Wild Card is a beautiful romance with scorching hot love scenes, plenty of action and a sexy alpha male hero that literally jumps off the pages at you. Bound in leather chaps and just daring you to get on the back of his Harley. What an escape. Navy Seal Nathan Malone was happily married to his young wife Sabella. His last mission was supposed to be simple, infiltrate a Columbian drug cartel and rescue three young girls. But things went disastrously wrong and Nathan finds himself at the hands of Diego Fuentes the evil crime lord. He is held captive for 3 years, pumped full of experimental drugs, tortured and beaten beyond recognition. When he's finally rescued there isn't much left of the man he used to be. Scared inside and out, Nathan now feels that he's too damaged and violent to ever return to his wife and joins a team of covert ops. After several reconstructive surgeries Nathan Malone becomes Noah Blake aka Wildcard. The man his wife loved is now gone forever. Several years later a new mission (ironically enough) takes Noah back to his hometown and puts him undercover as a mechanic in Sabella's garage. He'd assumed that after 6 years his wife would have moved on with her life but she hasn't ever let Nathan go. After learning of Nathan's death Sabella didn't leave the house for 3 years, barely functioning, she dreams of him. There's is a love that will last forever, she tells herself. Only after almost losing their home and business does she manage to pull herself together enough to rejoin the world. Sabella initially has no idea that the sexy new Harley riding mechanic is her dead husband but something draws her to him and awakens feelings she had thought long buried. Nathan is stunned that Sabella isn't the agreeable little wallflower that he remembers as his wife anymore. Where did this tough, no nonsense woman come from? This establishes the characters into their plotlines and that's when the story really gets going. The sex scenes are amazingly hot but they are also filled with such tenderness and longing that you will simply sigh. Lora Leigh pushes the boundaries further each time Noah and Bella are together and just when you think they couldn't possibly do anything else sexually, that it's just going to be another sex scene, she manages to make it different and even more exciting. The running internal dialogue is also well done here and heartbreaking as Noah struggles with the ghost of the man he used to be and Sabella tries to not let on that she knows who he really is. The endings full of suspense and I wasn't certain until the last few pages if our couple would truly get their HEA or if our testosterone filled hero would leave again. For an erotic Romance this is a very involved story and surprisingly long at 415 pages. Lora Leigh however had me enamoured from beginning to end and I feel that this is some of her best work. The unconditional love between the main characters was beautifully written, the story interesting and suspenseful. My only complaint would be the few sloppy mistakes overlooked by her editor. This is a story that I won't soon forget. Highly recommended. It's now been a few days since I finished reading Wildcard and an interesting thing has happened. I can no longer remember the sex scenes but I still find myself thinking about the love story. Go Siorai, Forever my soul.

I’m a fan of Lora Leigh’s books and had read Hidden Agendas, so I picked this book up to continue with this Navy SEALs series. I am so glad I did because it’s one of my favourites now. The book has a great storyline and the characters are deep and interesting. The relationship between Sabella and Nathan/Noah is really well written and you just can’t help but love their story. Like most Leigh novels, Wildcard is NOT for the faint of heart, so if you don’t like your romances steamy, this isn’t for you. That aside, if you like a great plot, interesting characters, and a story with heart, this book is for you!

All I can say is WOW!! This was my first Lora Leigh book and I was very impressed. Not only was it a great story, it had it all; true love, grief, new love and great sex. The sex? All i can say is "keep it coming" -pardon the pun.

Not bad for a new series. Lora's books are usually pretty good but this one only ranked 'not bad' for me. I've enjoyed some of her other novels more. I think that once Bella found out about Noah's identity, and how she said that lying to her was a very bad, bad thing ... she should have tortured him more! That would've been fun. A good weekend read.

Why I read this: I wanted to get the horror that was Nauti Dreams out of my head. I also thought this was the most recent Tempting Seals book, but it is not. Players from the Temping Seals series are in this book, but Wild Card is in fact book one in the new Elite Ops series. I'm glad I read this. After Nauti Dreams and a few other LL books lately, I was ready to give up on this author. Wild Card was a save. Whew. Next to amnesia, hidden identity is my favourite cliche storyline, so this was a real treat. Bella is devastated when her husband, Nathan, dies on a mission. For three years she stays hidden away, putting her life on hold. When she finds out that Nathan's shop is about to go under, she comes out of her depression and works her ass off to keep it afloat. Another 3 years pass by, and Noah comes to town. Noah is really Nathan, but due to some major plastic surgery to repair damage done to him while he was held by enemies, he is unrecognizable. At first, I thought that this was going to be an eye roller. Even after 6 years, and some operations, who is not going to recognize her husband as soon as she first kisses him? Lora Leigh made it work though. She delved into the psyschy of each character and I believed it. There is a time when Bella figures it all out, and she has a bit of fun messing with Noah. Saying things that only Nathan would get, etc. Noah goes through a bit of a roller coaster with his emotions. He loves Bella, never stopped loving her, but for reasons explained in the book, he can't let her know who he is, and he almost feels jealous at both sides of himself. The Nathan part of him feels jealous that Bella seems to be moving on with Noah, and the Noah part of him is jealous that Bella wont totally let go of her dead husband. Like I said, the psychological aspect of it is written very well. It was interesting. B+. Because even though the sex scenes all started off damn good, by the last few, they were starting to get repetitive.

Wow! What a rollercoaster of emotions. Lora Leigh out did her self with this novel, one minute I’m teary and the next I’m outraged for the main character Bella. I loved the story line and the main characters. Wild Card was steamy, sexy, sad, funny and infuriating in all the right places. I cant wait for the next novel!

This is Lora Leigh's best one yet! Once I began reading it I couldn't put it down. The storyline is great, fast pased and the characters are easy to love! Well worth the wait for " Nathan's" book !!! Hope the rest of the titles in this series are as good.