Luca

Project Arma, Book 1

By: Nyssa Kathryn

Narrated by: Ramona Master, Gideon Frost

Run. Hide. Don’t look back.

Evie Scott went through hell and barely escaped. Now, she does everything she can to remain invisible. To survive. Because if she’s found, she’s dead.

Then she meets Luca…and there’s a spark. But is he worth the risk?

Former Navy SEAL Luca Kirwin is both well-trained and deadly. Recruited into a non-sanctioned government project, he was unknowingly turned into a weapon. Now, he and his team have one mission—shut down the program.

When a new neighbor with haunted eyes moves in next door, his instincts tell Luca he can trust her. But could she be one of the enemies he’s searching for?

As the couple falls deeper, and the danger gets closer, they’ll have to learn to trust in each other…before it’s too late.

©2020 NW Partners (P)2023 Blue Nose Publishing

Good

This book went from WOW to “eye-roll” and then back to WOW. The storyline was good and so was the writing. The male narrator was awesome!!!!! He really nailed it. The female narrator was good, I think the issue I had with her was more the writing than her performance. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy intrigue and a bit of romance. If you’re looking for super “Hot” and “Spicy”, this is not it.

Strong Hero, traumatized heroine!

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 🖤💙❤️💜
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌍🌏
Character development: 😚☹️🥹😉
Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration type: Dual Narration

The heroine: Evie - she recently moved to the town of Marble Falls, to a small affordable house where she could pay in cash and buy herself a few months of anonymity. She was on the run and was always looking in her rearview for the man who was coming for her, who would hold her hostage again. His name was Troy, and he abused her, physically and emotionally. Evie had been running for a while now, moving every few months, while looking for answers as to why Troy turned into a monster. This was her fifth town, fifth house and like all the others it was only temporary.

The Hero: Luca - he was a Navy SEAL before he was put into “the facility,” which was where he and his Team were held after being recruited for a top-secret program that was not sanctioned by the government. He and his friends were already at the top of their game while in the military, but the program (Project Arma) turned them into live experiments. They were used and lied to and have a lot of anger about it. The government found them and freed them, gave them some reparation money, which they used to open a security and protection firm. Though they all want to find the people in charge of Project Arma as well as any teammates they haven’t yet found.

The Story: When Evie moved into her new house, it wasn’t long before she met her neighbor Luca. He scared her when he first came up to her. She could tell his was military and immediately thought he worked for Troy until he explained he lived in the house next door. She nearly had a panic attack but practiced her breathing to calm down. She promised herself she would never be a victim again, so decided to steer clear of Luca. Though things didn’t work out that way after she gets a job at the company he owns with his friends.

I have been liking the genetically engineered super soldier trope quite a bit lately. I didn’t know for sure that was what this one would be based on the blurb and was happy to find out it was. It was different than most in that the guys are away from the project and living a relatively normal life now. Also, it seems that while they were at the facility they were experimented on without their knowledge and held captive there, but it doesn’t sound like they were tortured as in many books with the genetic experiment trope.

This audiobook was told in dual points of view via dual narration and was narrated by Romona Masters and Gideon Frost. Romona isn’t my favorite female narrator, though her voice was nice. Gideon Frost has a nice voice, and sounds very natural, though I tend to like the male narrator to have a deeper voice. Overall, these two did a great job and I really did end up liking their voices and the story was great. There wasn’t anything completely original about the story, but I don’t always need that and enjoyed this quite a bit. I will definitely read more of this series.

Luca and Evie

I absolutely love the beginning of the Project Arma and Luca is perfect for the beginning character! Gideon Frost was able to bring Luca alive in my mind while listening to his desire to help Evie and protect her. Luca has extra strength given to him without his consent and he and his team decided to use that strength to help others and his neighbor just happens to need his help even though she won't ask for it, but she is also gorgeous!
I have never heard Ramona Master narrate a book before so I thought she was perfect for the beginning of the Project Arma Series and for Evie! Evie has been running and hiding for a long time and she hoped she could finally stay in one spot but all of a sudden she doesn't feel safe anymore. Her neighbor makes her nervous but she isn't afraid of him hurting her in a physical sense, only her heart. Evie finds herself being terrorized and calls on Luca to help her little did she know that he is quite similar to her ex, the man that wants to own her and control her. Can she trust her neighbor whom she just met more than she trusted her ex?

I love this series. I have read each book but I enjoy listening to them just as much because listening to them allows me to visualize so much more than reading. Nyssa Kathryn did an incredible job and you will not be disappointed in any of her books!

first by this author!

This was my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it!

I just learned that there is a prequel novella to this series (which you can get free if you sign up for the author's newsletter) so I am definitely going to go and check that out. I think having that extra background information will be helpful moving forward with this series.

I really enjoyed Luca and Evie together. I loved how determined he was to stick with her even though she was pushing him away. He was so patient and caring with her.

I can't wait to continue with this series to see where things will go from here.

This was my first time listening to a book narrated by Gideon and I really enjoyed his performance. I've listened to Ramona before and enjoyed her performance as well.

Military twist

Not your typical military romance. I like the twist the author added to make the story interesting. Can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

Fast paced ! Great story

Really loved the pace of the story and that it had a different element to it . For sure going to continue reading the series .

A Thrilling Romantic Suspense! Fantastic Story & Listen🎧

This is my first book written by Nyssa Kathryn and wow, consider me impressed and I am looking forward to enjoying and experiencing more of her books. “Luca” is a fascinating and action packed romantic suspense with a side of paranormal elements, a band of former military who opened their own business, Marble Protection, that specializes in security and self defense. They are also on a mission to find those behind “Project Arma” and shut them down. Each book features a different member of the team and this book is Luca “Rocket” Kirwin’s story. This first book lays down the foundation for the series and it certainly is a great and exciting way to start. Evie Scott is on the run from her abusive ex-boyfriend, she is afraid he will track her down so she moves around a lot. Moving into her new place, her neighbor comes to introduce himself, and she freezes up because he reminds her of her ex, Troy, same military look. Luca senses her fear and backs away, but there is something about her that draws him to her. She applies for a job not knowing it was his business, and she is ready to bail because she is not sure she could handle being around the self-defense classes, but she knew she needed the job. She was reluctant and skittish, but the more time she spent with Luca and the guys at work, she grew more comfortable with them, trusting but not enough to share her past. There was more to Evie besides being on the run, she is good with computers and she is trying to find out what caused Troy to get so violent, since he was not always like that with her. And when her past comes back to haunt her, and she learns there is a connection between Luca and Troy, the first thing she wants to do is run. There is so much to love about this book, the writing, the plotting, the layers and complexity of the story and characters, the originality and the world building, all are fantastic and I loved how it all played out. Nyssa Kathryn, thank you for this amazing story and the wild ride.

🎧📚🎧 And for the fantastic narration, Romana Master and Gideon Frost were the perfect cast to bring these characters to life and did so with a complete understanding of who they were portraying and were believable in every role they played. Ramona Master nailed it is Evie, grasping every side of her personality, her vulnerabilities, determination and strength. Gideon Frost did the same for Luca, playing his role with perfection. Both were fabulous performing the roles of the secondary characters too. They set the perfect tone for the story, captured all the characters’ emotions and had you feeling every single one. These versatile voice artists are entertaining storytellers and a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for another great listen.

What and intense listen!

TW: Abusive Ex/DV

•romantic suspense
•ex military
•broken FMC

This book was narrated by Roman Master and Gideon Frost. They were absolutely amazing. The emotion they gave to the characters just brought the story to a whole new level. It made Evie’s trauma that much more real and gut wrenching! If you haven’t listened to the audiobook or read the story. I highly recommend!

I Enjoyed It

It’s a good story. I don’t like the idea of introducing all of the characters for the series in one big. It can become confusing and too involved. Other than that, I think it was good. The storyline was well developed, the writing was great. I wasn’t disappointed with this story at all. It was overall a pretty thrilling read.
The voice actors were a little infuriating at times. The girl sounds like Velma, breathless and full of snot, but when she does the voice for the other preppy female character, she sounds cute. It makes you want her to fake it more. The male narrator has a nice voice but it also matter of fact. I think it fits Luca fairly well, but it also came off as kind of cold sometimes. You’re reading words of emotion, but not conveying any. Lol.

Wonderful story

This is the start of a series that is thought provoking, heartbreaking as well as heartwarming.
For ten months group of former Navy SEALs that were part of a project they thought was all about enhancing their body. Unbeknown to them, they were guineas pigs in a drug trial that was off the books and one that almost got them killed. Even after they left the project, it appears that the project has continued creating men who have become animals and killers.
This first story belongs to Luca Kirwin and his new neighbor Evie Scott. The attraction is evident but the danger that surrounds them could end their lives.
An action packed suspense romance that leaves this listener anxious for the next story.
Must add that the narrators Ramona Master and Gideon Frost brought the story to life.
I was entrusted a copy of this audiobook. The opinions expressed are solely my own.