Gren wants nothing more than to enjoy his month-long vacation at an oceanside resort. The last person he wants to see, friend or not, is Peacekeeper Sernal of Mardu. Sernal needs Gren's help to bring down an organized kidnapping ring. With rogue peacekeepers likely involved in the kidnappings of fifteen women, he knows that Gren might be the only one he can trust to get the women back before they're sold into slavery. Gren knows his fighting skills and special abilities with women make him singularly suited to the mission. Grudgingly accepting the mission, he meets his partner, beautiful Peacekeeper Temis Freya, and finds himself drawn not only to her beauty, but to her capable fighting skills as well.

Stubborn to a flaw, Temis has had to work against male discrimination to advance within the peacekeeper ranks. When she's assigned to an undercover mission with an infamous mercenary, a man with a reputation for theft, even murder, she knows she must work with him, but that's as far as their association will go. Or so she thought. Suddenly finding herself in an erotic turn of events, she discovers that Gren has used mind control to manipulate her into a change in their mission plans. How can she trust her own feelings or for that matter, his intentions, when he can sway her mind to do his bidding? Moreover, how can she continue to work successfully with him to win the dangerous game they're playing with the slavery ring? A ring that's willing to get what they want by any means necessary.

,i>Engaging Gren is book three in the Life in the Vrail series, following on the heels of Lurin's Surrender and Thief of Mardu. Previously released under the title Winner Takes All, Ms. Harte has brought two unlikely characters together to deliver a very passionate read that has been extensively rewritten for this re-release. While their mission moves the plot along somewhat sluggishly at times, the intense chemistry between Gren and Temis makes this book well worth reading. Be aware it contains scenes of voyeurism.

Gren is the quintessential rogue mercenary with a heart. Despite his bad rep, one of his special abilities is sensitivity to female suffering, which results in his need to rescue damsels in distress. Although he exerts mind-control over Temis as part of their plan to rescue the women, I love that he didn't use that ability to coerce her into a relationship with her. Temis is as feisty and in-your-face aggressive as women come. I liked that Ms. Harte gave her an active part in the women's rescue vs. the old stand-back-and-get-in-the-way role.

Although this book is able to stand alone as a solitary read, to get the most out of this story and to better understand the world building in it, I recommend reading books one and two first. The fourth book in the series, Seriana Found, is due out in July 2010.

Reviewed by: Merrylee