Next Tuesday is a BIG release day for me. Several of my favorite authors have books coming out that day so I was thinking about taking a day off just for me. Then I realized that it's Spring Break week for my kids and they would be home with me....so now I am re-thinking that plan. LOL Don't get me wrong I love my kids but the only time they want to talk to me is when I am trying to read. And it's always obscure, random, why did you need to ask me that now, kind of questions. Big plans for the weekend, Jenn has a birthday on Friday and we and doing super duper secret things on Saturday. I love that my friends are like me in that we go out of our way to make birthday's a big deal for each other. It doesn't have to be anything expensive it's just all about being together and showing that person they are important to you.
So this week is Kaylea Cross week and if you have not read one of her books what are you waiting for?? She was a new to me author and I am so glad to have found her because her books are well written and suck you right in.
No Turning Back, Kaylea Cross, The Wild Rose Press, March 2010
CIA communications expert Samarra Wallace is on the run from a faceless enemy when she learns terrorists have kidnapped and threatened to execute her cousin. She will do whatever it takes to free her, including breaking cover to contact the former teammate she is dangerously attracted to. Now all she has to do is convince him she's not working for the bad guys. Ex-Army Ranger Ben Sinclair isn't sure he can trust Sam, but he can't turn her away. Lives are at stake and she may be the only way to capture the terrorist mastermind his team is hunting. Despite his reservations, he finds himself falling for her. But when Sam's innocence is questioned again during a botched operation in the remote mountains of Afghanistan, the team pays a terrible price for trusting her. In the wake of that staggering betrayal Ben must decide if she's the innocent woman he fell in love with, or if she's a traitor who'd set them up to die.
Sam works for the CIA as a communications expert and Ben is an ex-army ranger/body guard working on the same team. Sam believes she is being followed by either a terrorist cell or the CIA, panicking she flees and sets off a series of events that lead people on her team to believe she is a traitor.
When the one person Sam cares about the most, her cousin, is kidnapped by a terrorist group she has no choice but to return to her team and prove her innocence to help save her cousin's life. She is in a very difficult position, her team and Ben continually question her loyalty throughout the book. Whenever something goes wrong during the rescue mission, it is Sam's loyalty that is questioned.
As you know I am a stickler about books being read in order, never has that been more important than with this series. This book picks up basically where Cover of Darkness ends. It reads so true to life it could have been a story on CNN. It is suspenseful and scary and everything that I have come to expect with Kaylea's books. I completely connected to Sam's character and had so much empathy for her. To know that the people you work with every day suspect you of being a traitor would be so difficult. I could also understand Ben's concerns,so many things pointed to Sam being a traitor that it was hard to believe otherwise. I appreciate the strong female characters that exist throughout Ms. Cross work. I love when an author shows how incredibly strong and capable women are without making them come across as a bitch. The chemistry between Sam and Ben leaps off the page and is smoking hot. Strong secondary character's and a plot line that never stops made this a great read. I couldn't wait to get to the next story. I give No Turning Back 5 chocolate dipped strawberries.
I couldn't agree with you more... No Turning Back has an original plot with so many twists and turns that though the reader expects a happy ever after because it's a romance, the suspense leaves the reader guessing. This is my favorite thing about this book – heck, about the whole series. I was on the edge of my seat because there were no parts of the story where I could be certain what was to come. Kaylea created a strong storyline with the military/ suspense aspect of the plot as strong as the romance aspect, providing a realistic story while still giving romantics-at-heart the ending they need. For my full review on this book, go to: http://www.theromancereviews.com/rpoma72.
ReplyDeleteHi guys! I'm glad you both liked Ben's story. He exhausted me, for real, but he came through in the end :)
ReplyDeleteOoh! This sounds like a fantastic read Kaylea. I must admit to not having had the pleasure of reading your work yet, but now I will be - can't wait! I've read nothing but great things about your writing too so I'm in for a treat : )
ReplyDeleteI think Ben is one of your most complex heroes, Kaylea, which is probably why he exhausted you. But I loved his charming, playful side that was so in contrast with his military side. He was a great secondary character in the other books that followed in the series too. It was like you couldn't let him go, he demanded a place in the other books. And thank you for that... he is a charmer (lucky Sam).
ReplyDeleteHi, LaVerne, thanks. I hope you enjoy the books!
ReplyDeleteRebecca, Ben is complex, and that's a very polite way of saying it ;) He provided some comic relief in the other books, so I appreciated that he was able to lighten the mood somewhat in the darker moments.