by M.L. Buchman
- Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (February 7, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1402258100
- ISBN-13: 978-1402258107
My Rating: 4.75 of 5.0
Book Description
Publication Date: February 7, 2012 | Series: The Night Stalker
NAME: Emily Beale
RANK: Captain
MISSION: Fly undercover to prevent the assassination of the First Lady, posing as her executive pilot.
NAME: Mark Henderson, code name Viper
RANK: Major
MISSION: Undercover role of wealthy, ex-mercenary boyfriend to Emily
Their jobs are high risk, high reward:
Protect
the lives of the powerful and the elite at all cost. Neither expected
that one kiss could distract them from their mission. But as the passion
mounts between them, their lives and their hearts will both be
risked...and the reward this time may well be worth it.
Review: This book has strong characters, a suspenseful plot and fast pacing to make a very entertaining read.
Captain Emily Beale has had to fight her way to be counted as a valued member of the SOAR (Special Operations Aviation Regiment) elite flying team. She has proven herself in many missions, pulling through with skill and guts. She works hard to be even better than the men she works with so she isn’t exactly happy when a news crew focuses on her unique cooking skills in the field instead of her flying achievements. But those skills pull her out of her unit to a special undercover assignment as chef, personal pilot and protector to the First Lady. Emily doesn’t like the woman much but can’t really refuse the orders since they come from the Commander in Chief himself who happened to be her childhood “boy next door” crush.
Major Mark Henderson recognizes Beale as one of the best pilots under his command. He has tried to treat her equally with the guys but it has been hard as his admiration for her keeps expanding. He is furious to learn she has been pulled from his team with no explanation. He realizes he wants her back... and for more than her military skills. Although fraternizing with a lower ranking officer could lose them both their jobs, Mark can’t resist a kiss right before she is shipped out. That taste has him chasing after her to find what she is up to and make sure she is safe.
Emily and Mark end up expanding her undercover scheme to include him as her high power boyfriend in order to help ferret out the secrets of who is attempting to assassinate the First Lady. As they play their roles they lose the battle of trying to resist the chemical pull that they now acknowledge between them but is such a danger to their careers.
There is lots of intense flight action to kick this off. As the book progresses there are fun cooking details, trouble in the first family, challenges with the Secret Service, explosive helicopter rides, traumatic eye injury, and jealous misunderstandings. The plot was a bit outlandish but it was different and fun.
Emily is a fabulously dedicated and skilled pilot - a great, strong heroine with brains and determination. Mark is equally tough and strong with a sense of humor thrown in to add a little fun. The writing is especially crisp in the action scenes, giving the tempo an extra punch. The romance is sensual and sexy without being graphic. This was a fast read in pacing and because the excitement and suspense levels kept me glued to the action.
I happened to see this appropriate comment under the Product description:
Booklist (Starred review!)Those are three authors I love and I will add Mr. Buchman to the list if he produces more good reads like this. I'm ready for more in this series!
"Readers who enjoy Suzanne Brockmann, Vicki Hinze, and Merline Lovelace as well as those who like good romantic suspense, military or otherwise, will enjoy the first book in the Night Stalkers series."
~~~~~
Some 'romantic' observations:By Mark:
And when Captain Emily Beale flew ten tons of armored attack helicopter into battle, it was absolutely the sexiest thing he'd ever seen. Location 437.
By Emily:
Could she have found a more unlikely guardian angel than Major Mark “The Viper” Henderson? And who knew angels could make her feel so d**n happy. Location 1791.
Thank you to Sourcebooks for providing this book through NetGalley.
This was set primarily in Washington, D.C. for my Where Are You Reading Challenge. I will also add it to the ARC and New Author lists.
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