Ivy Banks and Kit Bolanger's book
Honor Unraveled (Red Team book 3)
By Elaine Levine
Book Blurb:Love Isn’t a Battle…
Kit Bolanger, ex-spec ops soldier, has followed the trail of an international drug lord back to his childhood town, the one place he swore never return to. He and his team of terrorist hunters are the only thing standing between the town’s residents and the evil threatening them. It doesn’t help to know that she’s here—the woman who betrayed his trust and shredded his heart.
…It’s a War and He’s Offering No Quarter
Deciding to put roots down, Ivy Banks has brought her daughter home to the sleepy ranching community of Wolf Creek Bend, Wyoming—the one place where she was certain she’d never run into her high school flame. But he’s back, fighting a global enemy and home-grown terrorists in a hidden war that puts their lives and their hearts in jeopardy. He was bad news in high school, and he’s even worse news now.
Surrendering to him is not an option…but it’s the only thing he’ll accept.
I love this series. Honor Unraveled is the 3rd book in the Red Team series and they are not stand alone books. It had been only a short while since I finished book 2 and I still needed a refresher on who was who in the story. It didn't take long but if you are picking up Honor Unraveled for the first time without reading the first two books, my guess is that you'd be very confused. I am still confused with the cowboy themed book covers. These stories are not cowboyish in the slightest.
Of the three books, Honor Unraveled was my least favourite. Not that I didn't like it because I did. I couldn't wait to dive into the story because the author, Elaine Levine had done a great job setting up Kit and Ivy in the previous stories. I love a story where the couple have a history attached and Ivy and Kit's background go all the way to when they were teens.
Honor Unraveled continues to give the readers snippets and a great lead-way into the next exciting book. The characters are nicely set up and I am already excited to read the fourth book whenever it comes out next.
The story-line is not as suspenseful as I was hoping but there is definitely a great story here. There is a whole lot going on with this Red Team but it is fairly easy to keep track of all the swirling plots. I also love that there are more than one story being told. The plot is growing bigger and bigger and the big bad villain is yet to be revealed Love it!
The secondary cast continues to interest me and I eagerly await their stories.
Why I didn't love Honor Unraveled as much as the other two books is that Kit and Ivy were beginning to get on my nerves. Ivy took a really long time to dwell on the past and when she finally was coming around, Kit decides to do what Ivy was afraid of all along and send her and their daughter away. It was near the end of the book and I am sure I grunted in frustration at that point. So cliche and I knew it was coming. I was just hoping the story wouldn't go there.
A new character, Selena was introduced. Why do bad ass heroines have to be big bitches? I couldn't stand her. There are a number of super cool bad ass heroines that don't have this major "alpha man" thing going on. I can name a number of tough women in fiction that are a part of all men teams that don't come across so aggressive and with an attitude the side of Mt Everest. A woman can be capable without having to be over the top tough. She can be really smart and a great fighter without the attitude.
The other element of Honor Unraveled that made me cringe was the constant bad parenting. In the first two stories I understood how crucial the bad parenting was to the plot but I felt that Ivy's situation with her parents was a huge leap. Not to sure about Ivy having to live in a car (for 3 years) and then having to give the car back to her parents. I get that her parents were not happy about her teen pregnancy and perhaps some parents would kick their daughter out but government agencies can step in to help.I wanted to just go with it but it was a big leap to go with.
Teasers: tearful graduation, three date try, cool ghost town, awesome town fight
Eden Miller and Ty Bladen's book
Shattered Valor (Red Team Book 2)
By Elaine Levine
Book Blurb:Every step leads her deeper into danger...
Eden Miller has her life arranged exactly as she wants it--until a reunion with her high school BFFs places her in the middle of a turf war with a ruthless prison gang, their terrorist allies, and the hunters tracking them. Her every move draws her deeper into the danger surrounding Ty Bladen and his team of terror fighters, but his seductive charm and engaging smile make her believe his promises of protection.
A secret is a dangerous thing...
When the terrorists Ty Bladen is tracking infiltrate his remote ranch in Wyoming, he learns the past he buried cannot be so easily escaped. Though he's recovering from a bullet wound he received in Afghanistan and is hunted by an unseen enemy, he knows he can't leave Eden alone to face the danger swirling around her, danger he and his team have brought to her--even if the has to risk letting her near his frozen heart. But when she learns his terrible secret, will she stay or will she run?
Book 1, The Edge of Courage was excellent but this book, Shattered Valor was super excellent! I am completely hooked on this series. I want book 3 now! Unfortunately I need to wait until the end of June. Well not too long of a wait I guess.
Once again I am scratching my head about the cover's relation to the story. Ty is not a cowboy nor has he ever been. It makes me think I am missing something. He left home and joined the armed forces as soon as he was old enough and he hasn't been back to his house since.
There is a deep-seated reason why Ty has not been back to his childhood home. That house (which is more like a mansion) haunts his memories and he'd just as soon as forget that nightmarish past. It is heart wrenching and the entire story is skillfully explained to the readers at a perfect pace when needed.
The readers really start to know the fabulous secondary characters of the Red Team in Shattered Valor. The first book The Edge of Courage provided brief introductions but each of the men's personalities blaze through in book 2. I can't wait for each of guy's stories and books. When is that book 3 out again? Oh yeah, end of June.
I laughed and smiled a lot more in Shattered Valor than I did in book 1. There were some genuine giggle worthy moments in Shattered Valor. Those cheerful breaks provided a great offset to the intensity of Ty's background and the deadly threat of the terrorists.
At first I thought I wouldn't care very much for Eden. She seems so defensive even with the smallest interactions. I started to appreciate Eden more as the story rolled out. She was not a "girly girl" and basically focused her energy on her career; training her dog to sniff out drugs and weapons. That career choice certainly came in handy as the men converted Ty's house over to a temporary headquarters. I loved that Ty didn't really try to coddle Eden or "protect" her. He understood she had a job to do and she needed to do it.
The intimate scenes between Ty and Eden were smoking hot and highly sensual. I loved how each of the scenes enhanced the story and the story wasn't necessarily enhanced just because two protagonists had sex.
The terrorism plot certainly thickened in Shattered Valor and I would recommend reading The Edge of Courage first.
Teasers: hidden underground bunker, heart breaking teenage memories, undergarment shopping adventure, sensual strawberry dessert
June's "New to Me" Author is Elaine Levine. I got Elaine's book, The Edge of Courage, back in 2012 at the Lori Foster Reader/Author Get-together. I was drawn to the book because it had a military flavour and I wanted to try a suspenseful romance again. I also follow Elaine Levine on Twitter.
Rocco Silas and Mandy Fielding's book
The Edge of Courage (Red Team book 1)
By Elaine Levine
Book Blurb:Haunted by memories he cannot reach, stalked by an enemy bent on revenge . . .
Rocco Silas has come home to Wyoming after long years as a Red Team operative in Afghanistan. It isn't easy returning to civilian life, especially burdened as he is with a staggering case of PTSD or hunted as he is by an enemy determined to seek an eye-for-eye--neither of which can he battle until he confronts the truth of what happened one fateful day in the high mountain ranges of the Hindu Kush.
. . . She alone holds the key to his sanity.
Mandy Fielding's dream of opening a therapeutic riding center on her family's ranch is almost within her grasp--until she hires Rocco Silas, a dangerous ex-Spec Ops friend of her brother's. His haunted eyes and passionate touch promise a love she never dared believe possible. Can they confront the truth of his past and build a future together or will the enemy stalking him destroy them both?
I had to create a new blog graphic for "Suspense" because I didn't have one. I didn't really need one before because I usually shy away from "Romantic Suspense". I have tried and tried to read the genre but more times than not I ended up rating the books low. Sensing I wasn't really connecting with the storylines I tend to avoid them. Well that is until I finally picked up Elaine Levine's The Edge of Courage book. I am officially WOW'd! This book is an absolute steal at .99 on Amazon right now. Go now. Go get it!
2013 has been a year that I have read some pretty amazing series books and this Red Team series can be added to that impressive list. One thing I will warn you about is the misleading cover. Although the man is really good looking, the male protagonist, Rocco, is not a cowboy nor does that cover model visually represent how Rocco is described.
Rocco was able to pass as an Afghani while he was deep under cover for numerous years. He posses the gift of a linguist which aided in his deception to gain entry into the immersed dark world of terrorism. The Edge of Courage will break your heart numerous times and leave you pinning for a bright moment to light up Rocco's life. Rocco is suffering from what many military soldiers face after war time, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). If ever I wanted to reach into a book and hug a hero it was with The Edge or Courage.
The Edge or Courage is edgy and unputdownable. I was awake until the wee hours of the morning flipping the pages. Elaine Levine does not gloss over PTSD and does not have Rocco magically healed in a chapter. The book is thought provoking and brings to light on how the war can seriously mess with a solider's mind. Particularly in Rocco's case because he was previously living his life in a terrorist's family. Rocco was far removed from American culture for so long that he was even having a hard time adapting at seeing Mandy in summer shorts and wanting her to cover up her bare legs. No small continuity item was left out.
Mandy was an angel. A do-gooder. I swear flowers should bloom beneath her feet as she walks. She was working tirelessly to build a therapeutic horse riding center to help people with disabilities. She helps heal abused horses, she takes in mangy, hungry, stray dogs and now she will do everything possible to help Rocco. I loved that Mandy was trying what she could to help Rocco by just being herself. She wasn't professionally trained on how to treat PTSD so she made mistakes along the way. I felt the story was more authentic this way. Mandy and Rocco's love story progressed at a perfect pace and their intimate scenes were tastefully hot.
Rocco's undercover life comes back to haunt him as the terrorists seek him out and the villains plot to destroy his life and the lives of his army brothers. The story was suspenseful and the amount of research that went into this book is completely evident. The author, Elaine Levine slowly introduces more characters as the story gets more involved and then perfectly sets up her future books. In fact, right after The Edge of Courage, I went directly to Amazon to find book 2. The story does not end on a cliff hanger; I just was desperate to read more about the characters. I devoured book two faster than this one. That review is next to come.
Teasers: dinner for two, shower love, burnt hot dogs, lost son
