Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for A KIND OF HUSH by JoDee Neathery on this Black Coffee Book Tour.
Below you can find a book description, my book review, an about the author section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
A Kind of Hush examines how life is seldom a tidy affair exploring whether there is a gray area between right and wrong.
The Mackie family, after enduring an unthinkable tragedy with the death of their young son, finally moved toward a new life until one June day while enjoying an outing at a nearby rugged park, their lives again turned upside down. A plunge off a shale cliff left one parent dead and the other solely responsible for their teenage daughter and seven-year-old son. Was this an accident or something more heinous, and if so whodunnit and whydunit? The heart of the novel centers on how each survivor deals with the circumstances and subsequent revelations surrounding the incident while a mantle of ambiguity – a kind of hush – hangs between them like a live grenade without its pin.
Awards
2024 FINALIST AMERICAN LEGACY BOOK AWARDS, Literary Fiction
2022 SILVER MEDAL WINNER, READERS’ FAVORITE ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS, Literary Fiction
2022 WINNER INTERNATIONAL FIREBIRD BOOK AWARDS, Literary Fiction
2022 FINALIST, NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARDS, Mystery
2022 MILLENNIUM BOOK AWARDS SHORTLISTED CANDIDATE AND CATEGORY WINNER, Literary Fiction
A KIND OF HUSH by JoDee Neathery is a fictional family drama and suspense story that follows a family through tragedy, family drama, healing, and compassion while trying to determine the correct choices and consequences of their actions. There are a lot of gray areas and complex circumstances throughout this standalone fictional story that kept me questioning what I would have done in the same situations.
This story starts awhile after a family tragedy. The Mackie family loses their middle son, Boo, to a choking accident while his older ten-year-old sister, Willa, is babysitting. The family is just starting to come back together, but there is still deep-rooted blame from mother to daughter and back from daughter to mother.
The family goes to a local park and waterfall where another tragedy occurs. Both parents and their teenage daughter, Willa fall down a shale drop. Their youngest seven-year-old son, Gabe, is hiding by a tree. Was this an accident? If not, who did it and why?
Each character in this story is given a voice. They discuss and react to the circumstances of the fall and the revelations surrounding the fall. There are other players involved in the family’s lives that work to help them heal and find justice for the dead parent. I have to say that the character I truly loved was Gabe. His sense of love, wonder, and innocence even throughout all the upheaval of the other characters gave me moments of laughter and a feeling of wonder. He is one of those children that is young but has an old soul and he was a good break from all the others. This book will keep you questioning decisions made and if you would make the same.
I highly recommend this fictional drama and suspense, and the conclusion still has me waffling.
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About the Author
East Texas author, JoDee Neathery, has written two award-winning novels, Life in a Box, published 2017, and A Kind of Hush released July 2021. Both have won the International Firebird Book Awards for literary fiction and were awarded Readers’ Favorite 5-Star designations. A Kind of Hush received critical acclaim as one of five finalists in the highly contested mystery category of the 16th annual 2022 National Indie Excellence Awards, the 2022 Silver Medal Winner, Readers’ Favorite Annual International Book Awards, Literary Fiction, and was a shortlisted finalist in the 11th annual 2022 Millennium Book Awards and Winner in the literary fiction category
Her journey to publication followed an unconventional path void of author credentials, but with the encouragement of her book club, a passion for the written word, a vivid imagination, a sense of humor, and a story to tell she plucked a few personalities off the family tree and Life in a Box debuted asking the question, how much would you sacrifice to hide a secret. “One of those all too rare literary gems.” Midwest Book Review and a 5-Star review posted on Amazon UK offered this assessment, “There is an understated audacity to her style of writing which I find quite spellbinding.”
A Kind of Hush was born in the middle of the night when the first sentence, the ending, and a profile of a young boy appeared. “I didn’t know the whole story but knew Gabriel Edward Mackie had to be in whatever I wrote next.” Praise followed. “This family drama is steeped in suspense, but its likable cast of characters is its main draw,” Kirkus Reviews. “Witty, warm, uplifting, and utterly heartbreaking.” Book Viral Review. “Poignant and emotionally rich.” Book View Gold Medallion. “Intelligent, crisp prose.” The Prairies Book Review.
JoDee chairs her community book club, is writing another novel, Dust in the Wind, and contributes a lighthearted look at life with her byline, Back Porch Musings, to a local newspaper.
Solving her biggest case means facing her greatest fear.
Trust can kill.
Forensic specialist Dr. Cassia Davis learned that lesson when she placed her faith—and her life—in the hands of the man she loved. Four years later, despite debilitating agoraphobia and PTSS, she lives a virtual life teaching and consulting online, locked away from the world she’s come to fear. Her expertise and guidance helped to uncover a mass burial site in the Hollywood Hills, the biggest case of her career, but her inability to actively work the scene calls her competence into question. Work is all she has left. If she’s going to remain in charge, she’s going to need someone on the ground. Someone who understands how she thinks and what she can do. Someone willing to do anything to make up for the past.
Some mistakes can’t be forgotten. Or forgiven.
FBI Special Investigator Mitchell Keaton’s lapse in judgement nearly cost Cass her life. It did cost him her love. Every case he’s worked since has been an exercise in redemption. Becoming Cass’s eyes and hands out in the field means reconnecting to her in ways that reignites old desires. Despite his unforgivable betrayal, Mitch can’t help but feel there may be hope for them after all.
But the deeper they dig into the burial site, the further into danger they fall. Invisible enemies determined to stay in the shadows have plans to stop them. Plans that begin with exploiting the one thing Mitch and Cass have no defense against: the past.
BURIED (Circle of the Red Lily Book #3) by Anna J. Stewart is an exciting, edge-of-your-seat addition to the Circle of the Red Lily romantic suspense series. This can be read as a standalone because Ms. Stewart does an excellent job of filling in information from the overarching conspiracy of the Circle of the Red Lily, but I feel they are best read in order to keep continuity with all the changes in the characters’ personal lives and relationships.
Dr. Cassia “Cass” Davis is one of the foremost forensic specialists in the country, but for the last four years she has lived her life virtually after barely escaping a serial killer she has severe PTSS and agoraphobia. She and her assistant, Nox, have helped their friends, the women of Temple House, with their investigation and discovered a mass grave in the Hollywood Hills. She is frustrated with her inability to work on the crime scene in person and someone behind the scenes is calling her competency into question. She is told she needs someone on the ground she can trust from the FBI, and she knows just who to call.
FBI Special Investigator Mitchell “Mitch” Keaton has waited four years for a call from Cass. Becoming Cass’s person on the ground at the mass grave is a way to not only ask for forgiveness, but to hopefully receive a second chance with her. Mitch has been keeping a secret though and an enemy from their shared past has new plans for them both besides the Circle of the Red Lily.
This series just keeps getting better and better. The women of Temple House are all interesting in their own right but add the intrigue and danger of the Circle of the Red Lily, and the men who have become involved with them, you have a read that is impossible to put down. Ms. Stewart does a wonderful job at showing Cassia’s abilities even while dealing with her life cocooned in her apartment and the empathy shown by her female friends when they discover why she is so isolated. Mitch is a steady and loving with Cass and when the romance heats up, sparks are flying. I enjoyed more time spent in the story with Elliot, Cass’s service dog, his back story and his pivotal role in the plot. I will say that while this series always offers many surprise twists throughout, the epilogue in this book left me shocked! I need the next book sooner rather than later!
I highly recommend this thrilling romantic suspense and the entire Circle of the Red Lily series.
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About the Author
Award-winning, USA Today and national bestselling author Anna J Stewart writes sweet to sexy romances for Harlequin and ARC Manor’s CAEZIK (Kay-Zehk) Romance. Her sweet Harlequin Heartwarming books include the Butterfly Harbor series as well as the ongoing Blackwell continuity series. She also writes the Honor Bound series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense and has contributed to the bestselling Coltons. Her Circle of the Red Lily romantic suspense series, published by CAEZIK, will launch with EXPOSED in November of 2022.
A Holt Medallion winner (BRIDE ON THE RUN), as well as a Golden Heart, Daphne DuMaurier, and National Reader’s Choice finalist, Anna loves writing big community stories where family found is always the theme. Since her first published novella with Harlequin in 2014, Anna has released more than fifty novels and novellas and hopes to branch out even more (horror romance, anyone?). Anna lives in Northern California where (at the best times) she loves going to the movies, attending fan conventions, and heading to Disneyland, her favorite place on earth. When she’s not writing, she is usually binge-watching her newest TV addiction, re-watching her all-time favorite show, Supernatural, and wrangling two monstrous cats named Rosie and Sherlock.
MURDER AT THE WHITE PALACE (A Sparks & Bainbridge Mystery Book #6) by Allison Montclair is an intriguing historical mystery that has not one, but two mysteries, past and present, that may be connected and many personal changes occurring in the lives of the two main protagonists. Each book has a unique mystery that is solved, but the main characters continue to evolve and for continuity, I feel these books are best read in order of publication.
The Right Sort of Marriage Bureau is doing well, so Gwendolyn Bainbridge decides she and her partner, Iris Sparks, should throw a New Year’s Eve party for their clientele. With limited availability this close to the new year, they look at an old club being repaired by Iris’ boyfriend, Archie Spelling. While investigating the basement, a wall crumbles and a long dead body is discovered.
Though they both want to be done with murder investigations, the recovered body matches some information surrounding that of a missing thief from a trio of robbers from before the war which all tied back to Archie and Des’ murdered fathers. Are they safe as they investigate the cold cases, or could the past be coming back to clean up any ties to a murderer among them?
The murder mysteries, past and present, are intertwined throughout a more intense and personal character driven story line than previous books. Gwen is now free to control her own life and destiny and is finding freedom intoxicating, while Iris is on track to make more permanent decisions regarding her personal life. The duo’s true friendship, no matter their differences or what occurs in their personal lives, is a reason that I love this series. This story leaned more towards the protagonist’s development, which could change the direction of the entire series, than the mysteries, but the mysteries themselves were interesting and well plotted. This addition to the series does leave a bit of a cliffhanger, but it is in Iris’ personal life and not a part of the mystery plot line.
I highly recommend this historical mystery series and continue to look forward to following Bainbridge in Sparks.
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About the Author
ALLISON MONTCLAIR grew up devouring hand-me-down Agatha Christie paperbacks and James Bond movies. As a result of this deplorable upbringing, Montclair became addicted to tales of crime, intrigue, and espionage. She now spends her spare time poking through the corners, nooks, and crannies of history, searching for the odd mysterious bits and transforming them into novels of her own. The Right Sort of Man is her debut novel.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for SINS OF THE FATHER (A Detective Nathan Parker Novel Book #4) by James L’Etoile on this Partners In Crime Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media, and a Kingsumo giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Detective Nathan Parker discovers an unidentified man tossed to his death from an airplane is connected to the emergence of a new criminal organization, Red Dawn, when a secretive Joint Terrorism Task Force appears in Phoenix. The leader of the Task Force coerces Parker to support their efforts or his ex-coyote friend, Billie Carson, could face federal charges for supporting a terrorist organization. With Billie’s freedom in jeopardy, Parker agrees and one-by-one, people associated with the Task Force are picked off. When a target close to Parker is attacked, and the Task Force leader vanishes, Parker seeks help from an unusual ally to expose Red Dawn’s mastermind. Familiar foes, lies, secrets, and a father’s sin converge in a deadly standoff.
Genre: Thriller; Police Procedural Published by: Level Best Books Publication Date: July 15, 2025 Number of Pages: 320 ISBN: 978-1-68512-992-7 Series:The Detective Nathan Parker Novels, Book 4
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
SINS OF THE FATHER (A Detective Nathan Parker Novel Book #4) by James L’Etoile is an action-packed police procedural crime thriller and another great addition to this series. The series follows Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Detective Nathan Parker, his co-workers, family, and friends as they deal with immigrants, cartels, gangs and drugs on both sides of the border. While each book has a main crime plot which is unique to that book, I feel the books should be read in order for character continuity and because of some carryover antagonists from prior books.
A new criminal organization, Red Dawn, is attacking the cartels over the border and has moved to killing FBI Terrorism Task Force members and innocents in Nathan’s jurisdiction. Nathan gets pulled into the investigation by the Task Force’s leader by applying legal pressure on his friend, Billie. While every clue in this investigation leads to Red Dawn, it also has Nathan believing it ties to his past with Esteban Castaneda, the vicious leader of the Los Muertos gang, but he is in solitaire in the Federal Colorado Supermax.
With several dead bodies and one of his own shot and fighting for his life, Nathan and his team are finding more questions than answers. With an unrelenting pace, danger all around them, and twists that continually change the direction of the investigation, Nathan and his team must discover the truth before any more people die.
I always look forward to a new Nathan Parker crime thriller. Nathan, his friends, coworkers, and adopted family are all fully developed and interesting. The information the reader receives through the character of Billie is informative and thought-provoking as she just wants to help people no matter who they are or their legal status. The locations on both sides of the border are all brought to life with Mr. L’Etoile’s descriptive and well researched writing. The crime plots could come right out of the current news cycles and have many layers, twists, and surprises that keep the reader turning the pages. I never quite get the entire picture before the resolution, which I enjoy.
I highly recommend this gripping crime thriller and cannot wait for more!
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Excerpt
Chapter One
Death to a ten-year-old is a pause in a video game. It’s temporary. A momentary setback until you’re back into the game again. At their age, the boys of Boy Scout Troop 116 thought they were immortal. Or they did until they got their first glimpse of human remains.
Ken Dryden stood on the brakes, sending the fifteen-passenger van into a skid on the hard-packed desert road. A flock of eight turkey vultures pecked and tore hunks of flesh from their prey. The enormous birds didn’t budge at the approach of the speeding white passenger van. Only one bothered to look up with a flap of meat hanging from its curved beak.
The birds ignored a loud burst from the van’s horn. Dryden unbuckled and turned to the eight boys in the back. “Stay here.”
Dryden and the assistant scoutmaster, Bill Cope stepped from the van and approached the circle of birds.
“Must’ve found themselves a coyote or something,” Cope said. “Why you insist we take this road? It’s in the middle of—”
“This can’t be…” Dryden trailed off and crept toward the flock of scavengers.
“Whatever they found, they sure don’t want to give it up,” Dryden said as he waved his arms trying to chase the birds off the road.”
“Don’t blame them. Pickings are probably a bit thin out here.”
From behind, a high-pitched voice called out. “Oh, cool. What did they kill?”
Dryden turned and three ten-year-old boys stood a few feet away gawking at the feeding frenzy on the hardscrabble dirt road.
“I told you guys to wait in the van.”
“What did they find?” The tallest boy asked.
“Probably a coyote or something run over on the road, Chase.”
“There’s no tracks in the dirt but ours,” Chase said.
The birds fought and squawked at one another, tearing bits of flesh out from the beaks of weaker birds in the flock. Wings flared and cupped over the remains, claiming them.
“Mr. Dryden? What’s that?” Chase asked.
“What?”
“That,” the boy said with a trembling finger, pointing toward the largest vulture with a torn hunk of flesh hanging from its red beak.
Dryden followed the boy’s line of sight and under the bird’s talons were the remains. He felt sick when he saw it. A brown work boot. Coyotes didn’t wear boots.
“Oh my God.”
“Is it a dead person? Chase said.
“Back to the van boys,” Cope said.
“But—”
“Now!” Dryden barked the order, and the three scouts scurried back to the van.
“Why did you take us on this back road to begin with? What do we do now?” Cope asked Dryden. The two adult supervisors of this scout troop stood at the desert crossroads.
Cope pulled out his cell phone. “No signal out here. We need to call 911.”
Dryden looked back to the van and all eight boys pressed up against the windows gawking at the human remains as the carrion birds devoured their treasure.
“We gotta get them outta here,” Dryden said.
He charged the birds, and most of them backed away. Dryden got a good look at what lay in the desert crossroads—a man, twisted, mangled, and broken. Huge swaths of flesh torn away by the feeding birds. Dryden’s shoulders drooped at the sight—a dead man left in the crossroads.
“I’ll try and keep them away. Drive the boys back out to Quartzite. Call 911. I’ll wait.”
“You wanna stay out here? In this heat?” Cope said.
“It’s early, the heat won’t top out for a couple of hours. I’ll take my pack and all the water we can spare. I’ll be fine. There’s a little shade over there under that Palo Verde.”
Tall, dry creosote brush and a few taller gangly green Palo Verde trees and Saguaro cactus lined the crossroads
“You sure? It’s not like you can help that guy?”
“Whoever he is, he doesn’t deserve to get eaten by these feathered desert rats either. How would you feel if it was someone you knew?”
Dryden retrieved his day pack and two canteens from the van.
“Guys, Mr. Cope is going to take you out. He’ll stop in Quartzite for a pee break.”
“I’ll stay with you, Mr. Dryden,” Chase said.
“Everyone’s going with Mr. Cope.”
A sigh of disappointment filled the back of the van. Dryden knew Chase’s mother was going to meltdown over her precious offspring’s exposure to the dark fringes of life. He figured the Scottsdale socialite would spirit her son away to a resort in Sedona for a crystal bath and chakra realignment.
Dryden hefted his pack and slung the canteens over his shoulder while the van cut a three-point turn and returned in the direction they came.
Once the dust and engine noise died down, all that remained was the breeze cutting through the dried brush and the cackling of the vultures fighting over their prize.
Setting his pack down, Dryden broke off a creosote branch and swung it in front of him forcing the birds away from the remains. Reluctantly, the birds gave up and hopped to the other side of the crossroads.
Dryden closed in on the dead man and grimaced at the mess the vultures made. Unrecognizable. Legs twisted and folded under the body, with a boot sticking out at an impossible angle. No way Chase would earn his first aid merit badge here.
The arms were flayed out over his broken head.
“Oh God.”
Dryden noted the wrists bound with zip ties. This wasn’t a lost hiker. This was a murder victim.
He snatched his cell phone and tried calling Cope to warn him, but the screen reminded him there was no cell signal out here. He shot a series of photos of the dead man, figuring the police would want to see what they found before the vultures could finish it off.
Dryden backed off into the shade and moved out when the vultures grew brave enough to advance. Back and forth for an hour until Dryden spotted a dust trail.
It was too soon for Cope to have summoned help. Quartzite was more than an hour away and the authorities would need time to respond after Cope called them. And this dust plume was coming from the other direction and building fast.
A dead man. Murdered. Alone in the desert. Only a twinge of relief. It wasn’t someone he knew. He knew what that kind of loss felt like and felt guilty about feeling thankful. The dust plume was coming in fast and there was the faint whine of an ATV engine—high pitched and loud.
Dryden snatched his pack and blended into the brush along a game trail, hoping he didn’t encounter an unfriendly javelina. Fifty feet from the road, he hunched down as a green ATV tore into the crossroads and skidded to a stop a few feet away from the body.
Two men stepped from the six-wheel ATV, and one used a bulky satellite phone. After a quick call, the two men donned gloves and picked up the remains, tossing them into the rear cargo compartment of the ATV. They weren’t gentle about it—they were hurried. They needed several trips to gather the bits and pieces.
Once they finished loading the dead man, they sped off in the direction they came from.
Dryden waited until the dust plume died down before he stepped out from his hiding place. He approached the spot in the center of the crossroads where the body had been. There was little to prove a life ended there. The red dirt was marked by a dark circle—what Dryden believed was blood. A single human finger was left behind by the men on the ATV.
A second trail of dust appeared on the horizon in the direction Cope and the boys used on their way out.
Dryden sank back into the brush again until the Black and Yellow Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office SUV pulled to a stop near the intersection.
He couldn’t stop thinking about the finger. Had they left the finger by mistake, or was it a message?
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Author Bio
James L’Etoile uses his twenty-nine years behind bars as an influence in his award-winning novels, short stories, and screenplays. He is a former associate warden in a maximum-security prison, a hostage negotiator, and director of California’s state parole system. His novels have been shortlisted or awarded the Lefty, Anthony, Silver Falchion, and the Public Safety Writers Award. River of Lies, Served Cold, and Sins of the Father are his most recent novels. Look for Illusion of Truth coming soon.
Since her arrest for disobeying orders and going ashore at Iwo Jima almost a decade earlier, combat correspondent Georgette “Dickey” Chapelle has been unmoored. Her military accreditation revoked, her marriage failing, and her savings dwindling, Dickey jumps at the next opportunity. In the aftermath of a an assignment gone wrong, a flame is lit deep inside Dickey—to survive in order to be the world’s witness to war from the front lines.
Never content to report on battles unless her own boots are on the ground, Dickey and her camera journey with American and international soldiers from frozen wastelands to raging seas to luscious jungles, revealing one woman’s extraordinary courage and tenacity in the face of discrimination and danger. And it’s along the way, in Dickey’s desire to save the world, she realizes she might also be saving herself.
At a time when a woman’s heroic spirit often gave way to homeland reality, Dickey blazed a trail for the revolutionary hearts inside us all.
THE LAST ASSIGNMENT by Erika Robuck is a historical biographical fiction story featuring the later portion of photojournalist Georgette “Dickey” Chapelle’s life. Ms. Robuck does a wonderful job of bringing her to life not only writing about her achievements, but also her impetuosity which could get her into dangerous and terrible situations. This standalone story is a look at an impressive woman in history that I knew nothing about.
Dickey Chapelle led an awe-inspiring life photographing and writing about her favorite men, the Marines, on Iwo Jima during WWII, Europe’s reconstruction, Hungary’s revolution, dictators, refugees, and strife in foreign countries, all the way up to once again being with her Marines during the Vietnam War until her death in country. Her photography and stories were featured in many major magazines, and she received many awards, but that was never her goal. She always wanted to take that one picture that would end all wars. While her family and friends always worried about her, she could never sit still on the sidelines when she believed her photography could shine a light on injustice.
This is an intensive look into this female photojournalist’s later life. She always wanted to be first on the ground to uncover the truth. She was interested in the Civil Rights Movement, and it would have been safer for her to stay home in the states, but she needed and preferred to be out in the world and covering international conflicts. Dickey was by no means perfect and got in trouble, even imprisonment in Hungary for her actions, but it was always because she truly cared about the people she was covering.
This historical biography is brought to life through Dickey and with the obvious extensive research of Ms. Robuck. It is interesting to follow Dickey through this period and remember how the stories she covered were portrayed at that time and then the changes, or not, in perspective, as it became history to be analyzed and studied.
I highly recommend this engaging historical biographical fiction story, and I am very glad to be able to go back myself and see the important work Dickey left for the world.
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About the Author
Erika Robuck is the national bestselling author of historical fiction including SISTERS OF NIGHT AND FOG, THE INVISIBLE WOMAN, and HEMINGWAY’S GIRL. Her articles have appeared in Writer Unboxed, Crime Reads, and Writer’s Digest, and she has been named a Maryland Writer’s Association Notable Writer of 2024. A boating enthusiast, amateur historian, and teacher, she resides in Annapolis with her husband and three sons.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for SKYLARK (The SEAL Saga Book #1) by Megan Michelle on this blog tour.
Below you will find a book summary, my book review, an about the author section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Summary
Being the first female Navy SEAL is no easy job, but someone’s got to dismantle the patriarchy. Rachel Ryker, call sign ‘Skylark,’ can out run and out gun just about anybody, and with her second in command, Christopher Williams, by her side, she’s practically unstoppable. Christopher would follow Rachel to hell and back… or maybe just to the Middle East. When a top-secret malware code is stolen from the CIA, Rachel and Christopher lead their SEAL team through the Middle East in an attempt to recover it.
They both have their own reasons for fighting, but as the team gets closer to finding the stolen malware, Rachel discovers that the man they’re looking for may be closer to her than she thinks. Will Rachel’s obsession with completing their mission override her common sense and causes her to lose sight of what is really important- keeping women and children safe from the oppressive patriarchy they are all living in?
With secrets, pride, and a strict no fraternization policy keeping them apart, falling in love would mean sacrificing everything Rachel and Christopher have worked for. But when Rachel gets injured in combat, everything changes. Now Rachel will have to choose: does her devotion to the Navy outweigh her love for Christopher?
SKYLARK (The SEAL Saga Book #1) by Megan Michelle is a Special Units Navy SEAL action war thriller/romance mash-up featuring the first female SEAL and her team. This is the first book in the proposed series, and I was surprised that it is this author’s debut book.
Navy Commander Rachel Ryker and her ten-man team are exceptional at their jobs and every man on her team respects their female leader. She is especially close with her second in command Lt. Commander Christopher Williams who attended BUDs with her ten years previously, and while there is plenty of sexual tension and chemistry, neither is willing to break the regulation against fraternization.
Rachel and her SEAL team are assigned an undercover mission in Afghanistan to recover a USB with top secret malware in the possession of an Al Qaeda leader. Rachel always hates returning to Afghanistan due to her hatred of the extreme patriarchal system under the Taliban, but to find her quarry, she must blend in and befriend the women of the local mosque. What Rachel does not know is that there is more going on regarding their mission, and they are about to uncover an international plot that could get them all killed.
This is an exciting, fast-paced military action story that kept me turning the pages as Rachel and her team fight their way through terrorists in the Middle East and at home. The descriptions of operations and combat were well plotted and contained vivid descriptions. Rachel’s steadfast belief in women’s rights and equality was front and center in this story. Her family life was sad, and it made it even more important for her to have her chosen family in her team and to help others in bad situations. The slow burn romance between Rachel and Christopher was believable and hot. There are plenty of twists, turns, and surprises throughout.
I highly recommend this gripping genre mash-up and look forward to the next book in the series!
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About the Author
Megan Michelle writes dark romance for the fearless women who are ready to reclaim their power and confront the shadows of their past. Her stories blend the raw emotions of military life, the strength of feminism, and the passion of forbidden love, all while guiding readers on a journey of self-discovery and healing. Through dark romance, she explores the complexity of love, power, and identity. Her stories invite you to dive deep into the hearts of women who don’t just survive—they thrive, reclaiming their power and rewriting their stories on their own terms.
