My edition: Kindle Unlimited
Pages: 347
Series: Global Search and Rescue #1
Genre: Romance, Christian Fiction
Published: Jan 1, 2020
Rating: 3.5 stars
Synopsis:
Former pararescue jumper Orion Starr is haunted by the memory of a rescue gone wrong. He may be living alone in Alaska now, but the pain of his failure–and his injuries–has followed him there from Afghanistan. He has no desire to join Hamilton Jones’s elite rescue team, but he also can’t shirk his duty when the call comes in to rescue three lost climbers on Denali.
Former CIA profiler and psychiatrist Jenny Calhoun’s yearly extreme challenge with her best friends is her only escape from the guilt that has sunk its claws into her. As a consultant during a top-secret mission to root out the Taliban, she green-lighted an operation that ended in ambush and lives lost. When her cathartic climb on Denali turns deadly, she’ll be forced to trust her life and the lives of her friends to the most dangerous of heroes–the man she nearly killed.
Her skills and his experience are exactly what’s needed to prevent another tragedy–but in order to truly set Orion free from his painful past, Jenny will have to reveal hers. They’ll have to put their wounds behind them to survive, but at what cost?
Review:
Because love causes all sorts of pain. It requires us to believe, and forgive, and put aside our own justice and our own desires. Love is painful . . . especially when you think you might lose that love. Or cause hurt to someone you love. Or even be required to love someone who has hurt you.” He swallowed, his gaze casting out the door, toward intensive care. “But it’s worth it. Love changes you. Love makes you brave. Love can change the world.”
I have read Warren once before and I was completely in love with her male characters. They were very respectful and considerate. A big plus was that they knew what boundaries were, which most heroes don’t know or care about. So going into this I had the expectation of the male characters being dreamboats.
I have been in such a rut that nothing has been sounding good. Most of my reads lately haven’t been higher than a three-star. To be honest, I almost DNFed this book because of my rut. But I decided to persevere.
If you like second-chance romances this book is for you. But let it be known it is a slow burn. Jenny has been running from her past. Orion has been trying to heal from it. When a chance encounter brings them face to face for the first time in a few years, Jenny denies knowing who Orion is. Jenny and her friends make the climb up Denali while Orion and his friends are off climbing another mountain.
When a storm comes in and blows Jenny and her friends off the course, Orion and his friends come to the rescue. But there is one major problem. Orion doesn’t know that Jenny was the CIA agent who believed the informant that got a SEAL team and his PJ team ambushed.
There are at times POVs from Jake and Aria. I wasn’t a big fan of reading from Aria’s POV. I am not an expert or even a person who has knowledge of climbing mountains, so there was a copious amount of equipment and terminology I had to look up.
I didn’t like Orion and Jenny as much as I did Knox and Kelsey (from Knox). Though I kept waiting for the hammer to drop between the two. It took a while for Jenny to come clean to Orion about how their past was really connected and what happened after Afghanistan. Another reason, I think I didn’t like this one as much is due to my lack of knowledge when it comes to mountain climbing. I did like the romance. I did like the story for the most part. There were just certain parts that I had to stop and look up terminology or equipment to understand what was going on.
Orion, I thought wasn’t the best name for the hero, but then he gave the story he was named after the constellation. So, I let it go. With Jake and Aria, the romance had some flirting and kissing at bad timing which annoyed me. I really don’t know if I will continue with this series. While I have loved the other book I read from Susan, this one didn’t live up to the same expectation. Though there is a shout-out to Knox with the arena bombing.
The Kansan Reader 