It's been six months.
Six months since Jake Madsen let Chris Robertson die.
Six months since the passion between Jake and Cassie, Chris' sister, stepped over the line.
But now Cassie's being stalked and it's time for Jake to swallow his guilt, grief, and lust so he can save her life, even it it's a life without him. He owes it to his dead friend and he owes it to Cassie. He's fallen in love with her, but she doesn't have to know that for him to keep her safe.
Meh. That was my thought when I finished reading the last page. Which is a shame because I thought the book started our very strong and I readily snuggled in after the first couple of pages expecting to be fully immersed in a fun world peopled with interesting characters. And I was...for a few chapters. And then things started to slowly...not unravel...but loosen up. The plot, which started out nice and taut, started to develop some snags and then a few small holes. Pretty soon the main characters were approaching TSTL territory. And when I finally finished the book, over the course of three days, which if you know me is two days more than it would have normally taken, I had figured out who the bad guy was (although I did not fully figure out what he was).
Cassie, Jake, and Chris have been the three musketeers since they were children. When Jake, who is a military PJ rescuer is unable to get to Chris who has been shot down over the Colombian jungle in time to save him, it breaks his heart and his joy in his job. Distracted, he takes a bad landing on a training jump and breaks his leg. His superior officer tells him to take a month of leave to get his head and future in order. Jake head's home to Lubbock, TX not sure of his reception there since the last time he was home he had to watch the woman he loved bury her twin brother and later they slept together (to take their mind off their grief).
Upon arrival in Lubbock, Jake learns that Cassie has acquired a stalker who has assumed the identity of a villain in a video game that Cassie had been associated with. Jake determines to save Cassie and reinserts himself into her life. Cassie, a supposedly brilliant military and war strategist (although I never saw a single instance of this in action), has in no way done anything to ensure her safety. Instead she is still following her exact routines, running alone for miles every morning at the same time, stopping at the same cafe to get her morning coffee, etc.
Honestly, I didn't care if Cassie or Jake got together because while they claimed to love each other, I never saw anything to indicate they were more than close friends who had strong sexual chemistry together. I could not figure out why the two of them decided that each was the love of their lives. I was more interested in the relationships of Cassie's friends and coworkers than I was in hers. I also felt that the reasons behind the stalker fixating on Cassie were ridiculous. I was unable to buy into the premise which was a shame because throughout the book, there were several instances of great promise...none of them really went anywhere for me, though. There is enough for me to go ahead and try the second book in the series (but only because I already have it on my kindle--if I was expected to pay for it at this point, I wouldn't) and my fingers are crossed that it is better. I read the author's bio and I love the idea of her going for her writing dreams after wanting to for years. Even if I personally didn't connect with this book, I hope she is still living her writing dreams!!
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