Taking Fire (First Responders 4) by Radclyffe at Bold Strokes Books
Genre | Lesbian / Contemporary / Military/Former Military / Romance |
Reviewed by | jj on 29-July-2014 |
Genre | Lesbian / Contemporary / Military/Former Military / Romance |
Reviewed by | jj on 29-July-2014 |
After two years and too many lost troops, Navy medic Max de Milles is ready to go home. Her last tour is up in four days and she will soon be catching a transport to the States. Life is looking good until she gets detailed to evacuate a humanitarian group in south Somalia.
Rachel Winslow and her Red Cross team are caught in the crossfire during a vicious civil uprising, but she refuses to abandon her team members as the rebels close in on their camp. By the time Max and the Black Hawk arrive, it may already be too late.
Hunted by extremists, Max and Rachel are forced to work together if they are to survive, and in the process, discover something far more lasting.
This fourth book in the ‘First Responders’ series initially focuses on an emergency response field outpost in Somalia with multi-national delegates from the Red Cross, Somalis from the Red Crescent Society, and a French medical team from Doctors Without Borders. It seems this outpost in question is targeted to be attacked so a serious push is put into motion to evacuate everyone, but especially one woman, Rachel Wilson. Ah, the mystery and the ramifications have been established. Things get really intense, casualties occur, and all manner of complications crop up. This is top-notch, first class and way exciting. So I think the fourth book is a tribute to the series. Additionally, it has a most interesting second half with two sets of complexities including a heated love linkup with its own astounding form of fireworks intertwined with a bunch of political hoopla. Positively delightful!
Rachel Winslow...who is she and why is she so important? Everyone, especially me, wants to know. I was completely drawn in. Rachel appears to be a top-tier volunteer yet has a father who must be way up there on the food chain. She tries hard to distance herself but that looks like a lose/lose situation. Nevertheless, she handles herself admirably during the assault on the compound, but displays a major stubbornness about leaving before everyone else is evacuated. Rachel and Max have a perfectly delicious prickly pear relationship that under fire transforms to a bit of a mutual admiration society. Rachel is a bit more difficult to get a handle on in the second half of the book where location, danger, and constant life-and-death threats are minimal to non-existent. However, I think she by and large negotiated both sections of the book fairly well. Rachel is good stuff!
Max, Commander de Miles, field savvy surgeon and then some, is days away from getting her final discharge papers when this major evacuation campaign is rapidly set into motion. Her unconscious self seems to continuously battle with demons and a sense of failure, but she never seems to let that into her waking, focused, on-duty persona. The author presents some statistical data about how troops’ morale and focus really improve when proficient medical personnel are assigned to dangerous missions. It was wondrously informative and raised my level of appreciation for Max even more. She not only performs brilliantly in life threatening situations within a medical purview, but her soldiering skills are also quite impressive. It makes sense that when she is in a civilian setting in the second half of the book, she becomes an ER doctor and probably could have handled a position with the trauma ward. I really adored Max and rooted for and with her right from the start. Not surprisingly to me, she is a really tender and compassionate lover. Fantabulous!
The two sections in this book occurring with entirely different venues are substantially different from anything I've read so far in the First Responder series, but it seems very reasonable in this situation because of who Rachel really is. I loved Max, but Rachel is no slouch even when she seems a bit difficult to understand at times. Hopefully, this isn't the last book in the First Responder series, but if it were, this is a fine finale and completely satisfying adventure. Spectacular!
DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Bold Strokes Books for the purpose of a review.
Format | ebook and print |
Length | Novel, 264 pages/79284 words |
Heat Level | |
Publication Date | 01-July-2014 |
Price | $9.99 ebook, $16.95 paperback, $19.99 bundle |
Buy Link | http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com/9781626391154e.html |