Review: Some Kind of Hero by Suzanne Brockmann

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

Have I ever told you how much I love Suzanne Brockmann’s books? I’ve been a fan for over ten years. The ride has been bumpy, but I still get so excited every time there’s a new release, and I always, always, manage to derive joy from them even when the characters are doing God knows why. And this book, oh, you guys, this book is a sight to behold! I don’t know how it manages to be so restrained and focused while at the same giving in to the worst urges.

The story reminds me a lot of The Unsung Hero, the book that launched the series all those years ago. It makes sense, because it’s not quite a spinoff like Do or Die was, but it features all new characters and only the smallest cameos by old characters. So it reads closer to book 1 in a series than to book 17. It has a secondary plot that involves a teenager, and although we do meet a bunch of new SEALs, there’s no obvious sequel bait in sight or the beginning of a romance that’s left dangling so it can be stretched forever and ever throughout books to come. The only thing missing is a World War II subplot, which seems weird because there’s enough groundwork there to make me wonder if it was originally planned or even edited out. The suspense subplot is inconsequential and it involves domestic white guys as villains, so I can’t even complain about the faceless, Fakestani brown terrorists Brockmann—and military romance in general—loves. The book stands alone so well, that I’d dare say it makes for a good entry point for new readers who don’t want to bother with a long series. When I say the book shows immense restraint, I mean it.

Review: Deadly Descent by Kaylea Cross

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes. 

This is my first book by Kaylea Cross and the reason why I read it was because I kept hearing great things about it. Usually when you hear military romantic suspense you think, well, the hero is probably in the military and that’s it, but in this case both leads are on active duty and the action takes place during a regular mission while deployed. That aspect alone was enough to make this book interesting and appealing. 

Devon Crawford is a helicopter pilot, her job is to fly into danger zones and rescue people that are either wounded or in danger. When the book starts there’s an emergency but she can’t fly and rescue the soldiers because the terrible weather makes it impossible. Unfortunately one of the wounded soldiers is Ty, who happened to be her ex, and he dies because no one could get there to help him. During his funeral two of his friends meet with Devon, one of them is Cam Munro. They have a complicated relationship because while she was with Ty she felt an overwhelming attraction to Cam, and the feeling was mutual. Now Cam wants to confront their feelings but she is not ready and since she is an officer and he is enlisted, having a relationship might endanger their careers. What they don’t know is that there’s an even greater threat endangering their lives.