Review: Intense, emotional - great read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 14, 2011
Not only was this my first Kaylea Cross book, but it's the first story I've read that's centered around military-suspense. Devon, after losing her father in an airplane crash, takes control of her fears and learns to fly, not airplanes, helicopters. She flies the medical team in, and brings the wounded back. I should have known I'd be in for an intense ride from the first page when Dev is forced to make the call to turn back while heading out on an evacuation. The visibility was zero and she returns to base, knowing that she's leaving men out there, alone and hurt. One of those men is Ty, her boyfriend, who doesn't make it back and dies in the field. While their relationship wasn't serious, and she was even getting ready to break it off with him, the guilt she feels over not flying and taking the chance eats at her. I mean really, in the first chapter we have Ty's funeral, and I was close to a crying mess by page 5! Ty's best friends and fellow Pararescuemen (PJ's), Ryan and Cam, are there to say goodbye to Ty, and afterward, we get our first taste of the chemistry that's been slowly building between Cam and Dev, and it can't go unnoticed between them anymore. While they don't even go so far as to comfort each other after the funeral, it's clear that the attraction is strong, but time isn't on their side as they're all heading back overseas again.Three weeks after the funeral, Dev, Cam, and Ryan all find themselves at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. There's a group Pakistan men lead by one General who are all anti-American, and we follow one young man, Sadiq through the book. He wants revenge for his brother's death and sets his sights on killing the "PJ" after seeing these initials on a rescueman's uniform, Ty, who wasn't able to help his dying brother. He sees the initials again on Cam's uniform and vows to kill him for his brother. With the story taking place in a warzone, fighting takes center stage but the book was really about two intense extremes: the action out in the field and Dev & Cam.Saying the action is intense, is an understatement. Cross writes the life in Bagram and in the air on the helo with such ease, that it puts the reader right there in the scene. In one of the most action packed sequences, Dev's helicopter is shot and going down. It was so detailed and intense I swear I felt like I was sitting right next to her, trying to grab the controls to help her. I love when an author can paint a picture that not only lets you put yourself fully into the story, but it's like you're actually experiencing it with the characters. All of the action scenes were so well done and detailed enough to keep me completely in the moment. When the POV switched back to the Sadiq, I really just wanted to hurry through his part to get back to the lead characters.*********"You'll have to take me up sometime."She shot him a bland look. "Right, because you don't get enough chopper rides already.""Never been up with a female pilot, though."Because she was tempted to keep staring, she looked away from his beautiful face. "Well, we fly pretty much the same as the boys do." Only better.**********The second intense extreme is Cam and Dev's romance. Not much could really happen between them in Bagram, Dev would be putting her position on the line if their relationship was ever found out, plus having dated Ty, she's worried about being thought of as a PJ groupie. So needless to say, Dev's very hesitant to act on any of her feelings towards Cam. Cam knows what he wants, and he wants Dev. He understands the position they're both in and they grow closer when they're in Bagram, but never cross the line. Dev promises that the first time they're together, he wants a big bed and lots of time, and through all the injuries and terrible moments, I was constantly waiting for him to be able to make good on that promise, and it's worth the wait!**********She whipped around. Cam stood at the hanger entrance in his combat uniform, that heart-melting crooked smile on his face. She couldn't move as he strode toward her, tall and strong and looking so damn heroic he broke her heart without even trying. Her throat tightened.**********I was hesitant at first to read something centered around a warzone and the military. It could have really veered into too much reality in my nice little, fantasy reading world. But, I actually found the realness and detail that Cross writes with, makes this story. She puts you right in the middle of the fight, right on board the helo that's going down, and right on the sidelines as Dev worries and cries for Cam, not knowing if he'll make it back from a rescue mission. With as strong as the action and suspense was, it's the even stronger characters that balance it all out - I'm already looking forward to getting the other stories for the people we meet in this book. I was caught up in the story and with Dev and Cam through it all, and can't wait to read more from Kaylea Cross.Blog rating: 4/5 stars