Review: A difficult, resentful human and a peacemaking werewolf in another strong entry to this paranormal military romance
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 20, 2014
I have been eagerly awaiting this book since the moment I finished the last one.  I had no idea who would be the characters or what the story would cover.  I didn't care because I trust the author to tell me a good story and she most certainly did that.  I love the shifter culture, the military connection, the nuances that are small, but important, the character development, the plot movement and of course the partnerings that take place.I would recommend that these be read in order for understanding of the worldbuilding, backdrop and ongoing minor plot threads.  Both characters are introduced in the last book and something of their personalities and place in the series is established.  I was actually surprised by whose story this is as I was expecting two other characters to be next.  I confess that Adam Madison was not my favorite person in the last book and I was extremely curious how the author would win me over to him.This story in some ways begins in the previous book because Adam Madison is the brother of one of the previous main characters and Dawson Rivers is on the same executive staff as Adam's brother, Tim.  Adam is a sullen, angry person that strikes out at his brother any chance he gets in a misguided transfer of guilt over their younger brother's murder.  Adam is also resentful because he believes that everyone loves Tim and he's the perfect brother/son while Adam is just the second-rate one.  He bristles at anything he considers a hint that someone might connect him with Tim or his overwrought suspicions that Tim is checking up on him.  He wraps his grief and anger around him like a cloak keeping himself isolated from other people until recently.  Adam is a civilian driver stationed at the marine base and is contracted to drive convoy runs to deliver supplies to other bases.  It's a dangerous job, but he likes it.  He keeps his cool and has earned some respect even amongst a group of marine werewolves he has tentatively reached out to as friends.Unfortunately, not all the wolves are honorable marines including the base pack alpha and his cronies who make life a misery for humans and submissive wolves.  They get off on having the power to mistreat others.  Word finally leaks out to Noah, the true alpha and he sends in Dawson Rivers his Omega to get the situation under control hopefully through diplomacy and education.  Only the situation is worse than they thought so Dawson has to take a more pro-active role.Adam has had an embarrassing crush on Dawson since he met him while visiting his brother Tim back in San Diego.  So he is particularly sensitive of Dawson's presence and that Dawson seems to always be nearby.  Adam is suspicious and resentful at first thinking that Dawson is there to check up on him, but then he adds anger to his tumble of emotion because he can't stand the way the werewolves bully with their strength.Adam soon starts to see that he has Dawson wrong, the werewolves as a race wrong and even starts to sense that he's got even more wrong particularly when it comes to his brother and his family.  Adam had kept himself deliberately ignorant of werewolf culture as a misguided bit of his resentment to his brother and now he needs a crash course in all things werewolf quick.  He needs to understand what is happening amongst the pack wolves and for sure what is going on between him and Dawson.  What he thought was just a casual fling seems to mean more to Dawson and if he is honest to him too.Things come to a head with the bullying wolves, the insurgent activity along the convoy routes, Adam getting over his personal issues and the relationship between Adam and Dawson and that was before Adam gets taken captive.  Life as he knew it just got a whole lot more precious and he is forcibly made to know every second that it might all be over.Okay, so Adam Madison...yeah, he was pretty much the same putz guy that was introduced in the book before and this time I got a front row seat since he's doing the narrating.  He is so ugly toward his brother and is pretty self-absorbed.  His resentment is to the point that he disassociates from being related to his brother and freaks out at the thought of someone coming on base who knows Tim and will speak of Adam's relationship to Tim.  He barks at even his friends if they show any respect or appreciation for his brother.Then there is his unreasonable assumptions about the werewolves in general.  He has three good friends and he knows the wolves back home and yet he is so caught up in his anger that he doesn't think to speak up about the injustices going on at the base and would rather blame all wolves than see the issue for what it was.  When Dawson tries to draw close to him and shows an interest, Adam spends much of the relationship with one foot in the doorway ready to bounce denying there is a relationship and denying the truth of their mutual interest.  See?  Not much to like here.And if he had remained the same for the whole book, I would have felt such pity for Dawson or at least questioned his intelligence to want a guy like that.  However, Dawson saw something in Adam that Adam didn't even see.  Dawson was the catalyst Adam needed to get his business together and see things differently.  He stopped filtering everything through his internal issues so everything was no longer something to react in anger or resentment to.  By the end of the book, he was a guy that was worth it.  I know these are tough marine types and on top of that there is the whole family forgives and receives back prodigals, but I was disappointed that Adam's change of heart didn't include more restitution.  He had been so ugly to people particularly Tim that I wanted to hear the words.The action plot is a series of snapshot scenes of life on the base and its environs.  The situation with the sadistic wolves was an interesting thread as were the scenes of Adam out on the road in those intense convoy missions.  The capture situation was intense because Adam had no idea what his fate would be and because the author made me as the reader feel right there in the moment as the isolation, boring days and situation as a captive were well-drawn.The romance is gritty and rough.  These guys like to talk dirty and just go at with little finesse and tenderness.  You won't hear sentimentality and some stuff isn't put into words, but is just assumed.  This suits this pair, the circumstances, and the setting.And just an observation, I enjoy how each book offers up a different set of circumstances, settings and personalities even though the books have a nice cohesiveness.  The stories aren't formulaic yet I can count on strong military and werewolf actions scenes, werewolf culture and strong characters in the wolf/human pairings.As I wrap-up, I again find myself looking forward with great anticipating for the next book in the series.  I hope it is Terrell's, but hey, I'll go with it if it's not.  I enjoyed the experience of the author working her magic and making me eventually enjoy Adam and his story with the delectable Dawson of the Lilac eyes.