Review: Fantastic female lead, hot, hot tortured bad boy hero
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 15, 2014
"Ricochet can cause a lot of damage."I've gotta go with the general consensus on this one...my favorite by Skye Jordan so far! This was a story that squeezed some tears from me...the kind of tears that I tried to hold back because I didn't expect them and felt silly letting fall. Because...really? A se*y contemp romance about stuntmen and their go-to girl? Yeah, I went there. Nathan Ryker dragged the little teary-eyed girl out in me. He also dragged the raging sl*t out of me, but that's another scene :DRyker is an ex Army Ranger, still serving in Afghanistan but on a forced leave by his commanding officer. He's been contracted to help the Renegades with a tricky bridge explosion in the latest Bond film. Rachel is sent to pick him up at the airport, and the rest...is delicious."As a whole package, she was country-girl fresh and apple-pie sweet with a streak of Tonka-truck tough. Underneath, she hid a siren, a temptress, a woman who liked things edgy.She fascinated him."As with most of our returning military boys, Ryker is dealing with some pretty intense PTSD. Watching your best friends get blown to pieces right in front of your eyes tends to change a person. And Ryker's not dealing very well. But something changes when he meets the uber competent Rachel, a woman who is the little sister to the entire Renegades team, a do-it-yourself kinda girl who takes no crap from anyone, nurtures them like they're her children, and still manages to blow his ever-loving mind between the sheets.”His insides warmed. Every pain in his body disappeared. Every shadow vanished. She chased all his demons away, and for a moment, he found relief.”What a thought provoking statement that was for me."Just for a minute," he murmured, sliding his hands up her sides, around her back, savoring the feel of her little frame. Filling his head with her scent. Memorizing this moment, wishing he could use it later, when things got bad again. "I just need a minute."It may sound cheesy, it might make you want to roll your eyes. But love conquers all. I firmly believe that. Your lover is your soft place to land, that person who gives you comfort and security. Nathan Ryker is in a dark place in life...returning from a war in which he lost most of his friends and brothers of the heart. Rachel gives him peace. Simple as that. And he recognizes that, even if Rachel balks at forming an attachment."Because I don't want permanent," she said, her annoyance leaking into her voice. Her gaze turned on him. "I don't want complicated. I don't want forever. I just want simple. No strings. I certainly don't owe you an explanation."What a great female lead!!One thing I wish we'd have gotten and didn't: I wanted more of both Nathan and Rachel's personal lives outside of their current project. Rachel's family life is in some kind of hella turnmoil, and aside from one quick scene, we don't get much closure or details. I wanted a confrontation with her ex, with her parents,and I wanted them to really work things out or at least to have Rachel able to blow off some steam. We got quite a bit more of Nathan, but just a glimpse of his past with regards to Troy and the way they grew up. I just wanted a little more detail there.The S*X, as ever with this author, is mind blowingly hot. There are little bits of sweet/cute humor thrown in for levity, and man, is there some intensity of emotion in these pages!"This is...just...I can't think rationally when you kiss me. God, we have to stop doing that.""Baby, I can't think at all unless I am kissing you. We have to do that a lot more."This is a must read. Even if you haven't read the previous two (which I still highly recommend) you can still read this without being lost.I feel like I needed this book. Mediocre is the word from so many new authors, which is probably more my fault for reading so many books and losing my ability to let things slide. But Skye Jordan (Joan Swan) delivers. Fantastic book!