Free Fall (Elite Force: That Others May Live)
In this fourth book in her Elite Force series, Mann pairs Stella Cameron, a field operative for Interpol, with Jose Cuervo James, a pararescueman whom she first meets in a sea-pickup operation involving Somali pirates. Six months later, they meet again in East Africa, where she is searching for information about her mother, after she has ended their passionate affair because of his unwavering decision never to have children because of his family’s alcoholism. At this point, she has been taken hostage on a job while posing as an American student, and he is part of the group rescuing her. As they work their way toward a compromise so they can be together again, they confront a plot to kill the U.S. vice-president’s wife on a goodwill tour, and Stella is in for a big surprise. Mann’s novel of romantic suspense has everything she’s known for—competent and engaging protagonists, a solid military background, great sex and sexual tension, several suspenseful subplots, and a ripped-from-the-headlines immediacy. --Mary K. Chelton