Photo credits: DarkWorkX
Edited by Vaishali
Title: Hot Soldier's Chase (The Blackjacks #1)
Author: Cindy Dees Genre/Themes: Contemporary romance, War, Military Fiction, Suspense Publisher: Self Published Year of Publication: 2017 Version: E-book kindle app Review...
“Like my camouflage?”
“No! It’s hideous.” He laughed. “But it’s the latest in haute jungle couture.” “Which one are we going to follow since neither one is the path not taken?” He snorted. “Robert Frost ain’t gonna help us now, darlin’.”
Kimberly Stanton detests the mindless tactic of war and death. She’s made a living in politics as an anti-military lobbyist, leading a campaign to shut down the barbarism of Special Forces ops. A political predator, Kimberly’s wiles in politics won’t serve her in a climate made for a different kind of survival because when she’s thrust feet first in a fight for her own, she’ll learn who really holds the staff of endurance in the form of a modern day Tarzan who holds her life in the palm of his hot and ready hands. The worst part? Tex Monroe is a Special Forces soldier, a target of her campaign and a man who wields so capably the savage skills she both abhors and now has to devote grudging confidence to.
“By the way, Romeo, girls like balconies that won’t break their necks if they fall off them.” His grin flashed. “Picky, picky, picky.” ‘Thank goodness he was on her side in this game of cat-and-mouse.’
Both no-nonsense and charmingly gruff, everything about Special Forces soldier Tex Monroe calls itself to attention - he’s a resourceful leader, he’s smart and loves his job like his lifeline. So when he finds himself in a South American jungle, on the run, protecting a conservative, buttoned-up Senator’s daughter who shouts her vitriol for his line of work from the rooftops, he’s in for a barrage of insult and temptation. She’s in Tex’s custody now - it’s this soldier’s law she has to follow.
‘Tex Monroe, she’d been told his name was. He was supposedly some sort of genius at murdering people and blowing stuff up.’ “Has anybody ever told you you’re a sadistic jerk?” He grinned wolfishly. “All the time, Miss Stanton. All the time.”
Facing every indignity and fear the forest throws at her, Kimberly learns the merit of unexpected resilience…and, much to her despair the latest in jungle fashion. Every day commands a morsel of trust and huge dose of trading off with her commanding and forceful companion, but it’s clear who knows the science of survival to keep them alive, far from the kind Kimberly so deftly uses in the any assembling caucus.
“Is everything about power with you?” Tex asked her abruptly. “Isn’t everybody ultimately chasing after power of one kind or another?” she retorted. He rolled on his side to face her. “That’s where you and I are different.”
She doesn’t understand his firm feet in duty and violence, and he doesn’t understand her grim responsibility of self-possession. It just so happens that fighting for themselves on every basic level has both of them questioning and caving to the stripped-down fundamentals of high-stakes attraction and no-holds-barred persistence.
“Are you actually displaying civilized manners to me?”
His attention jerked from the jungle around them to her. “Contrary to what you seem to think, I am not a Neanderthal,” he bit out. “Oh, so it’s just kissing me that brings out that side of you?”
‘Hot Soldier’s Chase’ begins with an exciting opening into an action suspense which has both Tex and Kimberly in the middle of a South American jungle running for their lives, outwitting and out-thinking enemy rebels with the seemingly hopeless task of finding safety in foreign land. ‘Survival of the jungle’ is one of my favourite trope scenarios! I love the fragile tension, the dramatic play, the thrill of adrenaline and resilience and survival, the skin-of-the-teeth leap into safe waters alongside the precarious position of threat and preservation, dripping with anxiety in the hopes that all’s well that ends well. ‘Hot Soldier’s Chase’ was a much welcomed story. I loved it!
“You jumped on top of me to shield me?” Inexplicably he was embarrassed. “Well, yeah,” he answered gruffly. “That’s so sweet.” “Honey, I’m a lot of things,” he growled, “but sweet sure as shootin’ ain’t one of them.”
From denial, outrage and skepticism leads Kimberly on a path of reluctant trust and and unwilling reliance. Her mettle in politics serves no purpose in a jungle full of wild and dangerous threats, and it’s obvious who has the upper hand - clue? It’s not Kimberly. Beyond the humid, tense clime blooms humidity of a different type as the eddying trust and friction of companionship flowers into a two-way pull of carnal crusade…In a situation that pulls at basic instinct, surely other primal needs will rise to the surface. Skirting indecent lines is far too provocative for them both.
‘The hunter in him permeated her. The way he embraced the velvety-black darkness, became a part of the night, she sensed it all.’ “I’m in this with you to the end, Princess. Whatever happens to you happens to me. We either make it out together or we go down together. Okay?”
As a reader, you never quite know what to expect in the way of new authors - and this is both a thrill and, at times, a mild anxiety, especially where we hold the bar of our expectation. But when it pays of? We’re howling with joy, and thus pull out a polished chair for a new-sprung favourite author to take a seat and plant their creative tushes in our library of ‘you’re brilliant, I will hound you until time explodes and the universe implodes!’ I think I’ll be keeping an eye out for Miss. Cindy Dees…
“Are you always this stubborn?” His eyebrows shot up. She was calling him stubborn? ‘The Blackjacks didn’t fail. They just didn’t. And he was about to. In a big way.’
Alongside the survival element, I liked the prickly romance. You can easily pick up the ties of attraction between both Tex and Kimberly when the story begins, but this isn’t a case of throwing themselves willy nilly at said attraction. Their relationship is a good mix of desire, ambivalence and the type of teasing banter that I love to read about. Fighting and resolution is a turbulent cycle that, for some reason, satisfies me like no other. *chef’s kiss*. At first, Kimberly can definitely come across a certain way - a tad too unmindful, too outrageous and kicking up a fuss in every way she can. I didn’t mind her character, in all fairness, especially when every part of the story drums up some form of stress that spirals with the main themes of tension and conflict. If Kimberly were perhaps too docile then we wouldn’t have as much upheaval between the characters, and most everything turns a dial up for the merit of strain.
“The world is full of people doing decent, brave, honorable things.” She answered quietly, “That’s where you and I are different. You look for the best in people and I see the worst.”
I had a few concerns with the story what with the off page resolution with Kimberly and her father - it would have been nice to actually see how they made amends and came to an understanding because of her long-standing, mottled history with him (he shaped her hostility towards all things military). I also wanted a bit more from the conclusion, but other than that, it was pulled together nicely.
Action-packed tensity licks every page from top to bottom, while a strained romance buffs and pulls together an interesting pair who ultimately source something much more priceless than their own beliefs amid the madness of jungle revelry. A great story - I’d be happy to read more from Cindy Dees. “Darlin’, has anyone ever told you you’re more stubborn than a constipated mule?” She laughed, her eyes sparkling merrily. “All the time, Mr. Monroe. All the time.”
Tex and Kimberly are on opposite sides of a political fight - she’s loathe to the indoctrinated farce of barbarism and business of cold war. Hostile belligerency may as well be Tex’s name (though, a rather odd one), and he doesn’t care what self-important Kimberly has to say about it. These days Tex would choose the wiles of his job over the wiles of any woman. Away from the comforting combat of political courting, she’s bulldozed into a game of touch-and-go survival, and when her situation takes on crystal clarity, Tex becomes something bigger and bolder in Kimberly’s eyes - her foundation, her route of survival, her protector and her biggest source of strength, with something just as urgent as their lives demanding their hearts’ attention. When the fatal skills of a soldier promise and posses the strength of protection, Kimberly has to question her political standpoint when Tex Monroe might just be a real life hero.
“If you get yourself killed and leave me alone out here, I’ll have your head on a platter in the afterlife.” He answered dryly. “I’ll keep that in mind. Wouldn’t want to jeopardize my immortal soul.”
I gave this book 4 stars -Trigger Warning: Mentions PTSD. Minimal swearing and a few sex scenes - not too explicit. ________________________________________ My Rating System: ★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read ________________________________________ Leave a comment and let's talk about
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February 2024
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