Critical Alliance (Rocky Mountain Courage, Book Three)

 

ELIZABETH GODDARD

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, published 2022 by Revell.

How acquired: From Revell Reads Blogger Program.

First line: Her world was spinning out of control.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: When this book came up for request from the Revell Reads Blogger Program, I hesitated briefly, as cybercrime/cybersecurity are not tropes (if they can be considered that) in the romantic suspense genre that I’m particularly interested in. But I loved the first two books in this series, as well as all of the author’s Uncommon Justice series, so decided I should trust her. And I’m so glad I did. It wasn’t all computers and online shenanigans. There was plenty of real action, real suspense, and real danger.

For some reason I wasn’t quite as drawn to the hero, Alex, a Diplomatic Security Services (DSS) agent, as I have been to previous heroes in Ms. Goddard’s books, but that doesn’t mean I disliked him. He was a really good guy, dealing with some emotional baggage after an op gone wrong. And while the heroes from the previous two books in this series also become involved in the story, they felt a little removed from how I remembered them.

But I loved Mackenzie. She’s spirited and feisty and brave. As a teen she got caught up in the world of hacking, and she and her friend Julian became embroiled in another hacker’s evil doings, which eventually led to Mackenzie and Julian turning themselves in to the authorities. While they came away from the whole event with their juvenile records sealed, when Mackenzie applied to the DSS, (where she met Alex and spent a day with him), she was ultimately not hired, and that has been one of the biggest regrets of her life. Now Julian has sent her a message that she is in danger, her family and their tech business, may be in danger, and she’s come home to warn her brother and sister.

I wondered if one reason I may have struggled to better connect with Alex was because of how secretive he was. He’s also come home to Montana, taking some enforced time off to visit his mother and recover emotionally from that failed op. Once Mackenzie comes back into his life and he finds himself protecting her from an unknown threat, he often wonders what he’s gotten himself into, but he won’t back down. She’s in danger, and he’s not about to leave her to face it alone. But he will not tell her anything about his own past and what he went through. On the other hand, Mackenzie won’t tell him what is going on, why a drone would be following her on a run in the woods, why someone would shoot at her in the woods. As the danger progressively increases, she still keeps him in the dark, and I actually got irritated at her for not trusting him enough to read him into the situation sooner than she did.

Anyway, as always, Ms. Goddard’s writing is wonderful. The scene in the woods, especially when they were trying to get away from the shooter, was pulse pounding. I’m sad that the series is over, but hoping Ms. Goddard has a new one in the works!

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher and have voluntarily reviewed it*

Synopsis from Goodreads: Mackenzie Hanson's special set of skills opened the door to a successful career as a professor of cybersecurity at a Michigan university, allowing her to put her criminal past behind her. But when a long-ago partner in crime delivers a cryptic message about her father's tech company being under cyberattack, she heads for Montana to secure exposed assets, close security breaches, and hopefully save lives.

Diplomatic Security Services special agent Alex Knight is back home in Montana to decompress from a mission gone wrong. But even as he's trying to relax, he's drawn into another mystery, complete with suspicious deaths, lethal threats, and whispers of espionage that all have one thing in common--a beautiful cybersecurity expert with a dark past.

When the situation turns deadly, Alex and Mackenzie will have to work together to find the answers they need--before someone silences Mackenzie for good.

Where the Road Bends

 

RACHEL FORDHAM

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, published 2022 by Revell.

How acquired: From Revell Reads Blogger Program.

First line: The small band on her ring finger glistened in the sunlight as Norah King walked the family land she had nearly lost.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: I’ve read all but one of Ms. Fordham’s books as they were published. Her first book, THE HOPE OF AZURE SPRINGS, remained my favorite. Until now. I believe WHERE THE ROAD BENDS is my new favorite.

Quincy and Norah are both lost souls, though Quincy much more so. Norah has been struggling to hold onto the family land since her father passed away, and in a last ditch effort to keep the bank from taking it, she is engaged to marry a man she doesn’t love but who has promised to work her land and get the farm back into shape. With no living family, the land Norah grew up on represents home and stability for her, and she is desperate not to lose it.

Quincy has been on his own since he was a young teen, barely supporting himself as a back alley street fighter. Their paths cross when Norah finds him on her farm, beaten and unconscious, and drags him to her home where she nurses him back to health and encourages him to make a better life for himself.

Two years later, Norah’s and Quincy’s lives have both changed dramatically. While neither knows the fate of the other, neither has ever forgotten the other. But Quincy has been carrying around guilt over a secret he kept from Norah, and he sets out to find her again and make things right.

I loved Quincy so much, but at the same time I had mixed feelings about that secret of his and what he did. But he has a good heart, and even the best of us are flawed, and he wanted to set things straight. I also loved Norah. Strong and independent, but living in a time when those values were not traditionally valued in a woman, and circumstances could be hard to rise above. Ms. Fordham’s writing just flows across the page, and even the supporting characters are individual and well written.

A beautifully written story of redemption, of finding one’s place, of letting go of the past and making a better future.

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher and have voluntarily reviewed it*

Synopsis from Goodreads: As Norah King surveys her family land in Iowa in 1880, she is acutely aware that it is all she has left, and she will do everything in her power to save it--even if that means marrying a man she hardly knows. Days before her wedding, Norah discovers an injured man on her property. Her sense of duty compels her to take him in and nurse him back to health. Little does she realize just how much this act of kindness will complicate her life and threaten the future she's planned.

Norah's care does more than aid Quincy Barnes's recovery--it awakens his heart to possibilities. Penniless and homeless, he knows the most honorable thing he can do is head on down the road and leave Norah to marry her intended. But walking away from the first person to believe in him proves much harder than he imagined. 

Rachel Fordham invites you to experience the strength and beauty of love forged in the crucible of hardship in this heartwarming story.