It all started with Twitter. Curiosity got me and I checked it out and fell in love with it. I met some wonderful peeps and soon was tweeting like mad. Then it was suggested that I check out Goodreads. Curious, I checked it out. What can I say! I fell in love again. Some wonderful friends suggested I start my own blog. Curiosity got me shopping around and I picked WordPress. Easy to set up, with plenty of support, I was fuonlyknew! It took me almost a month to post my first review. I had that fear of looking ridiculous. What if no one reads it or likes it? Some of the first people to read my blog posts were so encouraging and provided me with helpful tips. So guess what, I fell in love again! It has been a wonderful experience and I am loving every second of it. I am like that curious cat.
If I had never hit that Publish button I would not be getting incredible opportunities like this.
Guardian (Book #5 in Dark Ops Series) by Catherine Mann
This book will be available to purchase on September 4, 2012. If you want to pre-order, just click on the image.
I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I used to read military romance like there was no tomorrow. Big, strong, gallant soldiers, impassioned romance, and plenty of suspense all add up to a captivating story.
Major Sophie Campbell is involved in a case that could make her career. Single mom and Jag lawyer, she is on a mission and Major David “Ice” Berg is sitting in the hot seat. She needs crucial evidence from him, but a surprising attraction has caught her off guard. She’s known David for over a year. Why now? Remaining focused on her agenda, she grills David mercilessly, looking for a chink in his defensive armor, trying to get that much-needed information to prove her case.
But David isn’t called “Ice” for nothing. Sure that Captain Tate is innocent of any wrong doing, he does what soldiers are trained to do, what becomes ingrained in them in order for them to face a battle field. He covers the captain’s back. Trying to remain calm while being picked away at by Sophie is getting more and more difficult. Not only is she an experienced lawyer, she is also incredibly beautiful. David has been drawn to her ever since they met over a year ago. At the time, she was still married so he ignored the attraction. Now she is widowed and, like him, unattached .
We have two strong-willed people with successful military careers, both single parents, recognizing the growing physical and emotional attraction between them. Things get complicated as their desire for each other proves to be distracting. They need to concentrate all of their energy on solving this case, exposing a traitor, and staying alive.
Can Sophie and David work together to expose the truth and have a happily ever after?
You’ll have to read Guardian and discover for yourself.
Thinking this would be a casual, light read sure wasn’t what I got. The suspense grows gradually as the case moves along and the attraction between Sophie and David is well plotted, no instant giving in to their desires.
Catherine Mann keeps the romance true-to-life, showing how difficult it is to have a career, raise a child as a single parent, and have a relationship. I enjoyed reading about this from both the female and male perspective. The emotional longing to be close to each other and the steamy scenes when they give in to their desires is like an intense suspense and then an Aah moment. Now you can relax for a while.
Here are a couple of examples of what I mean:
She wanted to kiss his smile more than she wanted air. She also wanted to tear his clothes from his body and have him here, in the water or even on the dock – if it was a little more private.
What the hell was going on with her?
She wasn’t a rip-a-man’s-clothes-off type. She was more the candlelight-and-flowers sort, sensual romanticism, not gritty passion. Making a change in her address was one thing. Taking on an affair with this man was a different matter altogether…if she dared.
He leaned toward her, and her hand settled on his chest, her fingers gripping the warm cotton of his polo shirt. She felt his heart beat faster. Touching him, angling into the kiss was beginning to become such a natural thing…
Feel the heat? It gets hotter.
David crossed the kitchen in three strides, kneeling inches in front of her.
Sleepy-lidded eyes stared down at her as he braced both hands on either side of her on the sofa. If she leaned even a hint either way, they would touch. Her every nerve ending would ignite.
“David?”
“Until today, for over a year I’ve resisted the urge to take you to bed, uncover every inch of you, and show you just how good we can be together. ” He seduced her without a single caress, using his low husky tones instead.
Okay, that’s enough for now.
No doubt about it, Catherine Mann knows how to write a suspenseful military romance. I missed reading stories like this and enjoyed my racing pulse. Much more than a story of wrong-doing, Guardian is a story of life and living it despite the hardships dropped in your path.
Romance and Romantic Suspense are Catherine’s specialty! I would suggest you do as she does. Grab her book, head to the beach, and “dive” in (to her book, silly). Don’t forget a hat and sunscreen as you will forget where you are once you start this book. She wields a wicked pen. Wouldn’t want you to get a sunburn.
4 STARS
Thank you Catherine for an opportunity to read your ARC of Guardian.
I am going over to get the other books in this series. I love that they can stand alone. If you want to get started right now, click on any of the images to purchase your own.
She sure has some yummy covers!
About this USA Today Bestseller author and her books
RITA Award winner Catherine Mann resides on a sunny Florida beach with her military flyboy and their four children. Although after nine moves in twenty years, she hasn’t given away her winter gear! Catherine writes action-packed military suspense for Berkley Publishing and Silhouette Romantic Suspense, and emotional. steamy romance for Silhouette Desire. With over a million books in print in fifteen countries, she has also celebrated five RITA finals, three Maggie Award of Excellence finals and a Bookseller’s Best win.
A former theater school director and university teacher, she holds a Master’s degree in theater from UNC-Greensboro and a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the College of Charleston. Catherine enjoys hearing from readers and chatting on her message board – thanks to the wonders of the wireless internet that allows her to cyber-network with her laptop by the water.
Catherine and her family are also active volunteers in animal rescue, having fostered more than fifty puppies and special needs dogs for their local shelter.
Series by Catherine Mann
Elite Force
Wingmen Warriors
Dark Ops
Special Operations
The Landi$ Brothers
Rich Rugged & Royal
Alpha Brotherhood
Beachcombers
Harlequin Desire
Silhouette Intimate Moments
Silhouette Bombshell
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