Sunday, April 10, 2016

Double Review: Alpha Crew Book 1 (At the Edge & Edge of Surrender)

At the Edge (Alpha Crew #1) and 

Edge of Surrender (Alpha Crew #2)

by Laura Griffin 

Blurb:
Dive into Part One of this heart-pounding romantic suspense story, which continues in Edge of Surrender: Alpha Crew Part Two!
When Emma Wright’s government plane goes down over the Philippine jungle, she’s forced to survive alone until an ultra-elite SEAL team goes in after her. As the leader of Alpha Crew, Ryan Owen is no stranger to challenges, but he’s never tackled anything quite like this sexy, smart, and resourceful woman. The mission is to get Emma home safely, but danger is everywhere, and Ryan’s unexpected desire for Emma could be a deadly distraction.
Back home in California, Ryan’s mission is over—but Emma’s has just begun. She knows her plane crash was no accident, and she’s determined to uncover the truth about what happened—even if her quest for answers puts her at risk. Torn between duty and desire, Ryan searches for a way win Emma’s heart while protecting her from an invisible enemy who wants her dead.



The scorching-hot romance between Emma and Ryan that began in At the Edge: Alpha Crew Part One concludes in Part Two of this sexy, suspenseful adventure!
Ryan had one job: keep Emma safe at all costs. But after a night of passion, Emma takes off and Ryan soon realizes he’s not the only one looking for her. Can he figure out who’s after the beautiful government aide, and why, before she falls into the wrong hands… if she hasn’t already?
Emma’s fighting to get justice for her fallen comrades, but she can’t do it alone. She needs Ryan’s help, but that means trusting him--and dealing with the out-of-control desire blazing between them. Can there be any future for a marked woman and a man trained to kill? She hopes they live long enough to find out…
Themes: Contemporary
Rating: Part 1: 3 stars
              Part 2: 4 stars
              (Combined as one read, 3.75 Stars)
Heat Rating: 
Review:
Ok so I would normally write separate reviews about two novels released separately, but it wasn’t until after I requested these that I realized it was a single story just in two parts.  So it’s my bad, but I read them back to back; so I decided to just write a combined review. That being said…
Laura Griffin, one of my favorite romantic suspense series, has decided to dip her toes into the world of Spec Ops operators with her new Alpha Crew series.  We get to meet an all new gang of hot and sexy men, ones working hard to keep the world safe for very little recognition, and I thoroughly enjoyed not only getting to know them but getting to see them in action.  Emma, personal assistant to the wife of the ambassador to the Philippines, has just found herself the sole survivor of a plane crash, stranded in the middle of an island jungle, and determined to keep herself alive until help arrives.  She is a resourceful woman but totally out of her element.  Luckily for her a team of SEALs has been sent to search for survivors and investigate the crash.  Wandering the jungle, lost, hungry and injured Emma is beyond relieved when she stumbles upon Lt. Ryan Owens filling his canteen.  Ryan has been captivated by thoughts of Emma ever since he was briefed on his mission but when he finally sets eyes on her, the visceral reaction to her surprises and unsettles him.  Working together, along with the other members of the Crew, Ryan rescues Emma and gets her back stateside, but not before she lays a passionate and outrageously wonderful kiss on him, right in the middle of life threatening danger.  Needless to say he is surprised when she tracks him down at a bar several weeks later, but the attraction and chemistry between them are just as palpable.
Emma is totally grateful that she survived her ordeal in the jungle, but now she’s determined to have the truth about the crash brought into the open.  She’s been asking questions of every government official she can and has come to the attention of too many people—people that really don’t want the truth exposed.  Tracking down Ryan seemed like a great idea, for more than one reason, but his fire and ice reactions to her leave her even more confused and self-conscious.  As she and Ryan are drawn into a dangerous world of lies and corruption they have to deal with the emotional connection between them, one that goes far beyond simple lust and pheromones and into a depth of love that is swift and unquestionable.  With their lives hanging in the balance, trusting one another is difficult, but Ryan is determined to keep Emma alive and safe, even if it means forfeiting his own life. 
I enjoyed reading these stories very much, but coming from a standpoint of two separately released stories I have to say, ugh!  The first story was a lot of world building and setup for the overall story, but there was certainly no lack of passion between these two, but it was obvious this story was going to be very fast paced and there wasn’t going to be a whole lot of getting-to-know-you time before Ryan and Emma fell headlong into love.  The first section ended well with a scary cliffhanger, one that would have made me crazy had I not had section 2 ready to read right then.  The second one however seemed to be confused a bit; the first chapter seemed to almost want to recap the story from the first section, as if they are a second book in a series, instead of just the second part of the same story, which I found unnecessary. Read together though these two stories are wonderfully written and make me very happy that Laura is trying something a little different than what she usually writes.  If you are a fan of Laura’s you might be a little surprised by the length of the stories (even combined they were much shorter than her normal length Tracers novel), but if you’re looking for a good single evening read that will be filled with action, intrigue, sensuality, and a love that is filled with hope, sadness and light, I recommend you pick up both of these stories and get to know Alpha Crew.  I am really looking forward to what’s coming next, and kind of hoping that Jake’s story is next! *wink, wink; nudge nudge, Laura*

*eARC provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.

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