Review: Storm Gathering (Scorpius Syndrome #4)

Storm Gathering (Scorpius Syndrome #4)

by Rebecca Zanetti 

Blurb:

Even before surviving the Scorpius bacterium, Greyson Storm was a lone wolf navigating minefields. As a kid, he learned to take a hit and find safety. As an adult, he joined the military and quickly learned how to protect and defend. When the world ended, he created a mercenary camp with military precision, no entanglements, and a promise to avenge a fallen friend. As part of that vow, he kidnapped Maureen Shadow, but now that he has let her go, her blue eyes and intriguing mind keep haunting him…

As possibly the only Biotechnology Engineer still living, Maureen Shadow might be humanity’s one hope to survive the aftermath of Scorpius, making her frighteningly valuable to both allies and enemies. Even after sexual tension explodes between her and Greyson, she’s not sure which camp he belongs to—friend or foe? Worse yet, survival may mean thwarting his prime mission, putting her in even more peril. When danger and seduction collide, there is no safety in this new world.

Themes:  post-Apocalyptic

Rating:  4.25 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

This series, set in post-Apocalyptic America, is not something I thought I would enjoy to be honest, but as time progresses I have found myself more and more drawn in to the stories and characters, most probably attesting to the skills of Ms. Zanetti. The characters are intriguing, the plot lines not really that different from everyday life once boiled down to the basics and the love stories truly the focus.  Maureen and Greyson’s story has been building for a while now and I enjoyed the way Zanetti backed up a bit to give readers the full experience in case they happened to have missed previous stories in the series.  Greyson has become a leader of a small group of men he has turned into soldiers, just trying to survive and working toward the goal of finding and stopping a sociopath bent of spreading the pathogen that already wiped out 95% of the world’s population even farther.  Maureen, a plant biotech engineer is just focused on what comes next and protecting the most important factor for a chance of human survival, the food source we need to survive.  When he kidnapped her, using her as leverage against her brother, he never imagined he would lose his heart to her and ultimately change the course of his life for her.  I was thrilled to get a chance to read this story and as strange as it sounds the story really is about just two things, finding love in a world spinning out of control and believing so much in that love that no obstacle is too big to keeping that love alive and strong.  Maureen was a kickass heroine and I loved watching her go head to head and toe to toe with not only Greyson but all the alpha men around her including psychopathic presidents and her extremely badass brother.  The love she feels for the men in her life won’t stop her from kicking some sense into their brains and it certainly won’t stop her from pointing out when they are making huge mistakes.  Her intelligence, spunk, and sass made her one of my favorites in this series to date, and I have no doubt that if she has anything to say about it, the human population will soon thrive again and have no problems rebuilding an even better and stronger civilization.  Greyson is the type of guy that keeps his word once he gives it, but he doesn’t let a promise made in the heat of the moment keep him from understanding that sometimes a promise needs to be broken if the greater good will benefit from it.   When he allows himself to show it, he can be so sweet and sensitive, but in the world they now inhabit, he doesn’t believe he can allow his guard down enough to show it, except when he is alone and safe with his woman.  Together they throw sparks at every turn, but there are also so many sweet and endearing moments of love and serenity that we wonder if the world around them has simply stopped, until it rudely intrudes of course.  I am looking forward to seeing who falls in love next in this series, though I have my suspicions and seeing where Zanetti takes everything with their future survival.  I can still say that I don’t love post-Apocalyptic series, but I always throw in the caveat “except for the Scorpius Syndrome series by Rebecca Zanetti” when I say it now. Keep the magic coming, Rebecca.

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