Hotshot
Catherine MannRomantic suspense
Available from Berkley Publishing
ISBN: 9780425228333
May 2009
| Shay's job as a nurse at a local community center working with local gang youth has brought her to the point where she needs to testify to Congress about the gang problems and raise awareness to get additional funding. Somebody doesn't want her to accomplish her goal of necessary funding to further her work and that prompts her father to call in Vince, the one man from her past who hurt her so badly. Vince agrees to help protect Shay because he feels like he owes his life to her father. Once Vince and Shay get reacquainted, they realize their feelings for each other are more intense than when they were teenagers. With the threats against Shay escalating, she'll have to put her trust in Vince and hope that he can keep her safe.
This is the second book in the Dark Ops series and Hotshot is a great addition to the lineup. The authenticity of the military actions and lingo shows that Mann does a thorough job of her research. Vince is a great hero, rising up from the mistakes of his youth and now a testament to other youth. His friendship with the men in his unit says a lot about his character. Shay's personality seems to be driven from the mistakes she made as a youth and the distance she feels from her father. You have to like Shay for the job she is trying to do and the way she tries to see the positive in such a depressing situation. This story paints a very realistic picture of the ongoing gang problem many cities are facing today while at the same time blending in the relationship between Vince and Shay and giving us a secondary romance that in turn gives us glimpses of the relationship Shay may have had with her father as a teenager. The gang problem may have brought Shay and Vince back together, but it's their feelings for each other that move the story forward. The action and dialogue flow quickly to keep the reader entertained and engaged and makes this book hard to put down. I highly recommend this book and hope to read more about the men in this Air Force test unit.
Overall rating:
Reviewer: Lisa Freeman |
