| Title | : | Free Fall (Elite Force, #4) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1402274963 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781402274961 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 317 |
| Publication | : | First published March 5, 2013 |
Pararescueman Jose "Cuervo" James is the guy they call for the most dangerous assignments. He lives for his job.
On a high-risk rescue deep in the African jungle, Jose encounters sexy, smart Interpol agent Stella Carson. They'd once had an affair that burned hot and fast, but family is everything to Stella, and Jose just can't go there.
Fate has thrown them into the deadly hot zone together, and sparks will fly...but only if they can live to tell about it.
Free Fall (Elite Force, #4) Reviews
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Not good...not bad...could have been better. I didn't really feel the connection between Jose and Stella. It was very undecided on where they wanted to take their relationship. As far as the pacing of the story, it was OK, but there are no "hanging on the edge of your seat" moments.
This is by far in my opinion, the weaker installment of the series so far. -
This was my first book by Catherine Mann and I generally liked it.
I definitely liked Jose. He is not your typical alpha man, I enjoyed that he is more sensitive than Stella. Stella is okay but there were times I wasn't keen of her. She demands from Jose to left everything and to live her dream, the life she planned for them. She doesn't accept that he has some other plans, she just expects him to change them, to change himself. And she is not ready to give up even a tiny bit of her dream too just to be with him, to meet him halfway. But when for the first time he says he will leave everything for her she doesn't accept the offer. She wants him to not only live her dream but also to make it his own. It's selfish.
The plot was okay. Jose and Stella already loves each other in the beginning of the book so the romance part doesn't seem to be undeveloped. The suspense part is entertaining but easy to forget after few weeks.
It was an entertaining read which I will likely not remember after few weeks. I'm giving three stars. I will read the other books in this series one day. -
Good read but not great. I didn't love it. Jose and Stella individually were both likeable characters with interesting backgrounds, but I didn't feel a connection between them. There was heat but no warmth, if that makes sense. A little too much suspense, too little romance. C+
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3.5-4 out of 5 Stars
“He was a PJ (parajumper) and she'd worked her entire career with Interpol with one goal: to find the truth about her mother's death....”
Free Fall was our first read by Catherine Mann, and we did not read previous books in the series. Although this is book four in the series, it may be read as a stand-alone. Free Fall was easy to follow and wrapped up without any cliffhangers.
"It's not about the pace or the distance. It's the 'afterward' that has me worried, the everyday life part, and the quiet moments. As long as I keep running, I'm good. When I stop, I crash."
Jose and Stella met on a covert mission and from there an intense fast relationship grew between them until five months in it came to a standstill. Stella wanted more from their relationship and Jose was unable to commit at the level she needed. Therefore, they broke things off. A pain filled month later, they are thrust back together in another covert mission, and this round has Jose saving Stella. Their journey isn’t getting any easier, emotionally or physically. Both of them need to set their emotions for each other aside so they can focus on what lies ahead. State secrets are beginning to unfold, traitors are uncovered (inside and outside the multiple organizations), and betrayal of the worst kind will question whether forgiveness can be considered.
"You don't seem to get it. You broke my heart. Not some flowery, romantic sob story. It's messy and painful. Let me say it again, clearer. You broke my fucking heart."
Overall, we really liked Jose and Stella as characters. However, those two definitely struggled as a couple. Stella and Jose were a mess together. On their own, they kicked ass. Both had strong personalities; they were loyal and passionate towards their jobs and each other. The emotional struggle and connection was there between the characters and very well developed. We felt their love and their pain, but at times, the sexual chemistry seemed a little lacking to us. Their relationship teetered on the fact that they couldn't be together but they also couldn't stand to be apart. Even though they were deeply in love with each other, their different wants out of life became a huge obstacle that they couldn’t seem to compromise on, and the outcome ended up breaking their hearts. They knew they need to be together, as there wasn’t anyone else for them, but could not agree on what that really meant. Jose has commitment issues, his painful past interferes with his ability to commit the way Stella needs, and she is not willing to compromise on what she wants out of life; that included the house, kids, and white picket fence.
There were secrets, omissions, danger, drama, and twists that kept the story interesting. A major twist surprised us both. We adored Catherine Mann’s writing style and her glimpses into their past and present memories from alternating points of view. Our hero and heroine were a complicated dance of denial, running, pushing away, and pulling back together. At times, we felt it moved a little slow and the push and pull between Jose and Stella seemed a little old after a while. The secondary characters, however, were a fun and entertaining mix amongst the turmoil helping to break up the tension.
Thank you to Catherine Mann for providing us with the opportunity of reviewing Free Fall for an honest opinion. -
Review posted:
Happily Ever After - Reads
Blog rating: C
Free Fall opens six months in the past when Jose and Sarah first meet during a mission. Sarah works with Interpol and Jose as a pararesceman. Their romance starts the minute these two lay eyes on each other but we don’t see it because the story then jumps to present day and the couple has been broken up for a month. Through flashbacks we see their romance and eventually why they broke up, Sarah someday wants to settle down and have kids. Jose does not. They both love each other so much, thought that the other person was it for them, the one they were meant to be with, but neither one wants to give in on what they want for the future. They broke up and it’s killing both of them to be apart. Their paths cross again when Sarah, undercover as a student trying to find out the truth about her mom’s death, is held captive and Jose is part of the team assigned to go in and get her and the other captives. Once again, they can’t stop the strong feelings between them, but it becomes a romance of who is going to change their vision of the future so they can be together.
I really enjoyed getting the history for both characters, their pasts are painful in different ways. Jose grew up with an alcoholic mother and later his sister and he’s had his own battle with alcoholism. He’s been sober for five years but feels strongly about not fathering any kids, worried that he’ll follow in his mom’s footsteps. Sarah dealt with the pain of an absent mom who chose to work in Africa with the Peace Corps helping the children there and abandoning her own kids back home. Sarah has never truly believed her mom’s death was what they were told and she can’t let it go and comes to Africa for answers until her own life hangs in the balance.
While I loved getting to know Jose and Sarah as characters, I felt like their romance was too back and forth to really get invested in. They kept saying things like “this will be the last time” (when they have sex) or “this goodbye is for good” but they can’t keep their hands off each other. But the whole time they were together during their mission, they both kept thinking and saying that it wasn’t going to work, but they loved each other SO much. It got a little old because it was obvious they loved each other and would find a way to be together, and the question became who was going to compromise. I liked the vulnerable scenes between them when they talked about their past and the pain they both grew up with and are still dealing with now. The emotion between the couple was great, but the romance left a bit to be desired.
The action was good, though nothing that stood out as gripping. The overall suspense storyline, tracking clues that Sarah was decoding in fabric wraps, led to a connection with the Vice President’s wife coming to Africa for a speech. This leads to a more dangerous situation involving intelligence agents security and traitors close to Sarah and Jose. I liked seeing Sarah work her skills in cracking codes and Jose in his parajumper element – yum.
I felt like this was a good story, but nothing that really grabbed me and took hold. It’s a bit predicable with Sarah and her mom’s storyline, a bit frustrating with the romance and the constant “I can’t stop loving you, but I can’t be with you” routine. I did like the characters when they let their guards down with each other and I was a sap for a tortured Jose. The emotional level was great, but it wasn’t enough to make this more than good read. -
“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” -- Carl Jung
I immediately grinned when I saw my favorite Carl Jung quote at the beginning of Free Fall. Upon finishing, I revisited this quote and thought how fitting it was for Jose and Stella's story.
Although Stella Carson, a code breaker and trained agent for Interpol, meets pararescueman Jose “Cuervo” James in the prologue, the story quickly jumps forward six months later to the present when they are no longer together. Circumstance brings their lives together again when Jose is called in to be part of the team to rescue Stella, who was taken hostage while undercover.
In the midst of terrorists threats and twists unfolding, we get glimpses of Jose and Stella's relationship through flashbacks. I know some would prefer that the story not go back and forth from past to present, but I found this didn't bother me so much. The flashbacks to their romantic dates together were some of my favorite parts! In these scenes Catherine Mann whisks the reader away to the most romantic and exotic locations in Africa. Jose planned some truly special dates for Stella to sweep her off her feet. Really, even I was swept off my feet! So, why did these two soul mates and intense lovers break up?
I found two running themes throughout Free Fall...second chances and making difficult choices in order to protect loved ones. Jose and Stella have a huge opportunity for a second chance to be together if they can only work out their differences. I love how Catherine Mann wove the second theme throughout the story. Boy, does it get really emotional as the plot thickens!
There is no doubt that fans of the Elite Force series will enjoy Free Fall. The heart-pounding action and suspense is all there. Free Fall can be read as a standalone. I've only read books 2 and 4, but I very much enjoy this series and plan to read the other books soon. I've been hooked! Catherine Mann's military romances are simply quite addicting!
***I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*** -
Two-haiku review:
She's agent, hostage
She sends code message to him
Looking for rescue
Spies and intrigue here
Characters can't compromise
African setting -
Os 3 livros anteriores desta pequena série foram qualquer coisa especial mas, infelizmente, este último volume não lhes chegou aos pés. Assim que vi a sinopse, que se passa em África e de resgatar a mulher, fiquei logo de pé atrás, não é dos enredos que me cativam, pelo contrário, fujo deles, mas como é sobre esta força especial, li. Houve coisas pequenas boas, mas, no geral, não foi uma leitura especial.
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My Review:
This book is a different style of book. The prologue is written when the hero/heroine meet, but the actual book takes place after they dated for five months and then broke up a month ago. You don't get to see any of their relationship in current time. It's all done in flashbacks and I was fine with that at first, but by the middle of the book, I wanted to concentrate on their story.
Their story in current time is that they are caught up in this huge political firestorm in Africa. Jose is a PJ...a pararescueman in the Air Force who runs high-risk missions all the time. Stella is an Interpol agent. The book starts when Stella has been kidnapped and Jose is part of the mission to go in and recover her. Catherine Mann wrote these scenes so incredibly well...*gah*, the emotions!
Yes, they've broken up, but not because they didn't love each other. They broke up because of a significant disagreement about a future with kids. Jose grew up in an alcoholic family and is a recovering alcoholic himself. He refuses to curse another child with his genetic makeup. Stella can't see her future without a family. She grew up in a fairly disfunctional one herself, but that has just made it so that she craves the whole 2 1/2 kids and a picket fence all that much more.
The tension and action is great in this. It starts from the first page and carries you pretty much through the entire book. I loved the seriously strong emotions between the hero/heroine and just how emotionally shattered they BOTH are by all that is happening between them and how they both know it's going to turn out. I love a good angsty book and this one worked for me in that regard. I also have a personal fondness for PJ's, so once again this book/series is a winner in my book!
I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for an honest review. -
Pulled from my "potential" list...not what I'm looking for.
Going to keep the 2-star rating, second half was inarguably better than the first one but that's the best compliment I can give.
There wasn't too much more past issue diving (though there was some in moderation). The romance was still a fizzle for me and sometimes the lingo/dramatization was overplayed a lot making certain plotline parts a little harder to follow.
I took a nice long break from this book half-way through because plotline was dragging and the romance was mediocre at best, going back into it was a good idea because I did partly enjoy the last half of the book and I also enjoyed the writing style of the author. I did not re-read the beginning nor did I read the blurb, I simply jumped right back into it. I have to point out that even doing that, basically starting the book from the middle had absolutely no effect as to my enjoyment of it...I didn't miss a beat. To me...this says the beginning is filled with a lot of pointless garbage. Aside from her capture/rescue the rest of the 150 pages are unnecessary to the overall plotline.
For being a military romance I was disappointed with this book for several reasons, I would give this author another try but I think I will steer clear of this particular series.
I still LOVE the cover though! 5 stars for the cover! -
Stella Carson met Pararescueman Jose "Cuervo" James whiel they were both on a covert mission. Their mutual attraction was intense, but with his damaged past, Jose couldn't give Stella what she needed, a family and home. Now, after their break up, they are back together in East Africa, facing more than just a terrorist plot against the wife of the Vice President.
Together they uncover both traitors and someone from Stella's past who shouldn't be alive, someone Stella has been searching for information about for years.
Jose and Stella still love each other, but must decide if it they can beat back their demons to be together again.
Although this appeared to be a book with Jose as its central character, for the most part, it was Stella's struggles that were well showcased. These characters were well-matched, with strong personalities and needs that meshed well together like puzzle pieces!
With a little espionage, danger, and romance all rolled into one fast read, it was good entertainment!
This ARC edition was provided by NetGalley and Sourcebooks in exchange for an honest review. Publish date March 1, 2013
To see other reviews, check out:
http://tometender.blogspot.com/ -
Parajumper Jose "Cuervo" James is a speed junkie — he has to keep moving, working, doing. Because he doesn't know how to handle quiet or relaxation.
Stella Cameron is an Interpol operative who is ready to get off the treadmill and nest.
A while back these two had a relationship before they let it blow up for obvious reasons: He can't settle and that's all she wants.
Now, she's been taken hostage as part of a student group by nasty rebels and Cuervo is part of the team sent in to get the hostages out. Problem is there's a mole on the inside, and Stella is in his sight.
While working to get out, the two stumble across a plot to disrupt a goodwill visit by the US veep's wife to this downtrodden country. The two must work together to unravel the plot and prevent a worldwide crisis, even while they struggle with their personal relationship, which is a total train wreck. These are the people who love each other but can't live together.
These two get their HEA, (which I found to be too much "in the crisis" moment) but I think the road ahead is going to be very bumpy and involve lots of counseling. -
What did I think...hmmm. It was pretty good. The suspense was intriguing. The romance part was a bit disappointing for me, though. I had hoped for more for Cuervo's story. Frankly, I wasn't all that enamored of the heroine, although there really wasn't any one thing about her that turned me off. It just seemed like she couldn't make a stand regarding her feelings for the hero and stick to it. It got frustrating. But other than that, the story was pretty good.
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SOOO GOOD!!! you would never know, by the embarrassingly cheesy book covers of Catherine Mann’s books, that her stories would be so spectacular. The “don’t judge a book by its cover” saying must’ve come straight from the romantic suspense genre. Bravo, Mann, bravo!!
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2.5 stars
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Good book, with action, suspense and romance. Jose and Stella first met when she, as an Interpol agent, rescued him and his team during an anti-pirate mission. There was an immediate and intense attraction between them, and they began seeing each other whenever their work allowed. Their relationship was hot and fast, but began to fall apart when they realized they wanted different things from it. A month after parting ways, Jose is called in as part of a team to rescue Stella and other hostages in the African jungle. Their attraction reignites, but in order to do anything about it, they have to stay alive.
I liked both Jose and Stella. Both of them are intense, honorable, and very good at what they do. In order to focus on their mission, they have to try to set their emotions aside, something that is easier said than done. It's obvious that their feelings are just as strong as ever, but the obstacles to being together haven't changed.
Jose is a terrific guy. He can be sweet and romantic, as shown in the flashbacks of their relationship. He is also a recovering alcoholic, from a family of alcoholics, which has affected the way he looks at his future. He experienced the effect his mother's alcoholism had on himself and his sister as they were growing up, and saw what happened to his niece and nephew because of his sister's. Even though he has been sober for five years, he refuses to risk having children and ruining their lives. He's deeply in love with Stella, but he can't give her what she wants.
Stella is a really awesome heroine. She became a codebreaker for Interpol, but also uses her time to try to find out what really happened to her mother. While she was growing up, her mother was rarely home, as she was a Peace Corps worker in Africa, leaving Stella and her brothers to be raised by their father. When Stella was fifteen, her mother was killed in a car accident in Africa, but something never felt right to her. She wants to know more. She also has her life planned out so that, once she has had enough of her field work for Interpol, she'll take a desk job, find a man and have the family she always dreamed about. She never expected to find the man she wanted in the middle of a mission. Over the five months of their relationship she fell hard for him, and was heartbroken when he made it clear that his vision of the future wasn't the same as hers.
Their reunion was full of stress, emotion and passion. They have to work together to stop the terrorists and their plans, which means setting their emotions aside. But they also find it impossible to keep their hands off each other. They are miserable when they are apart, and know that there isn't anyone else who is so right for them, but finding a way to be together seems impossible. I really liked the way each of them respects the job that the other does, and doesn't try to change them. Knowing what they do about the other's job, fears for their loved one's safety run very deep. Stella tries to show Jose that he isn't anything like his mother and sister, but he can't see it. Jose is frustrated by the fact that Stella can't seem to accept how deep his fears are. Both of them have to find a way past their issues if there's to be any hope for them to be together.
The suspense aspect of the story was riveting and action packed. The initial preparation for Stella's rescue showed her strengths, as she found ways to pass information to the rescue team. The rescue itself was intense, with some questions about just what the purpose of the capture was. Information about a planned public attack comes to light, and the agencies present have to find a way to stop it. As the story goes on, danger, drama and secrets keep the action moving along. There is a huge twist at the end that I never saw coming. The final confrontation at the end was intense, and very well done.
I enjoyed the secondary characters, who added depth to the story, along with a few moments of lightness to break some of the tension. I especially enjoyed the parts with Bubbles and fuzzy things. I also liked the romance between Annie and Sam, as "mature" romances are few and far between in romance novels. Even as a secondary story line, it's nice to see. -
Originally posted at:
http://www.longandshortreviews.com/bo...
She saves him and he saves her right back. It wasn’t planned to be that way but fate, or whatever one wishes to call it, deemed it so.
Stella Carson, an Interpol Agent and Jose “Cuervo” James, a pararescueman, feel a connection at first sight, but dangers and duty keep them fully occupied. Determined LOVE refuses to be left behind. It sneaks in, hides in a safe place deep inside hearts and abides, all the time putting down deep roots.
Stella’s underlying reason for being in Africa colors her actions. She is a complex woman with unique insightfulness. With her infectious laugh and playfulness, she is compellingly irresistible. But her long-range goals and Jose’s do not mesh, so a future together seems impossible—it hurts both of them.
Jose, with his family history, his alcohol addiction that must be struggled with daily and his determination to not further the family genes that have bedeviled his life, sets him at odds with Stella hopes for home and family in due time. Yet to see Stella happy and to be with her—his true soul mate—is a need he can’t out run. “They are so good together and yet so wrong for each other.”
The danger-infested action, the sub-plot of Annie Johnson and Samir Al-Shennaive and Ajaya add depth to the maIn plot and reveal much about the characters and their motivation.
The actions of clandestine agencies and the military that Catherine Mann makes so real keep the story at an adrenaline-pumping level much of the time, but her love scenes take the reader to an entirely different place on the emotional continuum where just wanting to feel and rejoice in the ecstasy of that mystical, timeless connection of true lovers takes the readers breath away.
Side stories seem minor yet they have a major impact on the outcome of tense situations that help make Free Fall a breath-holding read at times.
The motto of the Elite Force: “These things we do, so others may live” becomes very clear as the overwhelming dangers are met and conquered by the super heroes that Jose is a part of.
Catherine Mann engages all the emotions and all the senses of the reader as she lures the reader into bone-chilling fearful actions, into deep, personal motivations that drive the characters, and into euphoric love scenes with soul mate lovers. The piquant details Ms. Mann weaves into Free Fall make it riveting. -
Stella, an Interpol agent who specializes in code breaking (but does way more!) and Jose, a pararescueman meet when she helps on an assignment as back up rescue to SEALS and PJ's in Africa who are trying to break a pirating ring. Stella and Jose have an immediate connection when they first meet.
Stella has made her way to Africa through Interpol in hopes of finding out what really happened to her mother many years ago when she was, to Stella's knowledge, on a peacekeeping mission. Stella has shared with Jose her past, but she holds back from him the real reason she is in Africa. Stella has a goal and after that she plans to find Mr. Right, settle down, and have a family. Mr. Right just showed up earlier than she'd planned!
Jose comes from a family of alcoholics, and though he hasn't drank for 5 years he fears that one day he will slip. This is his rational for definitely not wanting to settle down and have a family.
Stella and Jose have a 5 month affair/relationship, taking time when they can but Stella wants more than Jose can give her and they break it off, leaving both of them heartbroken.
A month goes by, Stella and some students in Africa are kidnapped...some of them do not survive. With her skills and quick thinking, a rescue is launched and Jose plays a big role in that, throwing them together again. Despite the rescue, there is still work to be done and serious threats to be neutralized.
At a time of life and death, they must focus not just on each other but on doing their jobs. Can they survive and make a relationship work?
There is so much more to this story than I've summarized here...but I don't want to spoil it! Catherine weaves a fantastic, breath taking, mesmerizing story in Free Fall, I could not put this book down!
I loved Jose, Stella, and all the other characters that made this book what it is. Jose and Stella are both struggling with their own demons, doing the best they can.
I have read all the other books in this series and it was nice to see a few of the characters again, but I also believe it would be easy to read this as a stand alone book, Free Fall holds it's own!
I would recommend this to anyone looking for some breath taking romantic suspense! You won't be sorry! -
4.5 stars Fabulous Read!
I love a good second chance story. And oh my, this is Catherine Mann at her best. Free Fall is book four in the Elite Force series, and these stories just keeps getting better with each successive book.
After a whirlwind global romance, Jose James and Stella Carson are broken up. Their stressful jobs, the emotionally damaging pasts, their conflicting dreams, all conspire to keep them apart. However, there is this one thing....the are in love with one another and they can't seem to give that up no matter how many times they keep hurting each other.
I love the parity between the characters. Stella is a kick-ass Interpol agent trying to stop criminal activity in Africa. He is a USAF Pararescue jumper whose mission is to recover downed and injured crew members in austere and non-permissive enviornments (yup, that's from their website) He is medically and military trained. I love that it is her job to put her life on the line as much as it is his.
The tension in the relationship is not whether to love or not, but rather, do they love one another ENOUGH. Sometimes, people have different values, dreams for the future. Stella, growing up in a broken home, wants a family. This is non-negotiable. Jose is from an alcoholic family and doesn't want to risk the possibility of passing on that sickness.
The relationship dilemma is tightly woven around the story of a terrorist group looking to raise havoc by obtaining and releasing the names of operatives around the world. There are some nice surprises regarding Stella's history that works well to enhance the drama. And I enjoyed the use of flashbacks to give us the background of Jose and Stella's love affair.
My little critique is that there are one too many times where the characters resolve to never let the other go and then proceed to do things that drive each other away. It doesn't overwhelm the overall story, but I did take notice.
IN A NUTSHELL: If you are a fan of romantic suspense or of Catherine Mann, this is a not-to-be-missed installment of the Elite Force series
Thank you to Sourcebooks for the ARC via Netgalley. -
3.75 stars
Jose and Stella reunite after an affair that ended when Jose admitted that he could not give Stella what she dreamed of - a family of her own. It is during the time that follows their reunion that each starts to second-guess their decision to end their relationship. Jose admits that he truly loves Stella and that he can't lose her this time around, while Stella realizes that maybe she behaved irrationally when she put Jose on the spot about making a decision about their future.
So after reading the previous books in the series and especially loving the last one, I was expecting a lot from this book. Sadly this book didn't meet all my expectations. I am not saying that I didn't like the concept behind the story or how the author went about presenting the story as a whole, I just think that the Stella and Jose's connection felt superficial and their chemistry was subtle. There were no fireworks for me when they got together.
Although I liked Stella just fine, I found it hard to connect with her. I didn't approve of the way she went about treating Jose before or after their reunion and I didn't understand her reluctance to compromise with Jose when she imposed an all or nothing condition on their relationship. On the other hand, my heart went out to Jose after learning his story. But although I could understand where he was coming from, i found it hard to believe that he would find his life partner in Stella. Both of these issues were the reason that I could not truly believe Jose and Stella's pairing.
Having said that, I do believe that Catherine Mann brought a great story of suspense to the page. I enjoyed the conflict within the story and how it all played out in the end. I especially enjoyed the fast-paced action scenes and figuring it out who was the mole within the agency.
Free Fall in the fourth book in the Elite Force series and it can be read as a stand alone book.
I received this title from Sourcebook through NetGalley in exchange of my honest opinion. -
Who doesn’t love a man in uniform? What a ‘treat’ from author Catherine Mann! A series of military romance novels that are written in amazing detail. I was not previously familiar with this author. Now - totally hooked!! Such a unique writing style on romance novels!
This book opens up with a bang! Stella Carson is an Interpol agent working on assignment when she first meets Pararescueman Jose ‘Cuervo’ James. Both are highly trained in their respective fields. Stella is a ‘code breaker’ that assists with stopping criminal activity in Africa. Jose is an Air Force Pararescue jumper trained to handle assignments and assist injured operatives on missions.
The couple meets when Stella collects Jose’s team from the ocean of the African coast. Jose offers medical assistance to Stella and the attraction between the two is instant. They begin a relationship that is both intense and romantic. Neither expected to fall in love. However - their ideas of family, dreams of the future, and reality of where there careers intersect with these expectations collides. The result - a very painful breakup.
During an undercover assignment, Stella is taken as a captive. Jose is called in to help find a way to rescue Stella and her fellow hostages. During the rescue, the couple finds themselves drawn back to one another. All of the turmoil, fuels the feelings the couple tries to keep at bay. Neither accepting what could so easily become of their future together.
This novel leads readers on a very descriptive journey into the life of these operatives. Can Jose overcome demons of his past to create a future with Stella? With the uncovering of a ‘hidden secret’ that will alter the life Stella knew….will she be able to pick up the pieces, deal with the revelation, and ‘move on’? Can this couple find a way to overcome their obstacles and have the future they desire?
An excellent read as a stand-alone or in the series!!
**I received a First Reads ARC of this title for my honest review.** -
Fighting Against the Inevitable....Love
Free Fall
Author: Catherine Mann
Publish Date: March 1 2013
Review written by Kathleen for Love of Romance Book Reviews
Fighting against the inevitable love!
Catherine Mann has written another intriguing story with solid characters.
Stella Carson is an Interpol agent with a personal agenda for her current mission in Africa. She rescues Pararescuman Jose James and the sparks fly between them they have a brief but hot affair. Jose has a complicated family history. Stella wants more but, they cannot compromise and their affair burns out. When Stella's life is in jeopardy their is only one man who can save her; Jose. Once again the love burns between them but will love be enough to hold their relationship together.
They both have jobs to complete and need to remain focused on the job at hand. Love is complicated at the best of times but throw in the fate of the world and it becomes downright difficult.
I enjoyed this book but, found myself frustrated with Jose and Stella occasionally which made it a bit more of a challenging read for me and took me longer to read the full story. Sometimes I just wanted to yell at them both and say, "come on, get your stuff together!" It is the sign of a well written story that gets your emotions roiling and involved. Overall the characters are well written and the supporting characters are strong. I love the setting and the detail that goes into describing their dates or adventures, it makes you feel as if you are there seeing what they see.
Catherine Mann never fails to deliver with her stories, they make for a thrilling and enjoyable read. I look forward to reading what's up next.
ARC given by publisher for honest review. -
Stella is on a mission to find out what really happened to her mother all those years ago. The government told her family that her mother had been involved in a car accident, battering her body to the point of unrecognizable. But Stella knows it’s more than that. She blames her mother for leaving her family behind to take care of other children in Africa, while her own children were missing her back home.
As an Interpol agent, she is thrown into some dangerous situations, one that gets her kidnapped when she is undercover as a flighty college student studying abroad in one of the more dangerous areas of Africa. As she tries to make contact with her handlers, she repeatedly informs them that she could use some “Jose Cuervo” — the man she broke up with just a month before.
No matter the break up, Jose is there for her, he and his team rescuing her and the other students that lived, retrieving the bodies of those who didn’t. And from there it’s a matter of finding out what code is woven into a cloth that one of her fellow survivors took from the compound they were being held in.
It’s a semi-fast paced book that will get your heart racing and your mind whirling, trying to figure out who is on which side. And when Stella and Cuervo get back together, the sparks fly in some pretty hot scenes (and not just because they’re in Africa).
This whole series, by Catherine Mann, is definitely a great one, and it’s one that I’m reading through the previous books now. I can’t get enough of the pararescumen (no matter how many times spell-check tells me that’s wrong) and their alpha-superman complexes. I want one of my own.
Definitely a four out of five flowers!
