Monday, April 27, 2015

[Kame's Review]: "Running Fire"

Running Fire by Lindsay McKenna
Publisher: HQN Books (April 28, 2015)
Series: Shadow Warriors, 8
Genre: Romantic Suspense

He was a haven in the midst of Hell… 

Temporarily assigned to the Shadow Squadron in a troubled region of Afghanistan, Chief Warrant Officer and pilot Leah Mackenzie is no stranger to conflict—even if most of her physical and emotional scars are courtesy of her vicious ex. Still, she's got a bad feeling about picking up a team of stranded SEALs. A feeling that's all too justified once enemy fire hits their helicopter and all hell breaks loose… 

SEAL Kell Ballard's goal was to get the injured pilot out of harm's way and find shelter deep in the labyrinth of caves. It's a place of dark intimacy, where Leah finds unexpected safety in a man's arms. Where prohibited attraction burns brightly. And where they'll hide until the time comes to face the enemy outside…and the enemy within their ranks.



Where to Buy*:
More Info:

Reviews of McKenna's Previous Novels:

Risk Taker (#3) -- Musing Maddie
Taking Fire (#7) -- Kame


Kame's Review:


This is barely a 3 for me


Kell rescues Leah after the helicopter she was co-piloting crashed in the Afghani hills. They are forced to hide in a cave for sometime before they can make it back to the safety of the base.


Kell kept me reading this book. If it wasn't for his character this would have been a DNF for me. I liked his background, his SEAL experience, and the honor he displayed. Leah's purpose as a character seemed to be that she needed to be the needy one in the couple; and she was just too needy, she lacked inner strength. If she was a secondary character I am not sure I would have ever thought twice about her, and since she was the heroine that is not a good thing.


To me the plot was a reworked version of Taking Fire the previous book in the series. The similarities were striking to me. Both had snipers out on a crucial mission and they witness an event that put another person in danger only to rescue them and administer first aid; and that is not the only similarity. Maybe it was more apparent to me because I read them one after another (one day between) but it only proved to annoy me and not motivate me to read the book.  I did push through and I was happy for Kell at the end because I really felt he did deserve an HEA. The plot was not the only problem for me, dialog in this book seemed to be dated and rather strained and awkward. I can't imagine contemporary characters actually talking how Leah and Kell did.


One positive is this is truly a stand alone book in the series. It is book 8 and I have only read the prior book and I did not feel like I was missing a crucial part of the story at any time.


3 STARS! 


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Kame received an e-ARC of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for her honest opinion.

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Thanks for the review, Kame! 

Have you read Lindsay McKenna before?



Enjoy!


Until Next Time,


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3 comments :

Sharonda said...

haven't read any of her work before. too bad the story didn't work for you but between the heroine and what sounds like a recycled story then I can see why you gave it the rating you did.

Sophia Rose said...

I read the one before this and loved it, but yeah, getting it all over again wouldn't have been cool with me either.

KAMEBookReview said...

exactly I read the one before this too and enjoyed it - but this one seemed too close