Into the Dawn (First Force Series #5)

I don't know how long you've been following my blog, but I have been reading this series since it began and I look forward to the new book every time Cindy McDonald emails me to say, "Hey- it's ready!". I also need to confess that my secret love is for romance books that are... kind of insanely not possible but I love them anyways. Would this story happen in real life? Psh, probably not. Do I care? No I do not because my love for a romance novel trumps all of it. You give me a romance novel with a military character and I'm even more all in. Cindy gets me. It's like she's writing these just for me. Swoon.

Into the Dawn - Cindy McDonald

While on a camping trip in the Colorado Rockies, First Force operative, Casey Rhodes and Hawke International operative, Peyton Mattock were having the time of their lives. Separated by an ocean, the two operatives rarely saw or heard from each other, but on this short vacation the sparks ignite the flames of passion they believed to be real, but now cannot deny. Peyton insists that on this lover’s holiday they leave all weaponry behind—after all, what would they need them for? Casey reluctantly agrees, and it seems like a wonderful idea—until Peyton goes missing. 

Trapped in the middle of every-lovin’ nowhere, unarmed and alone, Casey must find the man she yearns for and fight with primitive weapons, alongside an unlikely ally to gain his freedom from those who have an unbelievable scheme!

I have read this series from the very start and I have really enjoyed all of the books. The stories are kind of crazy and unbelievable, but the characters make up for that easily. The other great thing is that though this is book five in the First Force Series, they are all stand alone, so you aren't going to feel like you don't know what's going on. Each book has an independent story line and the previous characters only feature a cameo, but their story doesn't bleed into the next.

The story centers around Casey and Peyton, both are in a governmental/military like job (Casey is a First Force member but Peyton is not, though he does a similar job) and they travel all over the world doing dangerous things, but on their off time they get together and you know... do grown up things like  have sex basically the entire times.

Anyways.

This time Peyton has arranged for him and Casey to do some camping and hiking in the Rockies where he has a cabin that mostly sits vacant and he admittedly hadn't been there in years. Once he gets to the area though, he quickly learns it has become a "quiet zone", free from all modern technology thanks to a bizarre little community full of people who suffer from EHS- electromagnetic hypersensitivity. All of these people get sick, in various degrees, to electromagnetic waves that come from all wifi based things (computers, phones, TV's, etc), fluorescent lights, power lines, etc. It's not a recognized medical ailment so these people have all picked up and made their own EHS free community in the middle of nowhere, led by an odd leader- Ben Lorde, and his even stranger sidekick, Darius Woolfe. Clearly, it's an odd little cult, and as cults do- this one kind of implodes once the end game is revealed.

But to get there, Casey and Peyton have to start their camping trip, and they do. They meet up, have some great sex, try to befriend a wolf named Elvis, and finally set off into the rugged terrain of the Rockies on horseback with some mules to carry their stuff. All is well until Peyton goes fishing alone and basically all hell breaks loose, but I won't go into that for you.

This reminded me so much of one of my guilty pleasure books, Linda Howard's Cover of Night, because the premise is so unbelievable you can't help but love it. It's almost a similar set up, with them in a rugged area trying to get out and around the bad guy, middle of nowhere with no technology to access, etc. I really enjoyed this book and finished it in one day. And though Peyton wasn't a First Force member, his backstory (the little that we got of it) was interesting, but I'm glad that we "met" him through Casey. She and her twin brother, Clark, are both First Force members and (I see you throwing in that OMG moment with their biological mother, Cindy!) have their own troubled past and shaky beginnings. Are we going to learn more about this? I hope so! I know Smitty's story is next, but man... it makes me highly anticipate Clark's story because I assume we'll delve more into that potential story line then.

Overall? I'm going to give it 5 stars. I know, I don't give them out often but I really love this series, I'm invested in these characters, and this was right up my alley. I know not everyone is going to get into the hokey story line, but what can I say? It's my guilty pleasure.

Into the Dark (First Force #3)

I am a huge fan of Cindy McDonald and this has been a really fun series to get into. I'm so fortunate that I got to review the third book in this series, I already can't wait for the fourth!

Into the Dark - Cindy McDonald

Ghosts from her past are chasing her! Four years ago Dr. Rayne Lee lost her husband and her four-year old daughter, Sierra, to a group of hostile guerrillas in the Amazonian Valley of Peru. It had taken every bit of her constitution to rebuild her life and to join her uncle's international security team, First Force, as the team's head medic. She still desperately missed her husband and her daughter, but all in all everything was back on track--until the phone calls started. A young girl was calling claiming to be Sierra. The tiny trembling voice said that the guerrillas were holding her captive, and there was only one way for them to be reunited--Rayne must travel to Peru and give them something that she has. Moreover, they had another stipulation: She must come alone. Suddenly the ghosts from Rayne's past are chasing her down a dark road. What could they possibly want from her? Could she return to the place where her family was murdered and she was brutalized for seven horrid months? Was it really Sierra calling? Rayne knew that she had to take the risk--she had to find out!

I'm going to hesitantly tell you that this is a stand alone book. You won't feel totally lost if you haven't read the previous two, but it certainly would help, because Rayne and Jack (this story) are first introduced to us in the first book, Into the Crossfire. So, if you can (and you really should because they are equally as good as this one), pick up that one as well as book two, To The Breaking Pointe.

With that said, THANK GOODNESS Rayne and Jack "finish" their story. Seriously. I had been rooting for them since book one and I thought maybe the first book would finish their story, but it obviously would have been too soon since Jack's wife dies in book one thus starting this series. We also get a glimpse of Rayne's backstory in book one, but this book really delves into it and we learn what happened to her husband and her daughter in the jungles of Peru. Which, it's not good (obviously), and Rayne finds herself in years of therapy.

One day, just as things are heating up with Jack and she's forming a real bond with his small daughter, she starts receiving these calls from a small girl claiming to be her long assumed daughter Sierra, who died brutally at the hands of Peruvian drug runners and lords. This obviously sends Rayne into regression and she doesn't know if she should tell Jack (or the rest of First Force) and seemingly talks herself into believing she heard the name wrong and it was a wrong number. But when she receives more calls and eventually a demand, she knows she has to act. She knows for certainty her daughter is dead but what if, and she couldn't live with herself unless she went.

It is obviously a trap for Rayne but she doesn't know that something has been hidden in her body during her subsequent capture (after her husband and daughter were killed) and that's what these smugglers are after. First Force is called in to assist but everything goes to shit almost immediately and it's up to Rayne to save herself and find out if her daughter Sierra really is alive.

If you are a fan of romance, military romance, and characters who are complex but written well, you will really enjoy this book. I really love how the author gives us an update on previous characters while giving you a solid story, and casually giving you a glimpse into the next possible set of characters without making the story feeling cluttered.

I encourage you to follow Cindy on Twitter and Facebook, and check out her webpage for updates on this series as well as her other books. Into the Dark went on sale on January 5, so you can pick that up now on Amazon now!

To The Breaking Pointe

YES! So, religious readers will maybe remember that I reviewed a book called Into the Crossfire way back in November. And it was great, it was the first of a series, and I have been anxiously awaiting the sequel. And it's here.

SQUEAL.

To the Breaking Pointe - Cindy McDonald

Five years ago First Force operative, Grant Ketchum, let the ballerina of his dreams dance out of his life. After her American adoptive parents were killed in an automobile accident, Silja Ramsay returned to her birthplace, Russia, to take the position of the principal dancer for the Novikov Ballet Company. She was living her dreams and although they had very little contact, Grant was proud of her.

The owner and director of the ballet company, Natalia Novikov, has a dark secret: her beloved company is almost broke. Natalia has become so desperate to keep her company afloat that she forces the dancers to prostitute themselves to financial contributors at exclusive after-show parties.

As the prima ballerina of the troupe, Silja has been exempt and kept in the dark about the parties, until a big-time American financier offers to bail out the company and provide Natalia with everything she needs. His prerequisite: Silja must become his companion, live in his home, and fulfill his every desire.

Against her will Silja is taken to the American's mansion, but before she goes she manages to send a text to the only man who can save her: Grant. 

HELP!!!

Now Grant Ketchum is on a mission to save his lost ballerina from this powerful man's subjugation. He will do anything to get her out alive. If they survive, will he let her chasse out of his life again?

Again,  YES. This is everything you want in a romantic thriller. We have stupid girl, who leaves man of her dreams to go to ballet in Russia. Lame. We have brooding, impossibly gorgeous ex-military guy who broods over her and hasn't gotten over her. THEN! We have dumb girl make ridiculous choices that only land her in really horrible danger. 

But then!!! 

Hot guys flies half way across the planet to save her. 

Just stop it. Just stop it right now because you know I read this thing in one afternoon. Laundry out of control? Check. Dinner burning on stove? Check. Eating junk food from the confines of my chair and getting cheeto dust on pages? Check. This is how we do, folks. This is how we do. 

I loved it. I couldn't put it down, even though dumb Silja is just really dumb. She can't follow instructions, or her gut, for nothing and poor Grant has to really work hard to not just keep her in his life, but keep her alive. 

Then you throw in the Russian government being bad, a criminal from American, who happens to be a sexual deviant of the worst kind, and people getting killed left and right. Oh! And a mind altering serum. Which, terrifying if you look at just that aspect alone. 

But I loved it. Poor Matt and kids felt totally neglected today, but a day spent reading was totally worth it. I needed that. AND, there is more in this series and I cannot wait. It's very Linda Howard (my favorite) like in the story. You combine ex-military hotties with romance and I'm all in. Take everything I have, just give me the damn book. 

Go to Cindy's website to learn more about this series and her other series. And bring a towel, just in case.