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Lightning Strikes #3
The SEAL in my Attic
Book three in the Lightning Strikes Series
On the run with his sexy SEAL Caleb Black, Doctor Murphy Walton is looking for answers while trying to avoid getting his heart stomped a second time.
Doctor Murphy Walton is having a really bad day. His favorite patient died in surgery and now he’s on forced leave. He comes home and discovers sizzling cowboy Caleb Black skulking in his attic. He’s never forgotten the SEAL or the passionate week they shared, though he hasn’t heard from Caleb in more than a year.
But now things are different. Caleb doesn’t remember who he is or why he came to Murph. All Caleb knows is he has to retrieve something from Murph’s attic...and keep him breathing when assassins try to eliminate the one person he could never forget—shy, sweet Murph.
On the run with his sexy SEAL Caleb Black, Doctor Murphy Walton is looking for answers while trying to avoid getting his heart stomped a second time.
Doctor Murphy Walton is having a really bad day. His favorite patient died in surgery and now he’s on forced leave. He comes home and discovers sizzling cowboy Caleb Black skulking in his attic. He’s never forgotten the SEAL or the passionate week they shared, though he hasn’t heard from Caleb in more than a year.
But now things are different. Caleb doesn’t remember who he is or why he came to Murph. All Caleb knows is he has to retrieve something from Murph’s attic...and keep him breathing when assassins try to eliminate the one person he could never forget—shy, sweet Murph.
108 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 21, 2012
2 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Jan Irving
51 books198 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
romance author
Jan Irving has worked in all kinds of creative fields, from painting silk to making porcelain ceramics, to interior design, but writing was always her passion.
She feels you can’t fully understand characters until you follow their journey through a story world. Many kinds of worlds interest her, fantasy, historical, science fiction and suspense—but all have one thing in common, people finding a way to live together—in the most emotional and erotic fashion possible, of course!
Visit Jan's blog at http://jan-revealed.livejournal.com.
romance author
Jan Irving has worked in all kinds of creative fields, from painting silk to making porcelain ceramics, to interior design, but writing was always her passion.
She feels you can’t fully understand characters until you follow their journey through a story world. Many kinds of worlds interest her, fantasy, historical, science fiction and suspense—but all have one thing in common, people finding a way to live together—in the most emotional and erotic fashion possible, of course!
Visit Jan's blog at http://jan-revealed.livejournal.com.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 24, 2012
Wait...What? What Just Happened Here?!
The WTF-iest WTF of all the WTFs. Just...WTF?!
We all know that the idea for my "Crack Attack" shelf was born of my addiction to Jan Irving's books. We know that. What I didn't know was just how powerless I am in the face of the phenomenon that is Jan Irving's body of work. My last conversation with you all about Jan Irving's books went something like this:
Me: Two disappointments in a row! I am done until I see a good review!
You: Yeah. Okay. *full of sarcasm and doubt*
Me: That's right. Done. You need me to spell that shit? *righteous indignation*
You: *blink blink...doubt...blink*
Me: You'll see!
And apparently you do see. You see me writing the first review for this book. Laugh and I will death glare you to death.
In any case...this book.
Murph is a doctor who's just had the day from doctor Hell. A patient died and he's been forced to go on sabbatical. He arrives home to find that there's food and coffee on his table that he didn't leave there. There's blood and a bloody cloth on his floor.
A rational and smart person would do this: Back out of the house while calling the police on their cell phone.
Murph does this: "Oh, screw this," he says and moves further into the house to see who broke into his place.
STOP! Murph, when they forced you to go on vacation at work did you decide to spend that week on Dumbass Island where everyone's favorite pastime is running with scissors?
But, alas, Murph finds a wallet that identifies his intruder as Caleb Black. Caleb is a Navy SEAL that Murph had a brief affair with a year ago and who he hasn't heard from since. So, Murph finds Caleb bloody and bruised in the attic. Caleb doesn't remember who he is and only vaguely remembers Murph. While cleaning Caleb up they hear someone break in downstairs. Caleb tells Murph to stay put and then disappears.
A rational and smart person would do this: Call the police!
Murph does this: Runs outside barefoot to see where Caleb went.
At least PUT ON SOME SHOES, DAMMIT!! @$#%@!&!!! Agghhhh! Oh, and he proceeds to get almost killed while getting kicked in the ribs and face. You know what? Who gave this man a MD? Who? I want to smack them in the face right now.
Caleb after that decides that they need to book it and NOT call the police. Turns out that something has happened to Caleb but he can't remember what. The key to whatever happened might be in a locker at a bus depot though, so off to the bus depot they go.
It's the middle of the night at a deserted, abandoned bus depot in the middle of nowhere. Caleb tells Murph to follow him but then disappears. What happens next is just...I don't even know.
Enter creepy, whistling, milky eyed dirty mutant man. He's calling Murph a little birdy and talking about ripping Murph's head off.
Dear Murph,
This would be a good time to call the police. Yeah, Caleb said not to but Caleb's not being called a birdy whose head is about to be ripped off. So let's say "fuck you, Caleb" while we dial 9-1-1 shall we?
Sincerely
Laddie
Things happen though and Caleb end up snapping mutant guy's neck and then...
Rational and smart people would do this: RUN!!
Murph and Caleb do this: Caleb gives Murph a hand job on the ground next to the mutant man's dead body.
*blink blink* ONE step away from NECROPHILIA. Because nothing reminds you that you're alive like an orgasm next to a dead body.
This is not the last time that the brain trust that is Caleb and Murph have sex at a completely, ridiculously inappropriate time. Late in the story they break into a super secret government testing facility that's a bad and dangerous place. They hear suspicious sounds in the place that's supposed to be abandoned.
Rational and smart people would do this: Investigate maybe because I've given up on them being smart enough to go for help.
Murph and Caleb do this: First Murph takes a shower and ends up having sex with Caleb in the shower. Then they indulge in some medical kink and have sex on one of the operating tables.
Oh, but wait, maybe they thought it was okay because Caleb locked the door. Psychotic killers totally respect locked doors. I think they knock and everything.
The book just gets ridiculous from there and by the end I wanted to punch both men dead in the face.
At this point I'm not even going to say that I won't read the next one. I'm done trying to fight this. If every author figured out what it is about Jan Irving's books that makes me snap them up as soon as they're released...well, I would go broke. So, so broke.
The WTF-iest WTF of all the WTFs. Just...WTF?!
We all know that the idea for my "Crack Attack" shelf was born of my addiction to Jan Irving's books. We know that. What I didn't know was just how powerless I am in the face of the phenomenon that is Jan Irving's body of work. My last conversation with you all about Jan Irving's books went something like this:
Me: Two disappointments in a row! I am done until I see a good review!
You: Yeah. Okay. *full of sarcasm and doubt*
Me: That's right. Done. You need me to spell that shit? *righteous indignation*
You: *blink blink...doubt...blink*
Me: You'll see!
And apparently you do see. You see me writing the first review for this book. Laugh and I will death glare you to death.
In any case...this book.
Murph is a doctor who's just had the day from doctor Hell. A patient died and he's been forced to go on sabbatical. He arrives home to find that there's food and coffee on his table that he didn't leave there. There's blood and a bloody cloth on his floor.
A rational and smart person would do this: Back out of the house while calling the police on their cell phone.
Murph does this: "Oh, screw this," he says and moves further into the house to see who broke into his place.
STOP! Murph, when they forced you to go on vacation at work did you decide to spend that week on Dumbass Island where everyone's favorite pastime is running with scissors?
But, alas, Murph finds a wallet that identifies his intruder as Caleb Black. Caleb is a Navy SEAL that Murph had a brief affair with a year ago and who he hasn't heard from since. So, Murph finds Caleb bloody and bruised in the attic. Caleb doesn't remember who he is and only vaguely remembers Murph. While cleaning Caleb up they hear someone break in downstairs. Caleb tells Murph to stay put and then disappears.
A rational and smart person would do this: Call the police!
Murph does this: Runs outside barefoot to see where Caleb went.
At least PUT ON SOME SHOES, DAMMIT!! @$#%@!&!!! Agghhhh! Oh, and he proceeds to get almost killed while getting kicked in the ribs and face. You know what? Who gave this man a MD? Who? I want to smack them in the face right now.
Caleb after that decides that they need to book it and NOT call the police. Turns out that something has happened to Caleb but he can't remember what. The key to whatever happened might be in a locker at a bus depot though, so off to the bus depot they go.
It's the middle of the night at a deserted, abandoned bus depot in the middle of nowhere. Caleb tells Murph to follow him but then disappears. What happens next is just...I don't even know.
Enter creepy, whistling, milky eyed dirty mutant man. He's calling Murph a little birdy and talking about ripping Murph's head off.
Dear Murph,
This would be a good time to call the police. Yeah, Caleb said not to but Caleb's not being called a birdy whose head is about to be ripped off. So let's say "fuck you, Caleb" while we dial 9-1-1 shall we?
Sincerely
Laddie
Things happen though and Caleb end up snapping mutant guy's neck and then...
Rational and smart people would do this: RUN!!
Murph and Caleb do this: Caleb gives Murph a hand job on the ground next to the mutant man's dead body.
*blink blink* ONE step away from NECROPHILIA. Because nothing reminds you that you're alive like an orgasm next to a dead body.
This is not the last time that the brain trust that is Caleb and Murph have sex at a completely, ridiculously inappropriate time. Late in the story they break into a super secret government testing facility that's a bad and dangerous place. They hear suspicious sounds in the place that's supposed to be abandoned.
Rational and smart people would do this: Investigate maybe because I've given up on them being smart enough to go for help.
Murph and Caleb do this: First Murph takes a shower and ends up having sex with Caleb in the shower. Then they indulge in some medical kink and have sex on one of the operating tables.
Oh, but wait, maybe they thought it was okay because Caleb locked the door. Psychotic killers totally respect locked doors. I think they knock and everything.
The book just gets ridiculous from there and by the end I wanted to punch both men dead in the face.
At this point I'm not even going to say that I won't read the next one. I'm done trying to fight this. If every author figured out what it is about Jan Irving's books that makes me snap them up as soon as they're released...well, I would go broke. So, so broke.
January 11, 2016
Like the first two books in this series, this one promised a wild ride. I couldn’t detect any mystical/magical (The Viking in my Bed) or sci-fi (The Alien in my Kitchen2) elements in the blurb, so I was sort of curious where the weirdness in this book would come from. I must say, Jan held me in suspense here. It started out tame enough, then – bam, the first surprise and soon the real weirdness hit – and didn’t stop! What a ride! Sort of like an over-the-top James Bonds story that is so far out of the ordinary you just know it has to be a parody.
Murphy seems to be an entirely rational doctor. Having just lost a patient makes him a little vulnerable but he tries to deal with it as best he can. Add Caleb to the mix and the whole world suddenly changes from perfectly normal to – either his worst nightmare or a pretty fantastical , off-the wall paranormal/something story. Murphy goes with the flow and proves to be up to the challenge – much to his own surprise, I think.
Caleb is pretty mysterious. We only see him through Murphy’s eyes, and that picture isn’t too flattering in the beginning. A Navy SEAL, he had an affair with Murphy a year ago then vanishes. He also has amnesia, which makes the whole getting-to-know him idea a little difficult. Once we find out why and what drove him back to Murphy I was okay with him, even touched by his determination, but still, he was kind of scary-creepy. Which, I am sure, was the whole point.
If you’re looking for a book that gives you a false sense of security, even though you know to expect something ‘off’, then ambushes you and takes you out of reality, this is it. If you like your men hot and ruthless, even the nice guys, what are you waiting for? And if you have enjoyed the first two books in this series you will probably like this one, even though it has a much grittier feel and, personally, I missed some of the humor from the first two books. But then, variety is the spice of life, right?
NOTE: This book was provided by Pride Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
Murphy seems to be an entirely rational doctor. Having just lost a patient makes him a little vulnerable but he tries to deal with it as best he can. Add Caleb to the mix and the whole world suddenly changes from perfectly normal to – either his worst nightmare or a pretty fantastical , off-the wall paranormal/something story. Murphy goes with the flow and proves to be up to the challenge – much to his own surprise, I think.
Caleb is pretty mysterious. We only see him through Murphy’s eyes, and that picture isn’t too flattering in the beginning. A Navy SEAL, he had an affair with Murphy a year ago then vanishes. He also has amnesia, which makes the whole getting-to-know him idea a little difficult. Once we find out why and what drove him back to Murphy I was okay with him, even touched by his determination, but still, he was kind of scary-creepy. Which, I am sure, was the whole point.
If you’re looking for a book that gives you a false sense of security, even though you know to expect something ‘off’, then ambushes you and takes you out of reality, this is it. If you like your men hot and ruthless, even the nice guys, what are you waiting for? And if you have enjoyed the first two books in this series you will probably like this one, even though it has a much grittier feel and, personally, I missed some of the humor from the first two books. But then, variety is the spice of life, right?
NOTE: This book was provided by Pride Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
June 29, 2012
after reading this i think the books should be stand alones. can't really see anything that ties them together.
September 21, 2015
I bought all three books at the same time when they were on sale and lost them for 6 months. I’ve refound them and think I’ll probably lose them again.
*sigh* Okay, so Murphy is in his surgical residency. He wants to be a small town doctor and is just trying to get through. Then Caleb drops back into his life, with blood all over the floor, intense fear, and most of his memory gone except for one thing – he had to get something important from Murphy’s attic. Next thing Murphy knows, they’re being attacked by men who want to torture and kill them and his former boyfriend has killed them. It’s an exciting way to start off the book. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there.
This is probably one of my largest reservations about books from this publisher. Sometimes I think they err so far on the side of sex that they interrupt the storyline to smash in a scene every few words. And since there are tons of people who buy their books, I would say they’re doing something right. Just not for me.
Murphy and Caleb end up in a super-secret location trying to find out exactly what happened to Caleb to make him slightly insane and have lost his memory. They hear noises. They are pretty sure there are mad men with super strength in the building with them. What do they do? They have sex. Once in the shower, once in an exam table in the torture chamber (no joke). Not only do they have sex on that table, but Caleb insists on tearing up a sheet and binding/gagging him. Sorry, guys. A huge tenet of fiction is that reality has to be a little more real than in actual reality. This was too much for me. I forced myself to finish the book, but I personally thought Caleb needed to be locked up somewhere where he couldn’t hurt anyone – especially Murphy.
2 stars. It escaped 1 star because at least it didn’t have typos.
Reviewed by a-nony-mouse for Crystal’s Many Reviewers
*Copy BOUGHT for review*
*sigh* Okay, so Murphy is in his surgical residency. He wants to be a small town doctor and is just trying to get through. Then Caleb drops back into his life, with blood all over the floor, intense fear, and most of his memory gone except for one thing – he had to get something important from Murphy’s attic. Next thing Murphy knows, they’re being attacked by men who want to torture and kill them and his former boyfriend has killed them. It’s an exciting way to start off the book. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there.
This is probably one of my largest reservations about books from this publisher. Sometimes I think they err so far on the side of sex that they interrupt the storyline to smash in a scene every few words. And since there are tons of people who buy their books, I would say they’re doing something right. Just not for me.
Murphy and Caleb end up in a super-secret location trying to find out exactly what happened to Caleb to make him slightly insane and have lost his memory. They hear noises. They are pretty sure there are mad men with super strength in the building with them. What do they do? They have sex. Once in the shower, once in an exam table in the torture chamber (no joke). Not only do they have sex on that table, but Caleb insists on tearing up a sheet and binding/gagging him. Sorry, guys. A huge tenet of fiction is that reality has to be a little more real than in actual reality. This was too much for me. I forced myself to finish the book, but I personally thought Caleb needed to be locked up somewhere where he couldn’t hurt anyone – especially Murphy.
2 stars. It escaped 1 star because at least it didn’t have typos.
Reviewed by a-nony-mouse for Crystal’s Many Reviewers
*Copy BOUGHT for review*
June 19, 2012
There were parts of this that were very promising, but overall it was WAY too fast. There were big plot holes, interesting teasers that were never returned to, and emotions that I didn't fully get. On the other hand, there were spooky, amazing settings, sexy MC's and a plot I wanted to know more about. If this book were expanded, it might be amazing. I did just finish Lat Line, which has some memory block plot lines, and handled it a lot smoother, but these settings and MC's were captivating. I still like the series, but nothing touches the Viking one. I wish Irving would return to the humor from that first book for this series.
February 10, 2013
In comparison to the 1st book in the series, Viking in My Bed, this book was pretty bad. You had all the angst of "unrequited" love along with government testing experimental drugs on its soliders. ALl I can really say,is read at our own risk.
March 14, 2016
This one was kinda all over the place. I still enjoyed it, but it moved so quickly. Still, this is a fun, crazy series that is good for fluffy reading.
January 14, 2013
The best of the Lightning series. This one is more action adventure than fun, and the sex is subdued which I liked.
May 30, 2013
I enjoyed the book I just wish it had been longer.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews