Review of free, Kindle edition of 2013 Harlequin Blaze erotic romance
Alexia is a beautiful woman in her late 20's who is a brilliant scientist involved in research aimed at helping victims of sexual assault. She is alienated from her father, who is a harsh, cold Navy admiral who for decades has overseen the training of SEALs, and she is only mildly close with her easygoing, complacent mother. The most important person in her life is her brother who is her best friend. He is a handsome, Calvin Klein model who is openly gay and is sensitive and supportive toward Alexia.
Alexia has major daddy issues, and as a result is only interested in men whose careers are nothing like her father's. That is, they must not be in the military or involved in classified work that involves keeping secrets from one's family.
When she meets Navy SEAL Blake Landon on the beach, and then later that same night at a local bar, she doesn't realize what he does for a living and doesn't ask because he's gorgeous and she's looking for a good time in bed. It is only after they have, as total strangers, shacked up and spent days having 24-hour sex that she finally asks him what he does for a living. When he freely tells her, she is as enraged as if he purposely deceived her and throws him out of her house. Blake makes many attempts to get her to reconsider, but Alexia is adamant. As a result of her stubborn determination, Blake assumes he will never see her again. But months later, Alexia's father urgently summons Blake to stage a secret, daring, one-man mission to rescue her from a gang of terrorists who have imprisoned her in a stronghold in the snowbound Alaskan wilderness.
Prior to reading this book, which I obtained as a free Kindle ebook, I hadn't experienced a Harlequin Blaze novel since this line was first introduced in 2001 as an offshoot of the Temptation line. In my perception, the line rapidly evolved into typical stories such as heroines running sex-toy shops or hotels dedicated to sexual fantasies, and all the heroines seem to be single gals on the make--which is the case with this book's heroine. Unfortunately, now as back then, a heroine whose major story goal is to find a hunky guy who is a "good lay" isn't my particular cup of tea.
This quote from the hero Blake pretty much sums up the entire philosophy of the Blaze line: "Great sex? That's not just physical. Once or twice, sure. But days on end? That's a connection....Sometimes a once-in-a-lifetime kind of connection." In essence, in the world of a Blaze novel, when a horny woman engages in stranger sex with a hot guy, this inevitably becomes the stepping stone to true love.
I personally couldn't get into the sex scenes in this book. They were top-heavy at the beginning of the book when the protagonists knew nothing about each other, and descriptions of mindless interactions between body parts doesn't do anything for me. I prefer romance over sheer sex. The main part of this book that I found interesting was when Blake rescues Alexia from terrorists. That is, I liked the actual rescue and how he pulled it off, but the premise for her being a target of terrorists seemed cartoonishly improbable to me.
I also had problems with the heroine. I read and review a lot of young-adult fiction, and Alexia reminds me of the classic YA character of the beautiful, cheerleader, Mean Girl. As such, Alexia is not a particularly sympathetic character.
I found Blake much more appealing and interesting. He was raised in a trailer park and joined the Navy the day after he graduated from high school. In the decade or so since then, he has risen to the rank of lieutenant, and he is a decorated SEAL with the skills of radioman and linguist.
I have recently been rereading many of Suzanne Brockmann's SEAL novels from the late 1990's and early 2000's which have been re-released in Kindle format. There is no comparison in quality between her treatment of SEALs and this book's version. If you would like to read a really exciting story where the SEAL hero rescues the heroine from terrorists, I highly recommend Everyday, Average Jones. For my taste anyway, it is much better done, and the romance is very moving and emotionally charged.
I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 3 stars
Hero: 4 stars
Romance Plot: 2 stars
Rescue Plot: 3 stars
Overall: 3 stars