On Target

Special Operations #3

by Catherine Mann

On his way to deliver divorce papers to his soon-to-be ex, aterrorist attack put U.S. Air Force Sergeant Shane 'Vegas' O'Rileyback into soldier mode. His wife and her two adopted childrenwere in danger. He didn't give a damn if she wanted him out oftheir lives—they were under his full-time protection now.

Being back with her husband had Sherry in upheaval. She stillwanted Shane. Yet she was afraid obligation was the only reasonhe was sticking close. With a terrorist targeting their lives, Shanewas all she had to hold on to.

Danger lurked close to home. But it was a marriage that had tosurvive the ultimate battle.

Genres: Romantic Suspense, Romance, Military Romance, Military Fiction, Suspense, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 2007

About the author

USA Today bestseller Catherine Mann has written women's fiction, romance, and romantic suspense for Lake Union, Harlequin, HQN, Berkley, Tule, and Sourcebooks, with titles released in more than 30 countries. Catherine’s novels have won numerous awards, including a RITA Award, the Romantic Times Magazine Reviewer’s Choice Award, and the Bookseller’s Best Award.

A South Carolinian at heart, after years of moving around the country Catherine has settled back in her home state with her Harley-riding husband. Empty nesters, they have a blended family of nine children, nine grandchildren, two dogs, and three feral cats, who all provide endless inspiration for new novels. For more information, visit: http://catherinemann.com

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, maybe I should have given the book 2 stars. I read Romance for the happy endings. I wanted to love Shane and Sherry. I really wanted to but they both ticked me off, almost through the whole book and even though we were 'given a happy ending' in 'let's get marital counseling,' it didn't feel like a happy ending to me. It felt rough, like I had just read a book on a couple with marital troubles who happen to have two adorable children and thwart a kidnapping/terrorist attack. They don't even seem to like each other. Oh sure, in their thoughts, he says he admires her but then he yells at her for the thing he claims to like and she does the same.

It was not, in my opinion, a romance novel. Its left me trained and sort of sad for the main characters. I'm going to try another Catherine Mann book but if its like this than I am done.

[Mojca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Watching a bird take a dump is more suspenseful than this book. At least you get to wonder where the bird poo is going to land. With the first 19 chapters filled with the leading couple pre-divorce marital problems and pseudo-angst, and another couple’s skirting the issue of him having called her a different name in bed (four years ago!), this book had no room for wondering about the bad guys and their martyr-ish quest.

All the action and resolution was crammed into the 20th chapter, offering no specific reason for the bad guys’ martyr-ish quest, but only serving as the turning point for the solving of the pre-divorce marital problems and pseudo-angst of the leading couple. The other couple resolved their issue early on.

Call me nuts, but I expect much, much more from a romantic suspense labeled book. Some suspense would be nice. And female characters that I don’t want to bitch-slap into kingdom-come. For all their self-sacrificing, NGO-working, third-world-country-children-adopting, holier-than-thou qualities, the two female protagonists (the married and single one) just plainly got on my nerves. I’m all for girl power, but not everything is the man’s fault. And it figures the two would figure it out when it was almost too late and proceeded with "celebrating" their newfound knowledge in the last (21st) chapter.

Boring, uneventful until the second-to-last crammed chapter, and with characters that did absolutely nothing for me (not even the men, hunky flyboys with god-like looks). A total waste of time and brain-cells.

[Shirley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry this book isn't for me, the synopsis is interesting but the execution didn't do it for me I keep losing my interest the more I read the story, especially when I read "ohmigod" it really sober and annoyed me. It's safe to say that word is my pet peeves.

So this book is a romantic suspense with multi pov, not only from Sherry & Shane, our main couple, but also from Derek, Keisha, and occasionally other characters. I want to like this book but I can't.. and I don't know exactly what is this book lack that makes me bored reading it, the chemistry between S&S couple also feels lukewarm so it didn't help either.

[SandyL · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a lot of suspense and excitement going on. Maybe not totally believable, but still a good read. Shane O'Riley is an Air Force pilot who is on his way to give divorce papers to his wife, who is working on a Caribbean island when his crew is called in to take out some pirates. Sherry and their kids are working on the island with an NGO (so many mentions of this, I had to look it up - non-governmental organization) when the island is attacked. After an attack on the island, Shane gets his family back to Florida and runs into problems with Sherry trying to protect his family. She's very independent and doesn't respond well to his take-charge personality (which is why they are splitting.) There is a little bit of heat and lots of poor communication between the couple and an interesting tie-in with the kids in the suspense story line. I really liked the side story of Rodeo and Keisha!!

[Nell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't too bad, but I didn't feel anything for the ladies. I actually felt sorry for the hero's for being stuck with them. I'm all for a good 2nd time reunion type romance, but in my opinion, their issues are still there. They didn't work anything out.

[Jillian · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a cute book! It thought I had it figured out the end, but I was kind of wrong!

[Michele Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast paced loved the action romance and storyline