Tuesday, August 23, 2016

3 stars-- The Stranger (Wounded Warrior #2) by Anna del Mar

Southern girl vs Alaska. Oh dear. The Stranger was full of exhilarating action, family drama, and enough heat to keep you warm even during the coldest of Alaskan nights.

The quick of it is that Summer's younger sister has run away and she's headed to Alaska to track her down. A somewhat simple task if only Alaska would stop trying to kill her! Yeah. She's having no luck with this state at all. Thankfully a hot stranger dealing with his own demons comes to her rescue. Though he may just be a handful all on it's own. Mmhm.

So I liked a number of things about this one...

  • Seth and Summer were fun characters. He's growly, she's fiery. And oh they get off on the wrong foot. It's an explosive combination. While she could be naive and stubborn she was a fighter and didn't let anything get her down for long. And Seth. Just as hard headed and a bit controlling but sexy and protective. They were an entertaining match.
"Ahoy, down there." She inched down the steps. "Please don't shoot. I come in peace. If I had a white flag I'd wave it, but I didn't pack one and I bet hell would have to freeze over before you ever owned one of those. Permission to come below?"

My lips twitched. I waved her down. "Permission granted."
  • They were good for each other, too. They both had medical issues--PTSD and severe scarring for him and sleep walking for her--that they were sensitive about. It kept them each someone guarded and closed off from others. And the sleep walking? Yeah there were some interesting moments with that--like, say, a sexathon when you were totally asleep. Erms! I liked that they each did things to help the other heal and feel safe in regards to their issues.
  • The suspense added a lot of excitement--maybe a little too much sometimes. Crazy families, danger, an unknown assailant out to get Summer, hostilities at his family's corporation. There was a lot going on that kept these two on their toes and trying to figure out what really was going on. Trouble found them every where they turned. Goodness!
  • There's some woo-woo happening as well. It wasn't something I loved but it wasn't something I hated either. It was just there and a bit to do with her sleep walking.

Now the issues...

  • Summer's naivete really got to me now and again. Someone's trying to kill her and she's all oh it must be mistaken identity. Pffft! No worries. Ah! She also flew off the handle in an eye rolling way towards the end.
  • The word choice during sexy bits could be... iffy. There were some cringe worth euphemisms and descriptions that while they were unique and totally made me bust out laughing (though that wasn't their intent) they really didn't lend themselves to the scenes in question. Think drinking in her body's natural brew. lol I actually had a hard time deciding if I loved them or they were ergsy. 
  • And then some things that were hopefully edited before it was released moments--like odd contractions where they really shouldn't have been.

All in all, while I did, for the most part, enjoy this one it did give me some fits. I'd be up for trying another from del Mar, I think, at the same time it's not one I would rush to pick up.

The scars of the past have left their mark, both physical and emotional, on former military pilot Seth Erickson. Off-grid in the far reaches of the bitter Alaskan wilderness, he wants only to be left alone with his ghosts. But he can't ignore a woman in need—beautiful, stranded and nearly frozen with fear.

Summer Silva never imagined that the search for her missing sister would leave her abandoned on a wintry back road, barely escaping with her life from a cold-blooded killer for hire. Now, hiding out in the isolated cabin of the secretive wounded warrior who saved her, Summer knows she must do what she fears most. Putting her trust in a stranger is all she has left.

After a fiery first night together, Seth and Summer are bound by a need as powerful as a Bering Sea superstorm—and vulnerable to enemies just as fierce. For Seth, reawakened by desire, there is no sacrifice too great, no memory too dark, to keep Summer safe. But murder and treason lurk everywhere and Summer may not survive Alaska's ruthless winter.

 

*covers link to Amazon

Challenges: New to You (author) | Goodreads

No comments:

Post a Comment

I always enjoy hearing what YOU think so come on and leave a comment. Everyone's welcome :) And feel free to leave comments on old posts. I'll check in on you there too :)

Bloggers don't forget to leave your links!
~Anna

The Herd Archives