Hey, guys!
Remember how I said
I’ll be posting on Thursdays? Yeah well turns out I’m not so good at following
up with my own plans, LOL. This week has been a pretty busy one for me, and I
totally forgot how time-consuming it is to work on a blog post. I definitely
have to start drafting earlier next week! *crosses fingers*
I’ve been on a rereading streak
this week and the books I read gave me an idea on what to write. Previously I
mentioned about having a thing for the age gap trope in romance, so today I’m
going to talk about another favourite trope of mine—men in uniforms. When I
started reading romance, I devoured a whole lot of books featuring cops,
military men (my fav), firefighters, paramedics, federal agents…you get my
drift. And I still do, obviously. I usually
gravitate towards alpha heroes; the bossier the better, LOL.
Anyway, onwards!
This week I reread 4 books out of
my favourite romantic suspense series, I-Team by Pamela Clare. It’s a 7 book
series following an elite investigative team of journalists in Denver and the
lengths they go to report the truth, and the alpha males they meet along the
way.
HARD EVIDENCE
Investigative reporter Tessa
Novak was in the wrong place at the wrong time and witnessed a fatal shooting
of a teenage girl. Her efforts to uncover the truth leads her to Julian
Darcangelo, who she thinks is the suspect. Julian is an undercover FBI agent
working with the Denver police, trying to track down a killer and
simultaneously bring down a human trafficking ring. He does not have time for
pesky reporters potentially blowing his cover and jeopardizing his entire
mission, and he wants her off the investigation.
Hard Evidence is book #2 in this series. I fell in love with Julian
straightaway; dude is described as a mysterious tall man in leather jacket the
first time he appeared on the page—instant catnip. However, I’m not very
partial to men with long hair, and I found my mental scissors working overtime
whenever Julian’s hair is mentioned, LOL. I love Tessa’s courage and smarts; I
admire the stubborn way she has about finding justice for the murdered girl,
although she did annoy me (and Julian!) sometimes with her lack of self-preservation. Please keep yourself safe, Tessa! Tessa and Julian clashing is entertaining to watch. They both want to do their
job so they need to find a common ground and learn to compromise. Their banter and the sexual tension between them are some of my favourite things about this book.
Trigger warning for child sexual abuse.
UNLAWFUL CONTACT
In the third book of the series, I-Team
journalist Sophie Alton is investigating a sudden disappearance of a young mother named Megan who
is recently paroled, and is now on the run from the law with her baby daughter. The case
leads to her interviewing Megan’s brother, Marc, who is serving a life sentence
for murder. In a dangerous turn of events, Marc takes Sophie hostage in order
to escape prison so he can find his sister and protect her. To make things even
more complicated, Sophie finds out that Marc is actually “Hunt”, the bad boy
she once shared an unforgettable night with twelve years ago.
I felt a bit detached the first
time I read this, but found a new appreciation for this book when I reread it
this week. This book is a bit heavy; it touches on issues like drug and sexual
abuse, and is filled with angsty and nerve-wracking moments. The attraction
between Sophie and Marc is strong and explosive. They also have a bit of a
star-crossed lovers situation going on, considering Marc is a convicted killer on
the run from the law and all. Sophie is kind and compassionate, but the star of
the story for me is Marc. He is sexy, sarcastic, and has a wicked sense of
humour, and I love how protective he is of the people he loves, to the point
that he will lay down his life for them. Julian from Hard Evidence also
played an important role in this book. He leads the manhunt for Marc, and you’ll
get to see the start of Hunter/Darcangelo bromance in this book.
Trigger warning for child sexual abuse.
NAKED EDGE
Kat James is a Navajo environmental
journalist on the I-Team. She met park ranger Gabe Rossiter for the first time
when she had a hiking accident that almost killed her, and Gabe was the one who
saved her life. A few months later, Kat and Gabe reunited when Kat and her
people’s sweat lodge ceremony was raided by law enforcement officers one night, resulting in them getting thrown of Mesa Butte, a land sacred to the Navajo nation. Suspecting a deeper plot, Kat tried to discover the reason behind the disruption with Gabe's help. One thing led to another, and Kat and Gabe found themselves targets for people who will do anything, even kill, to keep Native Americans off their sacred land.
Naked Edge is one of my top
favourites in this series. I love how Kat is written as someone who is reserved,
yet has a strong pride about her culture and customs. She is so gentle, kind, compassionate. Kat’s Navajo upbringing
is a huge part of who she is and what she does, and she always stay true to
herself. Her spiel to Gabe regarding her criteria for a life
partner is a thing of beauty. I love seeing her and Gabe, who is a rock climber
extraordinaire, bond over their mutual respect for the land and nature. Gabe is
a bit jaded by a tragedy that has happened to him in the past, and he has grown to be emotionally distant and prefers no-strings sex to lifetime commitments. I love seeing Kat break down his walls and helps him realize that he deserves happiness, and I love how he grows to love her.
BREAKING POINT
Despite being the fifth book in
the series, Breaking Point was the first I-Team book that I picked up and fell
in love with. This book is responsible for me breaking my bank to buy the rest
of the books. The story starts with I-Team journalist Natalie Benoit getting
kidnapped by killers and meeting an American named Zach Black when in
captivity. Zach, who is really Deputy U.S Marshal Zach McBride, has been
tortured and interrogated by Natalie’s captors for a week. He is ready to give
his life if he must, until he meets Natalie.
Of all the books in this series,
I love the plot of Breaking Point the most. The suspense element has me hooked;
it involved a lot of murder and torture, and Clare did not hesitate to make the
gory parts as brutal and graphics as possible (so possible TW if you want to
read this!). Both Natalie and Zach had my heart from the start. I love how
solid Natalie was under pressure (comes with the job, I think?), and I love how
Zach valued her as an equal partner. Both she and Zach made a great team when
they flee their captors despite Natalie possessing no military training
whatsoever. Also, the bromance between Hunter and Darcangelo is A+ in this.
TL;DR, Pamela Clare writes strong
heroines and swoony heroes as well as super steamy scenes, but the biggest
reason why this series work for me is the friendship between the I-Team women.
They always have each other’s backs. When they find the men of their lives,
their other halves also formed a bond with each other. It makes the final novella, Dead by Midnight, even more entertaining because everyone is in it, and you get to see how they work as a huge team to defeat the forces of evil (ha!). Also worth mentioning that Clare also wrote a novella in this series called Soul Deep, that features a 63 year old man and his unexpected second chance at love. It is one of the sweetest love stories I've ever read. I'm currently reading the sixth book, Striking Distance, and hopefully will end this weekend with the seventh and first book too. Chronological reading order is overrated.
Special shout out to my favourite badass, uniform-wearing fictional men:
- Detective Hank Nightingale from Kristen Ashley's Rock Chick Redemption
- Marine vet turn firefighter Wyatt Fox from Kate Meader's Sparking the Fire
- Elite counter-terrorist operative Chase 'Smith' from Laura Florand's Chase Me
- Captain Christopher Phelan from Lisa Kleypas' Love in the Afternoon
Do you have any favourite books featuring men in uniforms?
Feel free to rec them to me in the comments!
No comments
Hi. Thanks for leaving a message. I'll make sure to reply to you as soon as I can. :)