Deadly Descent

This was a really great romantic suspense, one of the best I have read in a while. It's set within active duty military, and the sense of place is remarkable. Both mains were awesome and not at all stereotypical. He's a special forces soldier, but isn't over the top alpha; he's sweet and loving, like an actual human being. She flies helos to medevac wounded soldiers, but she's not ridiculously independent or prickly, or too-stupid-to-live. She's a strong woman doing her job, like a real person. I think that's where this book excels - the characters are like actual people and not characatures; and the action is well researched and feels much more real than a lot of other books in this genre. Well done, and I will definitely be reading the next book in the series!

Tags: Romantic Suspense, Military, Friends to Lovers, Standalone, No Cliffhanger First of all, I love military romantic suspenses where the heroine is not a civilian, but holds a position that makes her more than just arm candy or a uniform groupie, if you know what I mean. Devon “Spike” Crawford delivered on that front as an officer and pilot flying Hawks in medevac missions. Career-wise she was solid, but her personal life was complicated. She had dated Ty, a PJ, under the radar for a short time before he was deployed to Bagram. They were casual about it, and instead of a clean break, she’d just let things fizzle out after he left. That, compounded with the fact that she’d fallen in lust with Ty’s best friend Cam from the moment Ty introduced them, left her feeling guilty about the whole situation. Even though Cam felt the same way, they never acted on it. And after Ty’s death, it seemed even more inappropriate to Dev. I didn’t care for her much in terms of the romance—she wanted Cam but worried about her career. The risk vs.reward was a constant factor in regards to her hot and cold behavior that I often wished she would make up her mind. The revelation that she learned to fly because she was afraid of crashing (a plane crash is how she had lost her father) was pure foreshadowing. I LOVED Cam! If he hadn’t brought up the fact of their mutual attraction, he would most likely have remained in the friend zone forever. He didn’t push her to give in but reassured her that he would be there when she was ready, and he was mindful of her concerns about fraternization and how they behaved in public. The suspense portion of the story was so good! It was a lot like Black Hawk Down, but in the mountains of Afghanistan. My heart was thumping the entire time Dev, Cam and co. were on the run. I didn't dislike the villain's POV per se, but I did end up skimming a lot of his ramblings. And with that said, don’t expect a lot of sex with the romance (there was only one steamy, and one sex scene at the very end). The story didn't need sex to make their feelings believable. The romance was fueled by the type of people they were, the high-stress of their jobs, honor and loyalty. I enjoyed the side characters, and it seems they all had a little set up for future stories. I look forward to reading more about these men and women.

Fantastic Read! Kaylea Cross writes her characters so well and has just the right amount of suspense/romance to keep you hooked from the very beginning. My heart broke for Devon and Cam at the beginning, because they both had lost someone very close to them and that kept them from acting on their feelings for each other. In the end that about cost them both what they truly wanted so much and that was each other. Cam new from the beginning that Devon was his, but he knew that Devon had to admit to her feelings to herself and that he wouldn't push her. Such a powerful story with so much incredible emotion and once you start reading it, you don't want to put it down.

Captain Devon "Spike" Crawford is a Blackhawk pilot and mainly flying medical evacuations in war zones. She is involved with Ty, a pararescueman but falls in love at first sight with his best friend Cam who is also a pararescueman. After a failed medical evacuation for which Devon was responsible, the "life" of all above persons changes in very dramatic ways. Shortly after these tragic events Cam confesses his love to Devon. How will she react to this confession and how will they work together in a war zone since she is a higher ranking officer and fraternization issues might endanger her career? An interesting and thrilling plot that just didn't allow me to switch my Kindle off! Additionally, the descriptions of the war zones and the circumstances in which the armed forces live on base or go out to do their jobs was more than impressive. I was very much impressed that Cross tried to maintain objectivity throughout the book by focusing on the local warlords and insurgents, their motives and the implications of these on the local population. The main characters were simply great. Cam is from this day forward one of my absolute heroes! His sincere feelings for Devon and the way he tried to win her over right after the horrible incident with Ty showed a man with absolute strength of character. His protectiveness of Devon without neglecting any other injured soldier underlined his devotion to his profession and consequently his respect for human life. Absolutely great! Not that Devon was less likeable! She is a self-confident, intelligent woman who has managed to pursue a successful career in a very difficult and mainly male dominated environment, by being a member of equal value to her profession and team mates. She struggles hard to cope with her daemons in order to proceed with Cam. Again this process is described very realistically and gripping. A military romance as it should be! For Cross-fans and others a highly recommended read!!! (Attention! This is not a sequel to her previous series: "Out Of Her League", "Cover of Darkness", "No Turning Back", "Relentless", "Absolution") but the beginning of her Bagram Special Ops. series )

This is my first Kaylea Cross book which I purchased based on positive user reviews and I'm really glad that I did. I was looking for something similar to the strong military romances that Suzanne Brockmann and Catherine Mann deliver and I wasn't disappointed. The military and geography details are amazing and, while it sounds trite, those details made me respect our military even more. Be aware that only a really, really small portion of this book takes place outside of a Service base in war-zone, but you're right there in that microcosm with them. I thought this book might be light on romance after reading some of the other reviews, but it's not. There are three true romantic encounters between Dev (Spike) the Army Captain/ pilot and Cam, the USAF Pararescueman, and each is progressively more 'interactive' than the one before it. But, for me, those take a back seat to the falling in love aspect of their relationship. You'll enjoy that growing relationship and the author nicely brings you from how they first met to them falling in love. Multiple relationships are explored in the book, but you never lose focus on Cam and Spike. Without spoiling anything, I will confess that some of the logic from the 'bad guys' was a little hard to keep straight as I read this, but the interaction between the women in the B-hut and their camaraderie with the men, the insight into 'a day in the life' at Bagram, and the treatment of women as equals to the alphas offset my very mild frustration at having to re-read parts to ensure that I was following the adversaries correctly. I am going straight from this review to search for my next Kaylea Cross download. If the next one I buy is as good as this one, I'll have a new 'must read' author to add to my list. 4.5 stars.

I have fallen in love with Kayla Cross books after reading Titanium Security Series and the HRT series....this little ditty popped up as a recommend and so I thought "ok, i'll give it a go" and boy, I was not disappointed!! Not knowing much about military 'stuff' myself, I wasn't sure if I would like this book. However, Kaylea Cross wrote it so well I found it easy to follow and have even impressed my husband (who is a little bit of a know all about military 'stuff') by telling him some things I've learnt. Of course that's not what drew me into this story however, the military setting was great, but the love story and drama is just awesome! The story starts with Devon finding out from her friend Cam that her ex-boyfriend, Ty, has died in the field. The reader is then taken on a ride of her emotions where she battles her attraction to Cam (that has been around since they met), to the guilt over Ty's death, to the formalities involved in military life. The story is told in the first person from both Devon and Cam's POV. It's not overly hard to follow, however the cross over to different characters was at times a little annoying. Once I got into the book though I got use to how the author wrote. The love scenes are hot and heavy so be warned!! :-) There is love, action, drama, humour and sexy-time galore!! The supporting characters are great, and the writing is well done enough to lead you into the next book in the series (which i started straight away after I read this one). I highly recommend this book, if you love hot alpha males who live to love and protect their women, AND women who are tough and courageous then you won't be disappointed!!

The crash and the subsequent defensive fighting felt very real. Devon was a Blackhawk Medevac pilot who gets shot down in enemy territory while on a rescue mission. Cam, an enlisted Pararescuejumper (PJ) medic, has fallen for his dead BF's girl, and rushes to rescue her, her crew, and her passengers. There's high drama in the fight to be rescued themselves. It kept me engaged but I couldn't understand how she ended up in the military knowing there was the strongest chance that she could get shot down with her great fear from her father's death? It didn't ring true. I also expected her to get some kind of accommodation for managing to set her Blackhawk down in those extreme conditions. And what happened to Will her co-pilot? Did he survive? Not one mention of either of those things. Their love felt real but I don't like stories that leave me with questions. Well written but frustrated.

After reading some reviews on this series about how "inaccurate" this was, I sent it to my friend who was a scout sniper in the Marines for years in Afghanistan because I was curious as to the accuracy of the setting, battles, etc. I spared him the romance, gave him the rundown on who the players were, and asked about the firefight. After telling me how much he'd hated the night stalkers (ahh boys and the mine-is-bigger-than-yours eternal argument), he said the battle scenes were well written and pretty accurate.... The terrain, jargon, duties, actions, etc. Good to know! He was surprised it was written by a woman who's never been in combat - and he has great respect for women, esp in military. I guess it just didn't sound like a woman's POV, so more realistic to him. I hear what others are saying about the mental back and forth taking up the first part of the book, but honestly it didn't take long to move past it, and considering the tragedy in the first chapter, it was understandable that Devon would have to work thru the emotions. It would've been weird if she just "got over it". This hit all my happy buttons. Military (I'm a diehard patriot), men of character and strength, romance, no twisted psychological angst ad nauseam -that gets so freaking old- intelligent, strong heroine, and sacrificial love. Loved it, loved the series. Good job, Kaylea!