Review: Forged in Fire by Trish McCallan

Forged in Fire by Trish McCallan

Romantic Suspense

What we have is Beth Brown who distrusts men. She has a vivid dream of hijackers taking over Flight 2077, gunning down the passengers in cold-blooded murder. Unable to sit by and do nothing, she goes to the airport to ground the plane. Observing the crowd of people, she notices three men. Their faces are familiar from the dream and one of them is staring at her. She knows his name is Zane Winters. He and his friends will die on the Flight 2077.

Zane Winters is a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy, part of special force, Seal Team 7. 100% Alpha male, hot, and sexy, he ignores female flirtations. For years, he has been looking for his soul mate with no success. His life has taken on a sense of numbness. Blessed with an inherent gift of seeing flashes of the future, he tells his buddies they are going to die on Flight 2077. Quite use to Zane’s ability, they come up with a plan to circumvent the hijackers. Always on alert, Zane scans the sea of people at the airport. He connects with a woman staring at him. His body shakes with electrical current. He has found his soul mate.

Rating by Nicci: 4.0 stars

REVIEW

In Trish McCallan’s Forged in Fire, the author delivers a sit on the edge of your seat, nail biting, fast-paced, romantic suspense with a twist of paranormal element.

I absolutely loved reading Forged in Fire. Perhaps it is because it has been many moons since the last time I have read a romantic story of strictly the heterosexual type. I guess I will have to revise my review policy to include all romances. Anyway, I could not put down the story. I love intrigue. I love fast-paced, action adventure stories. I love reading about military men and Navy SEALS are hot. What I really enjoyed the most is Beth Brown. She is no simpering damsel in distress. She can definitely carry her weight against the Alpha males, especially Zane’s boss, Mac.

Of the two, I find Beth is well characterized, while Zane is the typical Alpha male with a paranormal twist that is looking for his soul mate. He is honorable. Looks out for his friends while doing his job. He works well in tandem with the rest of his team. The person who rises above and seems more exciting than Zane is Mac, his superior. In that respect, the author could have done a better job at not letting Mac overshadow Zane. Mac is the one who makes the hard choice of serving justice due on the creep who rapes one of the hostages. The author describes Zane as an elite warrior with a paranormal gene he inherits from his family. Yet, if it weren’t for his ability to visualize flashes of the future, he would have been just an ordinary, good-looking special force soldier.

The plot drives the story with the pace of the TV show, “24”. Everything happens in less than 24 hours. The team must free the hostages from their captors. They have no idea who they can trust. The FBI has been compromised. They are confronted with obstacles every step of the way including the idea they are operating outside the purview of federal law. And Zane must convince Beth, she belongs to him.

Beth is quite obstinate and refuses to believe in this bonding thing with Zane. The romance develops slowly as Zane insists Beth stay by his side so he can work his magic on her during the downtime of actually fighting the bad guys. They have one hot and sweaty scene together. It’s nice reading how Beth begins to understand herself and her issues.

Overall, this is a very good action oriented story. The ending could have been better addressing Zane and Beth, as they are the stars of the story. For me though, it’s the tension-filled intrigue that I love best.

Highly Recommended

BOOK DETAILS

Title: Forged in Fire
Author: Trish McCallan
Publisher: Self Published
Website: http://trishmccallan.com/
Publication Date: September 2011
Format/IBN: ASIN: B005LPUCB6
Pages: 309