Tag Archives: Lightning

LIGHTNING (Miranda Chase NTSB 10) by ML Buchman-a review

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WHITE TOP / LIGHTNING (Miranda Chase NTSB 8 & 10) by ML Buchman

 

LIGHTNING
Miranda Chase NTSB 10
by ML Buchman
Release Date: June 7, 2022
Genre: adult, contemporary, military, suspense, political technothriller

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 7, 2022

Miranda Chase—the autistic heroine you didn’t expect. Fighting the battles no one else could win.

Revenge? A terrorist attack? Or a declaration of war?

The head of the Senate Armed Services Committee lies dead. The murder weapon? An Air Force Learjet deliberately crashed into his DC hotel room.

Half a world away in the South China Sea, an F-35C Lightning II — America’s newest fighter jet — crashes during landing. It cripples the aircraft supercarrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. An accident? Or China’s next move toward world domination?

Miranda Chase and her NTSB air-crash investigation team are spread thin as they struggle to unravel two horrific crashes at once — and halt a global firestorm before it burns them all.

Worst of all. The next target could be Miranda herself.

••••

REVIEW: LIGHTNING is the tenth instalment in ML Buchman’s contemporary, adult AMANDA CHASE, NTSB military, suspense, political technothriller series focusing on NTSB investigator Miranda Chase and her team of former and current military members.

Told from third person perspective LIGHTNING follows Miranda Chase and her team as they are tasked with investigating three nearly simultaneous situations involving US military fighter jets: the first is the crash of a fully fuelled KC-46 in Alaska, a modified Boeing 767; the second involves the hijacking of, and the subsequent targeting and destruction of Washington DC’s Kimpton George Hotel which would ultimately kill Senator Hunter Ramson; and thirdly, the unexplained crash of a F-35C Lightning II jet, and resulting explosion of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft supercarrier, a ship on training maneuvers in the South China Seas. Miranda Chase’s NTSB team has been called in to investigate all three disasters but with the team spread so thin, Miranda, a savant on the autism spectrum scale, battles in the wake of unfamiliar people unaware of her idiosyncrasies and struggles with everyday activities. Adding to Miranda’s battle, is the reassignment of her ‘second in command’ Jeremy, a man who is ready to direct an investigation of his own.

Once again, we are up close and personal with Miranda Chase’s struggle to recognize other people’s emotions, sarcasm, and jokes. Miranda’s last relationship failed in the face of her inability to perceive and distinguish between acceptance and opposition but her new love interest has the competence and capability of keeping our heroine on an even pitch.

LIGHTNING is awash in complex and detailed military vernacular and language such that one needs a spreadsheet to understand the description and dynamics of the fighting machines, war birds, and embattled personnel. LIGHTNING is a story of power and destruction, betrayal and deception, family and friendships, acceptance and control.

Previous Reviews
Chinook
Havoc

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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WHITE TOP
Miranda Chase 8
by ML Buchman
Release Date: MAY 25, 2021
Genre: adult, contemporary, military, suspense, political technothriller

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play /

Miranda Chase—the heroine you didn’t expect. Fighting the battles no one else could win.

The White Top helicopters of HMX-1 are known by a much more familiar name: Marine One. The S-92A, the newest helicopter in the HMX fleet, enters service after years of testing.

When their perfect safety record lies shattered across the National Mall, Miranda Chase and her team of NTSB crash investigators go in. They must discover if it was an accident, a declaration of war, or something even worse.

•••••••••••

REVIEW:  WHITE TOP is the eighth instalment in ML Buchman’s contemporary, adult MIRANDA CHASE political, technothriller focusing on NTSB investigator Miranda Chase and her team of former and current military members.

Told from several third person perspectives WHITE TOP follows in the aftermath of the crash of one of the newest White Top helicopters, Marine Two, and the loss would affect more than the fleet of Presidential fliers. Their last investigation complete, Miranda Chase and her team of NTSB investigators are called into to dissect the who, how and why, and the results point to human interference and not mechanical problems.

Meanwhile, Miranda Chase, a woman on the autism spectrum scale, is not quite willing to relinquish control but her second in command is ready to move forward with an investigation of his own.

As per ML Buchman’s style of writing as it pertains to Miranda Chase, the reader is pulled into the world of autism spectrum, watching (or reading) as Miranda struggles, not only with her own emotions, but recognizing small emotional nuances in others.Miranda’s last personal relationship failed in the face of Miranda’s inability to adjust or conform but a new relationship is on the horizon, one that has been developing for a very short time.

WHITE TOP is plentiful and replete with military and political jargon, especially as it applies and refers to the presidential aircraft and the mechanics within. ML Buchman pulls the reader into a suspense-filled, political thriller where the people at the top are targeted, and the person responsible may be someone close. The premise is intriguing and fascinating; the characters are resourceful, energetic and accomplished.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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Rough and Ready (Lightning #3) by Tracy Wolff-a review

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ROUGH AND READY (Lightning #3) by Tracy Wolff-a review

 

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 16, 2018

Tanner: I may be a baller, but I’ve always tried to do the right thing. Maybe it’s because I’ve been in charge of my four younger sisters for half my life, or because I understand how important it is to be a role model—something I learned from my grandfather, a Southern Baptist preacher who marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. Either way, my pro football career makes it easier to give back, so when a local rec center needs help, I do my best to even the playing field. And not just because Elara Vance, the smoking hot ex-WNBA player who runs the place, has me looking to score off the field.

Elara: Before I got sidelined by an injury, my time on the court taught me that pro athletes are all flash and no substance. Sure, Tanner Green talks a good game and wields a big checkbook, but I’m not buying the whole good guy routine. Still, it’s hard to miss all the good he’s doing for my rec center and even harder to ignore the way one look from him makes me tremble in all the best ways. I just wish I knew if he’s for real. Something tells me a little one-on-one might be the only way to find out.

•••••••••

REVIEW:  ROUGH AND READY is the third instalment in Tracy Wolff’s contemporary, adult LIGHTNING romance series focusing on the members of the professional football team the San Diego Lightning. This is former WNBA star Elara Vance, and football player Tanner Green’s story line. ROUGH AND READY can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Tanner and Elara) ROUGH AND READY follows the building relationship between This is former WNBA star Elara Vance, and football player Tanner Green. Elara’s introduction to Tanner Green is all about the fire and tenacity of a woman scorned. Hoping to be the recipient of a large donation to her children’s youth centre, Elara sees red when all of the money is allocated and given to professional football player, and San Diego Lightning team member Tanner Green’s football foundation leaving Elara’s youth centre scrambling for funds. A locker room meltdown, a quick game of pick-me-up, and an explanation about the how and why finds Elara and Tanner fast becoming friends, that quickly turns into something else. What ensues is the building love and relationship between Tanner and Elara, and the potential fall out as Elara’s past becomes the elephant in the room that continues to pick at Tanner’s over-protective heart.

Elara Vance knows success but success that has come at a cost. From the loss of familiar support, to the dark secrets of her past, Elara comes across as a powerful feminist, a ball-buster that pushes at the fringes of psychotic b*tch. Elara is a prickly heroine whose confrontational attitude was irritating and made enjoyment difficult in the early chapters. Tanner Green is a successful and well respected professional player but he too, keeps secret, a past mired in heart break and loss. Meeting Elara Vance stirs something inside Tanner Green, long thought dead by our story line hero, something that has Tanner hoping for a happily ever after.

The relationship between Tanner and Elara begins acrimoniously when Elara verbally berates and attacks our story line hero. Believing Tanner was responsible for the loss of her funding, Elara becomes the aggressor in an effort to release her pent up anger, aggression that comes across impulsive and wrong. Throughout the story a softer but damaged side of Elara is revealed, a side she has kept hidden for close to four years. The $ex scenes are passionate and intense, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The colorful and strong secondary and supporting characters include quarterback Hunter Browning and his wife Emerson (Down and Dirty #1), and Shawn and Sage Wilson (Hot and Heavy #2); Tanner’s sister Tina, as well as a number of boys and girls, and staff members at Rebound, the centre run by Elara Vance.

ROUGH AND READY is a spirited story line. The premise is entertaining, engrossing and stimulating; the characters are confident and animated; the romance is impassioned and seductive.

I did have an issue with the book cover. Throughout the book Elara mentions Tanner’s ‘dreads’ a number of times, yet the cover model is bald, with a completely shaven head. I wish the publishers would realize that readers take the covers seriously, oft times comparing the image to the story line description.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Down and Dirty
Hot and Heavy
Rough and Ready

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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Hot & Heavy (Lightning #2) by Tracy Wolff-a review

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HOT & HEAVY (Lightning #2) by Tracy Wolff-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

About the book: Release Date July 17, 2017

When a daredevil football stud tries to get into your yoga pants, you know class is about to get interesting. The New York Times bestselling author of Down & Dirty returns with Hot & Heavy.

Sage: Although I come from a long line of free-spirited yoga teachers, sometimes I wish my life could be just a little more normal. More ordinary. More boring. Easier said than done, especially since it’s on me to keep my family’s studio up and running every time my mother wanders off to find herself. But that’s when my best friend sends me a sexy new student: Shawn Wilson, a slick wide receiver with a death wish and a chip on his broad, muscular, irresistible . . . wait, what were we talking about again?

Shawn: They say I’m an adrenaline junkie. The truth is, I only really feel alive when I’m risking my life: Snowboarding, parachuting, BASE jumping . . . the kind of fun team management considers breach of contract. When my coach orders me to take yoga to “center myself,” I’m pissed—until I get an eyeful of delectable, flexible Sage Kaufmann. Unfortunately, she’s determined to keep things between us strictly business. But if Sage can get me to enjoy downward dog, maybe I can convince her that scorching hot sex could be the perfect shot of adrenaline.

••••••••••

REVIEW: HOT & HEAVY is the second instalment in Tracy Wolff’s contemporary, adult LIGHTNING erotic, romance series focusing on the NFL’s San Diego Lightning. This is professional football player Shawn Wilson, and yoga instructor/accountant Sage Kaufmann’s story line. HOT AND HEAVY can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person points of view (Sage and Shawn) HOT AND HEAVY follows the building relationship between professional football player Shawn Wilson, and yoga instructor/accountant Sage Kaufmann. Shawn Wilson is an adrenaline junkie, trying to keep the demons at bay. A bar quickie with a mysterious stranger finds our hero pining for a woman he knows nothing about until his teammate’s fiancé recommends therapeutic yoga for all of his ailments. Enter Sage Kaufmann, Shawn’s one-night stand, and the woman with whom Shawn will fall in love. What ensues is the building relationship between Shawn and Sage, and the potential fall-out as Shawn’s selfishness and his need for adrenaline forces Sage to walk away to save her sanity and a possible broken heart.

Twenty years earlier Shawn Wilson’s life spiralled out of control, and in the ensuing time, to bury his grief, Shawn embarks on dangerous and life-threatening endeavors to destroy the memories that claw at his soul. Sage Kaufmann has struggled throughout most of her life, following her hippie mother around the globe, in her attempts to find the next, best thing. On the verge of bankruptcy due to one of her mother’s ill-gotten schemes Sage accepts Shawn into her yoga studio in an effort to regain control of what was, and what could have been.

The relationship between Shawn and Sage begins as a one-night stand; essentially a hit it and run in the back of a bar but an encounter that remains at the forefront of our couple’s minds. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and seductive without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The colorful and dynamic secondary and supporting characters include Shawn’s teammates: star quarterback Hunter Browning and realtor Emerson Day; Tanner Green, and Clay Bruce; Hunter’s niece Lucy and nephew Brent; and Sage’s free-wheeling and impulsive yoga teaching mother.

HOT & HEAVY is a fast paced and sexy story line of insta-lust, betrayal, memories and love. The premise is captivating and edgy ; the characters are flirty and sassy; the romance is provocative and arousing. HOT AND HEAVY is a delightful and engaging entry into Tracy Wolff’s LIGHTNING series.

click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one DOWN AND DIRTY

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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