Disclaimer: NetGalley provided this copy in exchange for an
honest review. Thanks to NetGalley, Bold Strokes Books, and Carsen Taite.
People often seem surprised when I say I read romance. I
don’t read them as often as I’d like because I’m a fairly slow reader and
generally focused on sci-fi and fantasy and because there are so many romances
books out there that sometimes it’s hard to dive in. I requested this on a whim
from NetGalley, and I’m glad I did! I read the majority of this in the space of
a day.
The setup is fairly standard (not a bad thing). Lt. Colonel
Zoey Granger is a whistleblower scheduled to testify in front of Congress on a
corruption scandal. Rook Daniels is a hotshot spin doctor who “fixes” scandals
when they appear. Their paths cross, sparking both attraction and frustration, but
neither thinks it will go very far. Then their professional lives collide, and
they have to investigate a case close to Zoey’s heart while navigating their
growing connection.
I liked both the main characters. Zoey is a stand-up person
with a strong sense of morality. She’s also a bit lost since the army’s been
her family for years and exposing the corruption scandal has partially
ostracized her. Rook is charming and devoted to her job but, like the best love
interests, has a painful past that she doesn’t like to talk about. Their quick
attraction to one another feels real, as do the issues that initially keep them
apart. Zoey, who is honorable and truthful, dislikes Rook’s profession and
feels spinning stories is akin to lying. Rook has a distrust of the military
that stems from her past and can’t understand Zoey’s comfort with taking orders
and her devotion to the army.
Despite the military being a large part of this story, there’s
pretty good gender balance. While a lot of the characters in the military are
male, women hold powerful positions, too. One of the driving forces behind the
plot is Rook’s friend Sarah, who is the White House Chief of Staff. In a
smaller part is her girlfriend, who’s a Chief Justice. (Details might be a
little off because I read this fast.)
There are some cool women on Rook’s team, and Zoey is shown to be respected by her
higher-ups and to know the men who don’t respect her aren’t worth it. I liked
that it took place in D.C. and the military world. I don’t know much about the
military, but things seemed accurate. I especially liked the climax and the phones (can't give anything away, but you'll see when you get there). The writing was nice and clean and kept the story flowing.
One area for improvement would be the diversity. On the one
hand, I enjoyed that the characters didn’t have to deal with homophobia. In a
sense, it would be more realistic if they did, but it’s nice to see a lesbian
couple treated like any other couple. They have their issues, but they’d have
the same issues regardless of sexuality. I think there’s room for telling both
kinds of stories. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure most of the characters are
white. If there were clues to the contrary, I missed them. Maybe I was reading
too fast!
Overall, I very much enjoyed this book, and I’ll definitely
read more from Taite in the future.