Firestorm

Firestorm by Rachel Grant is the third book in her Flashpoint series and it is a fabulous way to wrap up this series although I think there is room for more books. Rachel brings us back to Camp Citron in Djibouti and this time the story is about Sergeant First Class Cassius Callahan and our favorite CIA agent, Savannah James. I was so glad to find out that we would get to experience their story. For those of you who haven’t read the first two books, Tinderbox and Catalyst, you will not be lost if you start here, but I highly recommend reading the first two books in order, so that you experience the richness of the story by understanding all of the characters, their stories and the location that it takes place in. We begin with Savannah, “Savvy”, meeting with Sergeant Callahan, “Cal”, and explaining to him why he is the perfect person to aid her on a covert CIA mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with her as his “mistress”. With his fluency with the language to aid her in the mission to infiltrate a criminal organization, Savvy must work hard to convince Cal that he should work with her. But Savvy is not Cal’s favorite person, and it is an uphill battle to get him on board with the Black Op. He doesn’t trust her but there is a spark between them that they have both been trying to ignore and this just might be the one thing they need to find out if there is truly a chance for them. There is the mounting evidence of corruption in the mission, but who is the bad guy and who is telling the truth. There is the possibility Cal and Savvy aren’t telling the truth about who they are and what the mission is really about, but if you want to know the answer to that, you will have to read the book. I couldn’t put this book down. I HAD to know what was real and what was for the Op, but if you are like me and enjoy Military Romantic Suspense, then this is the book for you. It has it all and in exciting situations and with a powerful ending. I hope there is going to be more books after this but I think it was originally planned as a trilogy. Hopefully Rachel starts a new series with more of the guys from this unit.

I received an ARC for my honest review. What I love most about Rachel Grant's Flashpoint Series is that she uses these books to bring attention to a world in need. In Firestorm, the setting is in the Congo, where Savannah and Cal are there on a mission where the objective turns from one thing into another. Cal and Savannah have a love/hate history. They both have an extreme attraction toward one another yet, turned off by the fact that Savannah is CIA, Cal is constantly putting on the breaks. Savannah also remains distant because she knows Cal doesn't care for her but she doesn't know why. However, when Savannah is tasked with retrieving the communications from a dictator's computer, Cal is the only one she wants by her side. Without giving away spoilers, the operation turns into something entirely different when Savannah realizes she's been betrayed and Cal is the only one she can truly count on. We learn Savannah's real name and the hideous reason why she was given the name Savannah when she completed her CIA training. We learn the reason she joined the CIA in the first place. We learn why Cal has such a dislike and distrust of the CIA. And, we're reminded that sometimes people are driven by greed over integrity. As a fan of romantic suspense novels, I love the push/pull between the characters while the tension builds before they turn into lovers. I love watching them slowly fall for each other and live for the moment when they say "I love you" for the first time. I loved Cal and Savannah's story. Having read about 98% of Rachel Grant's novels, this couple is one of my favorites. Most importantly, again, I love how Rachel Grant bring attention to world issues. Yellowcake, uranium, children mining while enslaved...all issues that can be easy to turn a blind eye to. This book also serves as a reminder of all the hard and dangerous work the operatives of the CIA and Special Ops perform daily to help make the world a better place. Ms. Grant has links at the end of her novel bringing the reader to informational sites as well as sites offering donations. I encourage you to take a look.

Firestorm finally ignites the heat that has been burning between CIA covert operative Savannah James and Sergeant Cassius Callahan in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. CIA operatives are always bit of a pet peeve for me in romances.. They are shady, their lives are all about lying and completing the mission at any cost. Even though I was looking forward to finally getting Savvy's story I was a bit apprehensive going in as Cassius was such a good, honorable man to be paired up with a CIA operative. But from the first chapter my fears were put to rest as we get Savvy's backstory and see that even though she is a highly trained, deadly operative she also has vulnerabilities and traumatic past. Cassius was as great as I knew he'd be.. Such a good guy. Honorable yet also willing to do what it takes to keep Savvy safe. These two have to go undercover as lovers to prevent an overthrow of the current government in the Congo. As with every book in this series the author manages to show the reader both the beauty and the beast side of Africa. Another enjoyable and informative read. Can't wait to see what is next..