This book is definitely going on my re-read shelf! The Woman Left Behind by Linda Howard #RomSuspense #BookReview

Jina Modell works in Communications for a paramilitary organization, and she really likes it. She likes the money, she likes the coolness factor—and it was very cool, even for Washington, DC. She liked being able to kick terrorist butts without ever leaving the climate-controlled comfort of the control room.

But when Jina displays a really high aptitude for spatial awareness and action, she’s reassigned to work as an on-site drone operator in the field with one of the GO-teams, an elite paramilitary unit. The only problem is she isn’t particularly athletic, to put it mildly, and in order to be fit for the field, she has to learn how to run and swim for miles, jump out of a plane, shoot a gun…or else be out of a job.

Team leader Levi, call sign Ace, doesn’t have much confidence in Jina–who he dubbed Babe as soon as he heard her raspy, sexy voice–making it through the rigors of training. The last thing he needs is some tech geek holding them back from completing a dangerous, covert operation. In the following months, however, no one is more surprised than he when Babe, who hates to sweat, begins to thrive in her new environment, displaying a grit and courage that wins her the admiration of her hardened, battle-worn teammates. What’s even more surprising is that the usually very disciplined GO-team leader can’t stop thinking about kissing her smart, stubborn mouth…or the building chemistry and tension between them.

Meanwhile, a powerful Congresswoman is working behind the scenes to destroy the GO-teams, and a trap is set to ambush Levi’s squad in Syria. While the rest of the operatives set off on their mission, Jina remains at the base to control the surveillance drone, when the base is suddenly attacked with explosives. Thought dead by her comrades, Jina escapes to the desert where, brutally tested beyond measure, she has to figure out how to stay undetected by the enemy and make it to her crew in time before they’re exfiltrated out of the country.

But Levi never leaves a soldier behind, especially the brave woman he’s fallen for. He’s bringing back the woman they left behind, dead or alive.

Biography

My Review

Oh my gosh, best book I’ve read in a long, long time!!

This story had me going between snorts of laughter, to checking my blood pressure at the adrenaline stirring action sequences. Seriously, so good!

Jina Modell leaves her life in small town, America to travel to DC and takes a job as a communications expert for a paramilitary organization. She likes her job, but when the opportunity presents itself for advancement, she leaps in with both feet, not realizing until too late that she may be in over her head.

She’s placed with a Go-Team of elite operators and is expected to train like a warrior, something her job as an analyst definitely never prepared her to do. But, Jina is no quitter. She’s the middle child of a large family and refuses to back down– even though her new teammates outweigh her by a hundred pounds!

There’s so many funny scenes while she’s training I don’t know where to start 🙂

Here’s a couple of my favorite lines:

“You’re going to learn how to navigate by a compass,” Levi said, telling her what she’d already surmised. “Then I go into the woods, call in the coordinates, and you have to find me.” She looked up at him, resigned. “Oh, freakin’ joy,” she muttered. “If I don’t find you, do you stay lost?” “No, but you crap out of training.” Well, losing him had been worth a shot.

Howard, Linda. The Woman Left Behind: A Novel (p. 51). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

He must be confident she wouldn’t make the cut, that she was going to crap out, and the prospect of getting rid of her put him in a good mood. She’d like to twist his dick off. And throw it out of the damn plane, a dick without a parachute, and see if he’d dive out after it. Of course he would. Men would march through hell for their dicks. But wouldn’t it be funny if a hawk or something caught the falling dick and carried it off to be eaten?

Howard, Linda. The Woman Left Behind: A Novel (p. 137). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

There’s an underlying plot that runs through the story and builds to a murderous climax at the end, but a lot of this book is centred around Jina’s growth as a person and the intense love/hate relationship she has with her leader, Levi.

Levi is tough, he has to be. The decisions he makes out in the field could be life and death for his team. He holds himself up to an impossibly high standard and expects the same from them. So his attraction for the newbie has to go ignored, even if it’s the hardest thing he’s ever done.

When the team is deployed on a mission that turns into an ambush, Levi has to make the toughest decision of his career. In order to save the rest of the group he must turn his back on the woman who owns his heart.

This book is definitely going on my re-read shelf!

I give The Woman Left Behind 5+ lovely kisses- Non-Stop Action-Packed Page-Turner!