“Her years of research and sleepless nights are about to pay off . . . if she can stay alive.
Dr. Ivy Collins, founder and CEO of Hedera, Inc., is ready to begin clinical trials of her company's cutting-edge prosthetic. Her work has been praised by government, medical, and advocacy groups, and everyone hopes the device will be a success. Well, almost everyone. Someone is trying to sabotage Hedera and the launch, but to what purpose--and how far will they go to get what they want?
Meanwhile, US Secret Service Agent Gil Dixon can't believe he's finally been reunited with Ivy, his childhood best friend. Now that he's found her again, Gil intends to mend their broken relationship. But it will take all his skill to uncover the truth in time to save Ivy's life, her life's work, and the innocent lives caught in the crossfire.”
Series: Book #2 in the “Defend and Protect” series. Review of Book #1 Here! Mentions characters from the “Dive Team Investigations” series and does give slight spoilers from those books.
Spiritual Content- Psalm 19:14 is noted in the Acknowledgments; A Scripture is quoted in a sermon; Prayers; Church going; Talks about God & praying; When recalling being tortured, Ivy kept praying but was certain that God wasn’t going to answer her prayers, that she was going to die; 'H's are not capital when referring to God; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, services, songs/hymns, a pastor, & a sermon; A mention of a Bible study; A mention of it probably being “extra sinful” to ogling a worship leader (Ivy noticing Gil);
*Note: A couple mentions of aliens.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’, a ‘for crying out loud’, a ‘freaking’, a ‘screw up’, a ‘suckers’, two ‘crap’s, two ‘sheesh’s, three ‘gah’s, three forms of ‘shut up’, three forms of ‘ticked/ticked off’, three forms of ‘wimp’, twelve ‘stupid’s, and fifteen forms of ‘idiot’; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Shooting, Being shot at, Seeing someone shot, Gunfire, & an Explosion (up to semi-detailed); Pain, Injuries, & Almost being kidnapped (up to semi-detailed); Just before the book starts, Ivy was held hostage & tortured in her own home (being stunned, fingers broken, slapped, being burned, and passing out; she also has to explain and walk through the events with the police, all up to semi-detailed; She was certain that she was going to die); Many, many mentions of deaths (including in the line of action), bombs/grenades, seeing others shot, being shot, shootings, shooters, gunfire, blood/bleeding, pain, & injuries (including recapping events from Book #1); Many mentions of Ivy being tortured, blood/bleeding, pain, injuries, passing out, shooting someone in self-defense, & the possibility of being killed (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of suicidal thoughts & someone almost deciding to end his life (the person went through therapy and found it helpful, *Spoiler* it was Gil, shortly after high school *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of finding a dead body, blood, & how it happened (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of kidnappings & attempts (adults and a child); Mentions of a child being drugged & threatened with losing a limb (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a work accident causing a man to lose a limb & blood/bleeding (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of violence, threats, ransoms, cyber threats, ransomware, & hackings; Mentions of thieves, stealing, stolen items, & betrayal (*Spoiler* Ivy’s mother stole from her and her friends, and Ivy is very ashamed by her mother’s actions *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of crimes, crime scenes, criminals, jail, arrests, & counterfeit money; Mentions of scams, a con-man, & a woman using people for her benefit; Mentions of drugs, addicts, being high, & a possible overdose; Mentions of cigarettes & smoking (& Ivy being burned by one); Mentions of nightmares; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of throwing up; A few mentions of car accidents; A few mentions of alcohol, someone being drugged (in his drink), & getting drunk; A few mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of tattoos; A couple mentions of someone being sideswiped by a car & killed (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of human trafficking; A couple mentions of bullies/teasing in school; A couple mentions of a gambling addiction; A couple mentions of cocktails; A mention of a murderer; A mention of war; A mention of Ivy’s biological father never being in the picture; A mention of partying & drinking; A mention of gossip; A mention of eavesdropping; A mention of a lottery; A mention of a wife getting ready to leave her husband; A mention of someone filing for a divorce; A mention of a man looking like he ran over a puppy (after hurting someone);
*Note: Mentions of yoga (Ivy does yoga typically); Mentions of brand name (Apple products, Barbie, Coke, Band-Aid, & Geber); A few mentions of GQ magazine; A few mentions of an author, fictional characters, & a movie/book (L. M. Montgomery & The Princess Bride); A few mentions of sport teams; A couple mentions of car brands; A mention of Google; A mention of Uber; A mention of Comic-Con.
Sexual Content- Two hand kisses, an almost kiss, four nose kisses, seven forehead/hair kisses, seven barely-above-not-detailed kisses, three semi-detailed kisses, and a detailed kiss; Remembering kisses (barely-above-not-detailed); Lots of Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Warmth, & Nearness (up to semi-detailed); Remembering touches & embraces (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to touch; Noticing & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes & Winks; Ivy & Gil sleep in the same house multiple times for her safety (nothing sexual happens; there is a comment of her thinking they don’t need a chaperone, but he says she hasn’t been paying enough attention if she thinks that); a ‘babe’, five forms of ‘hot’, and ten ‘baby’s; Many mentions of dating, dates, exes, break-ups, & boyfriends/girlfriends; Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of blushes & winks; Mentions of jealousy; Mentions of a guy making the key to a girl’s apartment (we’re not told the reason why, but they are not a couple); A few mentions of couples kissing (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of Ivy’s mother having many boyfriends, but always keeping them away from Ivy; A few mentions of flirting; A couple mentions of human trafficking; A couple mentions of a staged kidnapping so the boyfriend can look like a hero to his girl; A couple mentions of a guy making passes at Ivy; A couple mentions of crushes; A couple mentions of a girl being boy crazy, even in elementary school; A mention of a man acting like he wants to make beautiful babies with a woman; A mention of Ivy’s mother sleeping around; A mention of staring at someone’s lips; A mention of a woman possibly being violated; A mention of a man not being a masochist; Love, falling/being in love, & the emotions;
*Note: A mention of Ivy showing more skin than she’s comfortable with due to one of the men tearing her shirt when being tortured; A mention of underwear.
-Ivy Collins
-Gil Dixon
P.O.V. switches between them & the villain (x4)
352 pages
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
Despite really struggling to understand what was happening in the first couple chapters, I did really enjoy this suspense novel. Much more than the first book in the series, for sure.
It took about halfway through for me to like Ivy. I preferred Gil’s POV because he saw more in her than she did of herself. Plus he had it so bad for her. It was giggle worthy at times because of how much he likes her. The “he fell first and he fell hard” trope was in play in this novel and I’m always excited to see that trope. Add in the childhood best friends trope, and I’m totally okay with a the main trope being the second chance romance trope.
The pacing was well done, and the action was believable. There was a good amount of faith content and also none of the typical suspense tropes that I see much too often. (I’ve used the word ‘trope’ too much in this review already, my apologies.)
I love the friendships and the importance of friends in this book. I think that’s the main reason why I enjoyed this book. They (especially at the end) were a well-oiled machine in making plans and all the details of taking a villain down. It was really satisfying, actually, to read about. Even if they were a bit too nosy at times, I liked their banter and caring for each other.
I’m honestly bummed that I didn’t read this authors books in publication date order, because Sabrina just seems like the coolest and I think I would have loved seeing her and the others from the “Dive Team Investigations” series again.
While typing up this review, I wasn’t sure on a personal rating of 3.5 or 4 stars, because I did really enjoy the story, but I think I’ll be going with a 3.5 due to the torture Ivy goes through before the book starts. If dwelt on too long, it can turn a sensitive reader’s stomach. I’m definitely looking toward to catching up on this author’s books and also reading Tessa’s story soon.
See y’all on Monday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
No comments:
Post a Comment