I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Return to Me
by
Christy Reece
romantic suspense in a paperback edition that was published by Ballantine Books on May 19, 2009 and has 330 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Rescue Me, Run to Me, No Chance, Second Chance, Last Chance, Sweet Justice, Sweet Revenge, Sweet Reward
Second in the Last Chance Rescue (LCR) romantic-suspense series revolving around the soft-hearted mercenaries of an organization dedicated to rescuing the innocent. The couple focus is on Noah McCall and Samara Lyons.
My Take
What can I say? I like that combination of action and romance. Combined with LCR’s purpose in life, rescuing innocents from awful situations…and it’s a match for me.
No, it’s not one of the great classics, but it is a fun read. Noah fights his attraction to Samara thinking his genetic ancestry makes him unfit while Samara just won’t take no
for an answer.
I wish Samara would stop being so wishy-washy. Noah, too. They both dip in and out of the possibilities pool at lightning speed and it was irritating. I’m getting kind of tired of the “oh my parent was so awful, therefore I will be awful too” moan as an excuse to avoid involvement.
I did like that Samara was stubborn enough to continue going after predators, taking self-defense classes and learning to use a gun. She started putting a new life together for herself in spite of, because of?, her experiences. When Ethan flips Noah off because he reckons Samara’s got her act together, it is too funny to read Noah’s reaction. Neat trick of Noah’s to keep up a fake background on his old identity. And he certainly has a unique way of proposing…
The Story
Noah turned her down flat last year in Paris and now he’s got the nerve to show in Birmingham and want to talk to her? No, no, and, oh, hell no. But when he finally catches her up and throws her over his shoulder only to tie her into a chair and explain what he needs, well, Samara just can’t say ‘no’.
There are too many young lives on the line and she’ll just have to put up with the totally gorgeous Mr. Noah McCall living in her house and coaching her through the email exchanges with online predators. Only, it all goes wrong and the predator has taken Samara.
A truly deadly predator, Noah’s twin. A man who walks in his father’s whoring, drinking, beating footsteps. A man in alliance with Thomas Bennett’s (see Rescue Me) plan to sell underage sex slaves.
The Characters
Samara Lyons lost her last lover to Last Chance Rescue (see Rescue Me) and she has no intention of losing this one. She realizes she was never really in love with Jordan Montgomery and she really likes his new wife, Eden. Her friends include Rachel Enders, Allie, and Julie. She’s very close to her family; her parents adopted five boys [John and the pregnant Monica and their two kids, Peter and Scott are twins, and the other two boys aren’t mentioned, and man, this is one close family!] whose parents were killed in a car crash, so naturally, Samara showed up a bit later. She has a career as a social worker and Noah notices that people like to talk to her, that Mara has an ability to really listen to people.
Noah McCall, a.k.a., Michael Stoddard has taken his childhood experiences with his father and twin brother and created something entirely different. Hope. He is the only living founder of LCR and totally dedicated to its mission; Milo Evans was his mentor and the moneyman behind the founding of LCR before he was murdered in Rescue Me. Celeste is his occasional lover and has decorated his apartment.
LCR employees include Gabriel Maddox, Dylan, Jordan and Eden, Angela is his very-tattooed receptionist, and Ethan Bishop who is sent over to the States to protect Samara when Noah finds out that she’s carrying on with his work. Shea and Cole were on an op with Ethan that went wrong. Cole’s not comin’ home and Shea blames Ethan.
Brad Fleming is the guy Samara is dating and the flame to Noah’s temper. The Macklin firm accepts Mara’s help in taking down online predators; Kyle Macklin has his own eye on Mara. Good thing Mara’s there to keep an eye on him!
Mitchell Stoddard is Noah’s evil twin. Farrell Stoddard was their father. A preacher who only followed the Golden Rule on Sunday mornings. Noah fell in love with Rebecca Stanley when he was 16; Mitchell made sure it went nowhere. It was the spark for LCR. His men include the incredibly stupid Richard and Sheriff Luther Prickrel helps out in the background. Thomas Bennett was partnered with the Larue crime family kidnapping people to sell as sex slaves before LCR took the Larues down. Bennett escaped and has continued his operations. Christopher is Bennett’s 5-year-old grandson. For some reason, he doesn’t think it’s fair for LCR to threaten to hurt Chris…well, we know they won’t but all Bennett has to go on is what he’s done…
Justin Kelly is undercover in Stoddard’s organization trying to find his kidnapped sister Lara.
The Cover and Title
The cover is all pinks with a tear in a wool crepe revealing a narrow v-shaped opening and a very hazy couple in a much lighter and brighter pink.
The title reflects Samara and Noah’s individual feelings about each other…even though each has a different perspective about Return to Me and whether it’s a good idea.
