Friendly Fire

Good, satisfyingly long romantic suspense

This audiobook can be classified as second chance contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and military romance. There is also a little bit of paranormal because Jeremiah sees visions of the future. We also get two romances for the price of one because we get the entire romance of a secondary pair of characters, Tristan and Juliet. There is a lot of travel and tons of danger for the characters. It is extremely well written, and it has expanded my horizons about the larger variety of romantic suspense that I enjoy now. I had no idea before I listened to this that I would actually like a book where drug cartel bad guys got so much screen time.

Navy SEAL Jeremiah goes along on a cruise to Mexico with his best friend and colleague Tristan. On the ship, Jeremiah sees the lost love of his life, Emma. They had had a brief nonphysical relationship when he was her college student and she had still been married. Divorcee Emma is on the cruise with her 8-yr old daughter Sammie and her hard-nosed sister Juliet, a private investigator. Tristan and Juliet hit it off while Jeremiah and Emma slowly rekindle their love. All the while, Jeremiah tries to avert the death and destruction that he saw in his paranormal visions, but danger catches up to them. Can they get safe again and acknowledge their love?

If the heroine had been more likeable, I would have given the story 5 stars instead of 4. Other readers might like her just fine, but Emma kept getting on my nerves. She is a divorced mom of Sammie, and has not dated since the divorce. She is an intelligent literature professor, but she is also annoyingly fearful of life. Emma became so disillusioned about love after her husband cheating on her that she thought that all love is an ephemeral scientific phenomenon that can last only two years. She is really hard-headed about this but thankfully not for the entire audiobook. Emma acts reasonably well when she is in danger, so she is likeable sometimes.

Jeremiah is an awesome guy. He is intelligent, loyal, talented, handsome, fit, and is ready to commit. I really like him, but sometimes his thoughts are a little dull. We don't hear enough of his romantic thoughts. His thoughts that we do hear are usually focused on protecting Emma and Sammie. I really liked that he is psychic and can see visions of the future; it gave the audiobook some extra spice.

There is plenty of great action and suspense. I commend Marliss Melton on her writing. It seems like she really did her research about how Navy SEALs operate. The action seemed very realistic.

I think that the narrator Armen Taylor did a superlative job. He was fantastic with the men's, women's, and a girl's voices. Plus, he was fantastic at different accents as well. His pacing, pronunciation, enunciation, and emotive talent were all fantastic!

I received a free copy from the author, and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.

Great storyline

I really enjoyed the storyline, it had twists and turns that surprised me. Good book.

What a ride of danger and romance

Any additional comments?

When one goes on a long overdue vacation the last thing they expect is their past to come slap them in the face. Which is what happens to both Jeremiah and Emma as they come face to face again after so many years neither has forgotten the other how could they when their passion was so powerful from the start. The author really gives you an action packed read full of thrills, a few chills and danger along with a budding romance that still has the same power it did from long ago. It is nice to see the coin flip and have an older women and a younger man it was charming as these two dance around each other both wanting the same things but only one wants forever.

Let’s start with the narration of Mr. Taylor he has such a deep sexy voice the listener is pulled in at once with the detail of the area around them and the feelings of Jeremiah feeling of things being a little off. You can feel the power of the narrator as Jeremiah’s eyes meet Emma’s for the first times in years. I found his female voices to be just as delightful as he males ones. He really puts a lot of emotion into his voice giving it so much power from the danger to the pain of each character. You can hear the excitement to the fear and the unknown as people take over their life. I did not hear any background noise or any places where the volume is lower or higher than any other place in the audio. If any breaks were taken I could not tell. Mr. Taylor paints a picture with his tones that you have no trouble seeing in your mind from the passion to them being taken. He gives you a wonderful clear, crisp delightful listen you will not be able to put down. I have not listen to any of his work it was a delight to find him as he brought me so much please giving me an audio I could not put down.

As Jeremiah and his seal buddy board the ship he gets and uneasy feeling as frames flash in his mind. Then he see her the women he can’t forget as she boards the ship, their eyes meet she looks away and then turns back. He looks for a sign that she remembers him what he gets are empty eyes of a women who doesn’t know him. He takes this pretty hard how could she forget all they meant to each other. It is a very touching scene when they come face to face again and she does a double take knowing just who is he is and wondering how in the world she is going to make it through this vacation with him so close and yet so far away. This is where the story takes off as they remember their past painting a picture of so much pain and loss. They each want some answers which are not easy to come by. Now they have another chance to right a wrong but it looks like they will have to work through issues and maybe even than they will lose out on the best love they could have had. At this point I am just going to say it was a very powerful touching romance where two have to learn to work together to get out of the danger they are in. The buildup of the romance was just as exciting as the danger they fall into as people kidnap them leaving everyone scared and afraid. Emma puts all her hope into one man from long ago hoping he can get them out of this mess. Love pulls them in but will the danger give them a life together if they make it out of it alive? The danger is very real as it gets down to following the rules or be killed. There were times here I thought one or all of them may die. Each character has to deal with issues of their own some might make the wrong choice and be lost to the world forever.

The author gives you wonderful supporting characters some are heroes in the making and others are just doing their jobs. Out of them all my heart really went out to the old couple as I know what pain they must have went through. A mother and son who lost their husband and he his father trying to put some sunshine back in their life only to find they may lose their life. Emma’s daughter is a strong wise little girl who will capture your heart. Jeremiah Seal buddy will keep you laughing as he and Emma’s sister plot to get this romance started again only to feel so guilty at the turn of events. They make a great team I hope they will make a return in this series.

This really is full of action where you find you are holding your breath waiting to find out how it all plays out hoping for the best but knowing that most likely isn’t going to happen. As the end comes near your heart breaks as Emma works out how she feels and then the ending comes which just leaves you smiling. This is really a wonderful read that pulls the reader in from the first page as the author gives you information that really hits you hard. The author doesn’t need filler each word and each page has something important to say that makes this a story you can’t put down. I have never read anything from this author but I sure can’t wait to get my hands on the next audio.

Wonderful series!

Marlins Melton has a great series of books. I have read or listened to most of the series of
books.
It is a pleasure to read any of her. books,