I enjoyed this one for the most part. I do wish the hero had to do a bit more groveling. He basically shows back up after three years of the heroine thinking he is dead and moves right the fuck back in. I don't care how sad he was, or how he did it to protect her; she deserved some space to figure things out without him being underfoot and guilting her about how she was hurting him...sigh.
Apparently, I am a mean biatch that holds a grudge. *lol*
Geez, I love my hubby!! After reading Reclaiming Izabel, it just reinforced how much I love him. The worst he’s done to me was choosing to go and watch a sports game instead of taking me to coffee. Well, that was the most recent stuff-up and he paid…lordy, how he paid. Now, I kind of regret giving him such a hard time. At least he didn’t leave me for three years and make me believe he was DEAD. Reclaiming Izabel was a very hard story to love and to be honest, my Kindle was in serious jeopardy a time or two.
I was so angry with Drake that I had to step away and take a deep breath before I could go on. CHOICES!!! CHOICES!!! CHOICES!!! Drake should not have married if he could put his job before his wife. His bosses should never have put him in the position of having to make that choice. Stopping him, by force, from making the choice he wanted to make, THAT WAS DIABOLICAL!!
HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE FOR HER!!!!
I’m getting angry again just THINKING about this…
Deep breaths…
Izabel was a much better woman than I ever could be. I wanted to scream at her when her defences started to crumble. The poor woman had been through hell, put herself back together, and was just starting to live again. Drake walks back in, and she’s expected to forgive and forget the nightmare HE made her live. I couldn’t get past it. Such a betrayal. How can he live with himself knowing that the “love of his life” was suffering?
I get it. His hands were tied. He was worried about her safety. He had to get the baddies. But it SUCKED that he was forced to MAKE THE WRONG CHOICE…in my opinion.
My biggest problem with reading suspense is that I take it too bloody seriously. Mind you, I know I take all of my reads too bloody seriously. It probably doesn’t help that Victoria Paige writes very convincing stories. They lead me to think she’s “in the know” about stuff. For starters, Victor Baran seems so real. That man could give me nightmares and HE’S ON THE GOOD SIDE!! If even a smidgen of this story was based on fact, we seriously need to rethink who we vote into power.
Would you believe it…I actually finished Reclaiming Izabel with a smile on my face? I know, I know, there’s a lot of shouty capital ^^^up there^^^ but it’s true. If you had asked me if a smile on my face was possible while I was in the thick of things, the swearing you’d be blasted with would be shocking. Things do work out well in the end, but it was bloody hard going.
The characters we see again and others we meet for the first time were very engaging. I’m not sure Victoria Paige can write weak characters. Obviously, Drake had to do a LOT of work to take me from cranky to smiling, but he does do it. Izabel is strong, determined and very forgiving which I couldn’t help but admire her for. Together, they were electric and their connection jumped off the pages.
This is a Victoria Paige suspense so of course, I spent much of my time reading with my heart in my throat. Each time Izabel was alone, I was sure the boogeyman was waiting around the corner. I love reading about all the tech gizmos and gadgets, treason, treachery and war crimes. It always makes me feel I should spend more time reading the paper...or not, considering it's pretty darn scary out there.
If you’re a fan of military romance with a very bossy, possessive and HOT hero, loving a strong and determined heroine, I recommend Reclaiming Izabel. Funny thing...that cover REALLY caught and held my eye, but the blurb had me running for the hills. Good thing that cover pushed me to take the risk because the blurb wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. Drake and Izabel’s love story was hard to witness but worth the struggles in the end.
Stacey is Sassy, received a complimentary copy of this story. The copy provided is not the final copy and may be subject to edits and changes.