Under Fire (Love Over Duty, #1)

by Scarlett Cole

[Linda]

This review was originally posted on (un)Conventional Bookviews
Under Fire pushed all the right buttons, romance, characters and character development, pace, action, suspense, plot and story. I loved every single thing about this story!



Cole has definitely outdone herself with Under Fire! I was mesmerized from start to finish, and the action started basically on the first page. All buttons to make this a favorite read were ticked, and I almost didn't manage to sleep because I'd rather spend my time with Louisa, Six and the guys from Eagle Security. It was a fast-paced story, with a lot of danger, but Louisa's logical mind as well as Six's strength and ability to get a good overview kept things on the right side of safe most of the time.

I've always found intelligence sexy, and seeing a guy like Six agree with that made both him and Louise even more enticing in Under Fire. He was able to see behind her shyness, and she saw him as more than hired muscle from the beginning as well. And the way the mystery unfolded with so much suspense just gave me goosebumps. Louisa being so shy could have been a turn-off, but instead, it made her extremely endearing. And the way Six just got her, and didn't push or do anything he thought would make her uncomfortable made him irresistible.

One of the things I loved the most about Under Fire was that while it was Louisa and Six's story, the other characters were also well fleshed out. I got to know the guys who work in Eagle Security with Six, and also Louisa's mom and some of her co-workers. This not only made the story balanced, it made me even more eager for the next book in the Love Over Duty series. Also, because Louisa signe on Eagle Security to protect her, the romance between her and Six became forbidden, and that made it even sweeter ;)

Written in third person point of view, past tense and with a narrator that is close to omniscient, the pacing was perfect for the kind of story Under Fire is. And through the food choices, dialogues and action scenes, I felt like I got to know the characters really well. The problems Six and Louisa had to deal with weren't swept under the carpet, but dealt with in small doses, where the pace slowed down a little bit to help me catch my breath. If there is one book you'll get this summer, you should make it be this one!



But the way he always led with one side of his mouth when he smiled with the other side following, and the way he'd look at her through the corners of his eyes just added to the tension.

Blue and red beams of lights flashed onto her kitchen wall. They were the best things she'd seen all day, well, outside of seeing the door to the kitchen burst open and Six rolling in, looking as deadly as any soldier she'd ever seen. In hindsight, now that the danger had passed, she realized he'd looked hotter than any Hollywood action star in a big blockbuster movie.