Under Fire is part ex-military action, part cutting edge medical research combined in a fast paced romance between 2 total opposites. Louisa is the type of heroine I enjoy in a story. She is brilliant, driven, goal oriented, caring, and shy. For some reason, I adore shy characters. Maybe because I can empathize so much? Who knows. I also was drawn to her area of study: Huntington's disease. I have a friend with the disease and, like Louisa, I know there is not enough research on the disease and it is so difficult to watch someone you love suffer.
Six has just left the Navy and with a couple of his SEAL buddies started a security firm. They are trying to get it off the ground and Six is assigned a security job at a benefit gala. The meet-cute between Six and Louisa was adorable. She is having a bit of a panic about having to give a speech in front of everyone and he manages to talk her down a bit. Their second meeting included Louisa seeing Six at his moment of weakness. I loved that the author included a meeting where both the hero and the heroine were showing a weakness. It helped show them both as realistic characters.
Louisa begins to notice that things in her lab are off. Its nothing obvious, but she knows that her notes have been touched and a petri dish goes missing. Determined to get to the bottom of this, Louisa doesn't realize what she is getting into. Cole did a great job with the medical information in the story. As a science nerd (former Science teacher!), I enjoyed reading about Louisa's work; however, it was written in a way that wouldn't scare away non-science loving people.
Six was hot and cold for me. There were times I loved him; he didn't push too much with Lou and was accepting of her struggles and treated her with kindness. Then, he would get closed off and push her away. I hate when heroes (or heroines) are wishy washy! Its such an unappealing characteristic.
What I appreciated most in Under Fire though was that Cole didn't 'dumb it down' to make the science more accessible. I hate with authors 'man-splaine' things because it not only offends those who understand a given concept, but it offends those who don't by coming off as condescending. So, kudos to Cole for not going that route. I love that I had to look up a few things as I was reading. I loved the casual references to scientific things that Lou would throw out when she was nervous (Linnaeus for example!). To me, THAT is great writing.
- POV: 3rd
- Tears:
- Trope: ex-military, mortal peril, bodyguard
- Triggers: spoiler
- Series/Standalone: stand alone
- Cliffhanger: no
- HEA: yes
Books by Piper J Drake, Susan Stoker, ...then you will probably like Under Fire!
See full review on The Book Disciple