Title: The Heart of a Hero
Author: Susan May Warren
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Series: #2 Global Search and Rescue
Publisher: Revell Books
Release date: 2 June 2020
Pages: 366
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About the Book
Jake Silver may not be able to put the memories of his time as a sniper and Navy SEAL behind him, but at least he can put his skills to use as a part of the Jones Inc. rescue team. Saving the life of pediatric heart surgeon Dr. Aria Sinclair on Denali helped too. Now he can’t get her out of his head, and when he hears she is in the path of a hurricane down in Key West he can’t help but jump on a plane to rescue her.
Aria has dedicated her life to helping children born with defective hearts. After all, she was one of those children. Now driven to succeed, she lives a lonely, stressful life. One she would have lost on Denali if it hadn’t been for Jake. Jake is exciting and handsome, but he’s also dangerous, and she’s already lost one person she loves. She can’t bear it again.
It’s not until she finds herself trapped in the middle of a category 4 hurricane that she can admit she needs Jake desperately. With their very survival in the balance, can they hope for a second chance at life . . . and love?
Excerpt
“I can’t go to Key West.”
“Yes, you can,” Lucas said. “I’ll take your patients. Devon can fill me in. You still have vacation time, and frankly, as your boss, I’m telling you that you’re going.”
She got up, picked up her coffee, and limped over to the trash can. Oops, she probably shouldn’t have sat down. Now her ankle burned, and the idea of taking a week off— “How long is the conference?”
“Just two days, but my travel agent booked the resort for a week.”
No. Really. No.
“You could sleep the entire week.”
She glanced at Lucas. “I don’t—”
“Sleep? I know, Aria. You’re the hardest-working—”
“Need a vacation.”
“You’ve needed a vacation since I met you. You take vacations that you need vacations from, for crying out loud. And your last vacation”—he finger quoted the words—”tried to kill you. Listen, I’ll help you cheat. You have to work before you get to play. That should satisfy the perfectionist workaholic in you.”
He probably didn’t mean for his words to sting but . . . okay, maybe.
But people given second chances had a responsibility to do something with their lives.
Devon emerged from the locker room wearing a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt, smelling good.
Lucas got up. “Your plane ticket is already purchased. Flight leaves on Friday—”
“Next week?”
“In two days.”
“Lucas!”
“No one is going to die without you.”
She knew he didn’t mean for it to sting. But, ouch.
Devon came back to the table. “I’ll fill Dr. Maguire in on your patients, and you can call me anytime to check on things. You already have my number.”
Outside, the rain had stopped, sunshine streaking through the gray clouds, burning away the gloom.
Maybe she did need sunshine. Beach.
And about two thousand miles between her and her regrets.
Namely a six-two, blond former SEAL who lived somewhere in Minneapolis. A city big enough for her to avoid him. Forever.
Please, God.
And maybe a break would help her shake free of her recent string of disasters.
Find her mojo again, as Lucas said.
Review
Boy, does Susan May Warren know how to tell a story!! This one was riveting from beginning to end, emotionally charged in so many different ways. There was, of course, Jake and Aria’s relationship (which began in the previous book in the series—do yourself a favour and read The Way of the Brave first if you haven’t already) and their fight to once again survive the worst the natural world can throw at them, but I was equally invested in the plight of several other characters who got caught up with them: resort owner Mimi and her granddaughter Yola, a stranded and heavily pregnant young woman by the name of Angel, and a few other people who get brought into the story along the way.
We also have the beginning of Ham’s story—also emotionally charged, but I won’t share details for the sake of those who haven’t read the first book in the series yet. I will say I wasn’t sure which way his story was heading until the very end, and I am now all fired up to read his story when it comes out.
But back to Jake and Aria. Jake truly does have the heart of a hero, and wow does he get into some tight situations in this story—they all do, but Jake especially—but I love that part of his journey is working out what’s driving his hero instinct. Susan May Warren always pushes her characters to look deep inside themselves to discover their motives—what they believe about themselves and about God—and yet it never feels as though this is driving the story. It ALWAYS feels as though the action is following a natural trajectory and they’re being forced to confront the things they’re struggling with internally through the situations they’re battling externally. And I think that’s one of the things I love most about Susan May Warren’s books: God shapes her characters through their storms rather than rescuing them out of the storms—in this case, in a very literal sense!
I could go on and on—the writing is tight and dynamic, the action intense, the romance has both depth and chemistry—but I’ll just summarise it this way: If you love Christian romantic suspense, you’re missing out big time if you haven’t picked up Susan May Warren’s books.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not influenced the content of my review, which is my honest and unbiased opinion.
Previous Books in the Series
Read my review for The Way of the Brave.
About the Author
Susan May Warren is the USA Today bestselling, Christy and RITA award-winning novelist of over sixty-five novels. An eight-time Christy award finalist, a three-time RITA Finalist, she’s also a multi-winner of the Inspirational Readers Choice award, and the ACFW Carol Award.
A seasoned women’s events speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook: The Story Equation.
She is also the founder of MyBookTherapy.com, and Novel.Academy, a school for aspiring novelists.
Connect with Susan: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
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