Review: Call of Duty by Merlin Lovelace

Publisher: Onyx
Where did you get the book: Purchased
Release date: Out now

The rigid military lifestyle of the United States Air Force is no, place for a free-spirited woman, but when Captain Jennifer Vargas attempts to resign, her superior officer refuses to let her go, insisting she stick to her commitment. And when she discovers some discrepancies in the personnel record indicating a secret illegal training operation, she places her life in jeopardy to expose the truth.

*blurb taken from Goodreads*

It’s been awhile since I’ve read a romantic suspense book, and when I saw Merlin Lovelace mentioned over at a DA thread, I downloaded a sample of this book. And I’m so glad I did because I really enjoyed this one.

Jennifer Vargas is a Captain in the United States Air Force, and very much a computer whiz. She’s an unusual heroine because Jen wants out of the Air Force and away from military life. But with her boss, Mike Page, standing in her way and butting heads with her at every turn, Jen is not leaving the Air Force anytime soon. I really liked Jen with her spunky personality and attitude. Who knows if she could be that brassy in real life to a boss, but in this book I enjoyed the wit and sparring between Page and Jen which made for great reading. The attention to military detail was fantastic, and it sounded so authentic to this ‘totally don’t have a clue about military life’ book pusher.

Jen and Page were such opposite sides of a coin. Jen could be tardy, lippy, and she had an attitude. Page on the other hand was the strong and silent type where he followed the rules. But the rules he follows go out the window when he gets involved with Jen, and gets caught up in the attempted murder of Jen and her roommate.

I wondered how the romance would develop because Page was Jen’s commanding officer, but it played out in a way where there were consequences – perhaps more neatly tied up in fiction land – that I believed in. Jen and Page got chewed out by the General, and Page accepts what she gives out. Jen of course is not so easily accepting, and I liked that there was a heroine who wasn’t in love with the military life. It was refreshing seeing a heroine who for most of the book, wanted out.

I liked the suspense – even if it was confusing – because throughout most of the book I was wondering, are these actually good people or bad? In end, you get your answer but it wasn’t so clear cut which I thought was refreshing. Only issue I have was how it played out towards the end. It was such a let down. I felt as if the brakes had suddenly been pressed upon, and I wanted to see the consequences of the security company, rather than being told it.

The latter part of the book lost its way for me, and I became a little disappointed but it was still an enjoyable read for me. The romance and suspense was balanced nicely, and there was no gory scenes which for this wimp, was very much appreciated.

I give Call of Duty a B+

Kindle eBook

1 thought on “Review: Call of Duty by Merlin Lovelace”

  1. Nice review Lou, I have not read about this book before. But I do wonder, why doesn’t she just resign? Can someone really stop you?

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