K'Anne Meinel

Lieutenant Marsha Gagliano has been missing in Afghanistan for five years after her helicopter crashed into the mountains. She reappears unexpectedly at the embassy in Kabul, heavily pregnant and with two small children in tow, saying that she has been held captive by a nomadic tribe.
Heather, Marsha's wife, has been desperately holding onto a sliver of hope that Marsha may return to her someday, although it's been five years. She spends her time raising their young daughter, Hayley. When two uniformed men show up on her doorstep, Heather's sure it's to tell her that Marsha's body has finally been recovered. But Marsha is alive, and they need one another more than ever.

I really do feel like the author had a potentially good story here, but it just doesn't come through at all. The story needs a fierce and brutal editing; there's so much "head hopping" (changes in perspective) that I almost felt dizzy reading this book. One sentence would be from one character's perspective, then another character's perspective, then back to the first character's perspective - all in the same paragraph! It made it nearly impossible to tell who was "talking" at times.

Most of the characters felt one-dimensional and flat, even the main ones. And they were literally all over the place when it came to their thoughts; I could perhaps excuse Marsha for that (pregnancy hormones, PTSD, the process of being repatriated, the stress of returning home, etc), but everyone in the book was the same way.

And some of the characters were just over the top awful. Mr. Wynn (I can't remember what his role was, although with the title of "Mr." he obviously wasn't in the service - something to do with the State Department, perhaps?) literally insisted on calling Marsha's captor and rapist her "husband" more than once. HER HUSBAND. No! Who does that?!? And Marsha's mother was even worse - upon discovering that her daughter is safe, she drives down to meet her, even though Marsha wants her to stay away (definitely an overbearing type). When she sees that Marsha has two children and another on the way, and Marsha starts talking about how awful her captivity had been, Marsha's MOTHER says something along the lines of "oh, well it looks like you had a fun time over there" and gestures towards the children. Yes, because being raped, held captive, and beaten for five years is such a blast? Who says that to their own child who has been missing for five years? I can't even deal with it.

The author really had an opportunity to show how the family (Marsha, Heather, Hayley, Bashir, Amir, and the baby) knits itself back together, but it doesn't happen. The kids automatically bond with one another and there is absolutely no trouble with them at all. Yeah, that doesn't feel particularly realistic either. Hayley has been an only child for six years, and now all of the sudden she has a sister and a brother and another sibling on the way - AND she's expected to share her room with the older two? Yeah, I don't see harmony happening there.

Heather and Marsha, in spite of being separated for five years, also seem to have no problem resuming their relationship, which just rings false. Marsha also has zero problems having sex with Heather for the first time, and she just says it's because she was raped by men but Heather is a woman. Okay. Maybe this works for some people; I can't really say. But it isn't like that for many rape victims (speaking from personal experience).

Marsha's captors are painted about as badly as can be. They're portrayed as a nomadic tribe that isn't involved in the conflict in Afghanistan - so why, I kept wondering, would they hold Marsha captive and treat her so poorly? And it really felt like the author read a few news articles about ISIS or something along the sorts and decided to incorporate every single bad thing into this small band of people who, by Marsha's account, hid from both the American and Afghani forces because they didn't want to be involved. It just didn't make sense.

You know what else didn't make sense? Marsha's extremely poor treatment from the Army. It's later revealed that a Colonel's son was also on the helicopter and was in the process of deserting. Or something. More ranting on that later! And because of that, she wasn't repatriated properly. Protocols were not followed and often outright ignored. Almost everyone around Marsha was commenting on how badly she was being treated, and yet no one did a damned thing. No one went to supervisors or superiors and said, "hey, something really bad is going on here because this soldier is being treated like shit on a shoe and clear protocols are being ignored in an effort to break her." I can't imagine someone being treated so horrifically in such a situation. I mean, I've never served, but my cousin was in Afghanistan for two tours, and one thing I learned while watching him coming back home after being wounded is that the military loves following protocol. But some rogue Colonel was allowed to disrupt this entire process and NO ONE said a word to anyone about it? I call bullshit.

Something else didn't make any sense, either. Marsha is kept isolated in the desert (mostly) for five years. Her captors rely on horses for travel. But somehow, miraculously, a Jeep was there on the day she escaped. There's never any explanation as to why, for five long years, Marsha hasn't seen any vehicles at all - and now, all of the sudden, there's this fully-fueled Jeep with the keys still in the ignition just waiting for her. Why? Where did it come from? Whose was it? No one knows! I couldn't get over it, and I kept expecting for some explanation to be offered at some point, but it never happened.

Still, at this point, I might have given the book two stars. Maybe. Maybe not, I guess, but I wasn't wedded to the one star rating until the end of the book, when shit started to go even crazier, and there were two Big Problems that I just could NOT get over and could NOT accept.

The first Big Problem I had was the fact that Marsha is a murderer. There is no other way to describe it. She killed four people in cold blood, and another two in the process - and she completely got away with it!

Let me back up for a minute. So Marsha is settling in to her new life stateside. She is then told that her captor and rapist, Zabi (spelling?), has petitioned the embassy in Kabul for the return of his children. No one seems particularly disturbed by this fact, even though the guy held an American soldier captive for five years and raped and beat her (oh, I'm sorry, I forgot - he's "her husband" and she obviously had a "great time" over there. *HEADDESK*) Fortunately, Marsha and the children are in America now, and she is working on getting the older two their citizenship.

Fast forward a bit, and Marsha tries to call her parents. Zabi answers instead, telling her that he wants her to bring the children to him (the baby has been born by now and is a boy, and boys are highly prized) or he will kill her parents.

We are literally supposed to believe that this man, from a tribe that is so anti-technology that they broke a simple paddle wheel toy made for a child, somehow has the wherewithal to get on a plane (his brother does speak English, at least), manages to get into Canada to "sightsee" with five other tribesmen without ANY knowledge of Canada or ANY plans on what they are exactly going to "sightsee" (and NO ONE thought this was suspicious), sneak across the border (which is not so easy in Canada!), find their way to Marsha's parents' house, AND take them captive.

I don't think so.

But they do...somehow...without any real explanation. Okay. I guess we're going here.

And what does Marsha do? Instead of calling the authorities and letting people who are trained in this situation handle it, instead of calling the local police (her parents live several hours away from her), instead of calling ANYONE, she decides that she can take on six men by herself. And she sneaks up to four of them and slits their throats. Then she kills Zabi and his brother - they did, at least, fight back a little. But those first four were definitely cold blood.

In the process, Marsha's mother is killed (which is seen as sort of her "just due" for being such a bad mother, ugh), but Marsha's father survives.

Marsha ends up being called to Washington for testimony (that's the second Big Problem), and the military pretty much says that as long as she keeps quiet about her testimony, they'll let her walk on the murders.

There is SO MUCH wrong with this!! It could have been so easy for just one or two of those men to overpower her, but the author went into revenge porn land and had to have Marsha slice throats and shoot Zabi with nearly an entire chamber of bullets (in Colorado, at least, that would get you hard time even IF you were defending yourself - once the threat is neutralized, you can't shoot any more or you are in the wrong). She totally committed at least five murders (the one with Zabi's brother gets a sort-of pass, I think, since she was trying to defend herself in that regard), four of which were in COLD BLOOD, and she just walks away from it.

And Heather not only accepts this, but HELPS her in the process, by not calling the authorities for hours. And then, after Marsha kills six people, everything is supposed to be hunky dory - they're going to ride off in the sunset with Marsha's father and settle in either Colorado (NO PLEASE) or California and just have a happy little life.

Marsha needs some serious psychological help, and it's pretty clear that she's not going to get it. And I can't IMAGINE being in Heather's position and letting her be around my children after she executes people in such a manner. LET THE AUTHORITIES HANDLE IT. THAT IS THEIR JOB.

And my second Big Problem was transphobia. It comes to light, later on, that two of the passengers in the helicopter were the rogue Colonel's son and his son's girlfriend. The son was AWOL and about to desert, apparently.

The son's girlfriend, Bridgette, is trans. She is barely mentioned - only twice - and both times it's in a derogatory way. Presumably, she is either dead or being held captive by an Afghani tribe - no one knows, and, unfortunately, no one cares, either.

In her first mention, Bridgette is described as "a trans from male to female" who "convinced [the rogue Colonel's son, Lieutenant Kodol] to desert."

First off, "a trans" just rubs me the wrong way. And it further rubs me the wrong way for Bridgette to be described as male to female. NO ONE'S BUSINESS AND NOT RELEVANT AT ALL. And it is portrayed as HER FAULT that the rogue Colonel's son chose to desert. Because that poor sweet Lieutenant Kodol wouldn't DREAM of deserting until that nasty "trans" came into his life and "convinced" him to do it. UGH UGH UGH.

Except it turns out that Lieutenant Kodol did more that "just" desert. He defected to one of the Afghani tribes.

Let's take a small detour. Kodol was apparently, after the helicopter, taken in by a tribe that is sometimes in contact with the tribe that took Marsha. Presumably, like Marsha's tribe, this tribe was not involved in the conflict between ISIS and the Americans. And yet, although many military officials have spent most of the book arguing that Marsha wasn't a "prisoner of war" because the tribe that took her wasn't particularly hostile to the Americans, once it is discovered that Kodol presumably joined a similar tribe, he is declared a traitor that must be hunted down like the dog he is. He took part in footrace and in a skirmish between his tribe and Marsha's tribe! He's obviously there on his own free will! Let's not ask if 1) it really IS Kodol, because Marsha had never met him before the helicopter; 2) if he has Stockholm Syndrome of any type; and 3) if he's really there of his own free will. And even if he IS there by his own free will, is he really a "traitor?" The tribe, presumably, keeps to itself and does not partake in anti-American activities. I mean, after all, people were telling Marsha that she had a "husband" and was having a "good time" over there. But NOW it's a problem?

Logic. There is none to be had here.

Okay, back to the second mention of Bridgette, who for all we know has either died in the desert or is being held captive, tortured, possibly raped, possibly murdered and thrown into a ditch...you know, it sounds like she might be having a "good time" over there too. UGH.

This is from Lance, who has been defending Marsha against this witch hunt and has been portrayed as nice and sympathetic. "[Colonel - the father - Kodol has] been defending his gay son to any and all, assuring them that he [the son] couldn't possibly be involved with a transsexual." Because, you know, being involved with "a transsexual" is so bad.

Lance continues: "If [Lieutenant Kodol] was running off with that woman who was once a man..."

UGH!

Bridgette is a WOMAN. And every time she is mentioned in this book (granted, only twice), it is to clearly tell the reader that she's not "really" a woman. She is a "woman who was once a man." She is "a trans from male to female." She isn't a person who may need help, who may be in the desert right now, being tortured or raped. She isn't a person whose parents, family, and friends need closure and a body to bury if possible. She is treated like she's a titillating object, a "woman who was once a man" who lured an unsuspecting soldier into deserting and, ultimately, defecting (even though she wasn't even AROUND, presumably, when Kodol joined that tribe).

I felt sorry for Bridgette most of all, because she likely died out there in the desert all alone, and now, in death, all that can be said about her is that she was "a trans" who was "once a man."

I'm really disappointed with this book.… (mer)

Do not judge a book by its cover. Nowhere is that adage more true than in this book. The cover suggests a sexy, sophisticated romance between lawyers. What we get is a rambling tale of self-discovery, unromantic missteps, some mundane and some 'explosive' legal cases, an unlikely attraction, some mystery/suspense amid the romance, and adventures in domesticity.

Nia is a high-powered Manhattan attorney who just made partner in her 'super prestigious' law firm. But her partnership has strings attached--she must spruce up her appearance and upgrade her apartment(!). So we spend about 4 or 5 chapters going through her makeover, including an extended search for the perfect apartment, lol. But her social and sex life is zilch. So she goes through a process of self-discovery that, lets just say, I'd rather not read about in such detail. But this goes on for several more chapters. At this point, I was assuming that Nia had found her 'only one' because of the repeated mutual professions of love--BUT--it was so unsexy I kept thinking this mustn't be it? Not to mention that it is totally inappropriate.

The second half of the book fared better because I actually had something to root for. The romance starts up too abruptly though. There is some hint of this pairing in the first half of the book, but the character disappears completely from the narrative for so many chapters that I had practically eliminated her from the candidates. And yet Nia ends up with her, even though a few chapters back, she was professing her love for someone else. After they get together, things finally start to pick up as a real story gets going. The romance then proceeds at a more natural pace. We are treated to some drama and suspense so the book becomes a fairly interesting page turner instead of a sleeping aid.

I don't normally pay too much attention to writing flaws when I get caught up in an absorbing plot. But the first half was so slow-going that my brain kept noticing the overuse of superlatives (esp. anything related to Nia, e.g. incredible, amazing, etc.), way too much telling rather than showing, crazy head-hopping, never-ending run-on sentences, wrong word usages, even a new word (dishambles--i had to google that :)), and, this takes the cake--using 'council' to refer to a lawyer.

The erotic scenes are hit and miss. I admire the author's choice to be realistic but sometimes it just ended up being too clinical. At other times, it's just TMI. There are some good scenes though.

The legal cases aren't very interesting. The only one that intrigued me ended with an explosion but was never explained or even investigated. What gives???

Was there anything I liked about the book? Yes. The author had Nia down pat. Her portrayal was consistent and believable. I like her unapologetic, in-your-face nature. She accepts that she's no saint because well, she's a lawyer. :D She knows her limitations--hence the lengths she goes to keep her personal life off the company radar. But she knows when to fight back. And how to talk and manipulate her way out of some really sticky situations. The corporate dealings are some of the better scenes in the book. Actually, the last few chapters are the best, as Nia really shines when she takes charge. I also like her interactions with Stewart, the senior partner. And then of course, there is her relationship with Colleen. The contrast in their personas (mousy vs. Type-A) was interesting. But I felt the romance needed to simmer more before boiling over--it just started too abruptly. I did like the changing dynamics of their relationship as time passed. I also liked how the author showed how love and respect from others can dramatically change one's personality.

2.5 stars for the first half, 4.0 for the 2nd half = 3.25 stars overall


P.S. This book reminded me of a romantic fanfic about lawyers--one of my favorites. Its a sweet, slow-burn romance with some angst toward the end. Best of all, its FREE. It comes in 3 parts: 1. Undeniable
2. Considerable Appeal
3. Intuition
… (mer)

I liked the concept of the story. Ashely falls in love with surfing but is more or less snubbed by the in crowd. She teaches herself mostly by watching and listening to others. Her whole life is surfing and work. Willow has been watching Ashley surf the waves, and as she is coming out of the water to head home to get ready for work, introduces herself. Now you are going to have to read the story to learn what happens next.

It is a short story but an enjoyable read. I think this is one of her longer storys.… (mer)