Mariah McKenna Lanier grew up in rural Two Oaks, Georgia, with a stereotypical redneck, hillbilly family. When David Abernathy Lanier approached her and swept her off her feet, it seemed a Cinderella story. Only David liked to cruelly remind her that she was just cleaned up white trailer, trash. For ten years of her husband and his family attempted to 'clean her up' and bringing her up to their standards, while letting her know she never measured up. The problem was no matter what she did, it never seemed good enough and she failed to give him any children, a cardinal sin in his eyes. When she caught him cheating, she had had enough and filed for divorce and then the attempts on her life began. She didn't want to believe it and tried hard to find excuses for how shellfish contaminated her food twice but she had to face the facts, she needed help if she wanted to live.

Griffen Cisneros was trained by the Marines to be a sniper, when he left military life he didn't know how to be a civilian and when he discovered his fiancé cheating on him with his best friend he sought out the Alaska Force and was done trying to fit into civilian life. Better to be the machine the Marines trained him to be. When he was assigned to assess Mariah for the team, her poise and beauty threatens his carefully built, fortified walls, no matter how hard he fights they keep crumbling the more time he spends with her. He tries to pigeon hole her as a spoiled southern gold digger, and his fight to protect himself makes him stupid.

These two both had painful pasts that lead them to create their own forms of remote, detached game faces to protect themselves from being hurt and I loved these two for each other. Griffin was a total bad ass and Mariah was too in her own way. I loved the way she realized how David systematically stripped her of self worth and that she was able to come back from that so strong. Knowing when she needed help, and also knowing when she needed to walk away and not allow herself to walk down that path again. I love watching characters grow.

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In this second book of the Alaska Forces series, Mariah McKenna uses the research she has gained to flee to an Alaskan town for help. She knows of a special ops force there, and she feels that they are the only ones who can protect her from her husband. For the second time in a very short time, she nearly lost her life and is certain her husband is trying to kill her. She has filed for divorce but Mariah knows that he will not simply let her go.

Griffin Cisneros takes on the case. As a former marine sniper, the special ops team can certainly use his special skills. He is not happy being the major player when it comes to keeping Mariah safe. He doesn't believe the danger is real and wants more action that he hopes he would experience in his job.

While Griffin does his job to the best fight whatever danger may be presented to Mariah, he has another fight on his hands. He must somehow resist her allure. His team and his work is rather elite, and the image he projects is part of his fiber. Being involved in a romantic relationship is something that Griffin cannot imagine happening any time in the near future.

Sniper's Pride was an excellent read. While the romance between Griffin and Mariah was inevetible, the suspense was at an all-time high. While the danger was ever-present for Mariah, she had tremendous strength and her character was developed marvelously. Griffin was tough on the outside and it was a delight waiting for him to soften up towards Mariah, I had just read the first book in this series, SEAL's Honor, which was terrific, and this was as well. I look forward to continuing this series. The next book is Sergeant's Christmas Siege, scheduled for release in November.

Many thanks to Berkley Books and to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. ( )

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

After being sent to the hospital twice over her shellfish allergy, Mariah is starting to think there is something nefarious going on. She's in the middle of getting a divorce from her emotionally abusive husband who doesn't want the embarrassment of a divorce as he is gearing up to run for office. Her late night YouTube surfing has led her to contact a group of men who call themselves Alaska Force.
Griffin isn't a fan of prissy blonde women after he found his wife and bestfriend were cheating on him. He's days as a Marine sniper have given a particular set of skills but have also made him think he shouldn't be around civilians. When Mariah shows up looking for help, his guard is instantly up.
While Alaska Force tries to determine is Mariah is really in danger, Griffin fights his own battle against falling for the client.

They were men without ties. Some without pasts.

The Alaska Force is made up of former military men, second in the series Sniper's Pride, focuses on Griffin. I have not read the first in the series but I had no problem jumping in here as the author gives sufficient background on the group and how everyone ties in together. Our heroine Mariah is a new character and has the grace and backbone of a girl who grew-up on the wrong side of the tracks and had to survive the snake pit of high society.

Griffin came off a bit harsh with Mariah in the beginning, he was making her pay for the pain his ex-wife cost him, I'm not sure I fully forgave him for his attitude. It was also excessively pushed how he felt he couldn't be around civilians. I read a good amount of romantic suspense, so maybe I'm just worn on this trope but I felt there wasn't enough given of Griffin's personality for me to believe in why he felt this way. Griffin says it over and over, the telling me all the time but not showing which leads me to not feeling.

Mariah was the stronger of the two characters, her admitting that she married to escape her family and poverty, to building up enough self-esteem to leave her marriage, and standing up to Griffin. Her character was sweet, strong, and funny. The chemistry between the two wasn't as strong as I would have liked, a lot of my issues was due to how rude Griffin could be to her at times. Their first sex scene felt a bit out of nowhere and their “I love yous” seemed very quick.

We get to see a couple of the other members of the Alaska Force, a teased romance between the founder and a grumpy cafe owner, but I would have liked to have seen more scenes between all the guys or Griffin's friendship with them, I think it would have filled out his character more.

All in all, this was basic line romantic suspense, Griffin was a bit cardboard cut-out alpha male, the villain was kind of fantastical, and the danger had the heroine needing to be rescued. Tropes that rom suspense readers look for, they just weren't given a fresh feel or much umph behind them. ( )