Review: Hot Zone by Catherine Mann

Review: Hot Zone by Catherine Mann

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

For backcover blurb and more information about this book and others in the series visit Catherine Mann's website.

A romantic suspense that grabs you from the second chapter…
Hugh Franco lives on the edge as a pararescueman, and worries more about saving the lives of others rather than forming connections. Hugh’s on the straight and narrow until his rescue mission puts him in contact with Amelia. Now he’s checking on her and her nephew in the hospital; concerned with emotions he hasn’t felt in a long time. When Amelia and her nephew are kidnapped, Hugh doesn’t think twice about jumping onto the back of van and doing his damnedest to save them. Even if embedding them into his life is cracking away the emotional blockade around his heart.

Amelia just wants to keep her nephew safe, at least until she can find his mother and father. The survival instinct is raging, and she can’t stop dwelling on her attraction to Hugh. He’s gone out of his way to help her, in more ways then she can count. As the danger increases and she’s forced into closer quarters with Hugh, Amelia has to decide if her feelings are just spurned by the circumstances or if her heart truly falling for this superman.

The second book in Mann’s Elite Force series is definitely not one to judge by the first pages. At first I didn’t believe I would get into the story. The idea of a romance unfolding at the scene of an earthquake seemed a little far-fetched for me. The setting and background were heart breaking, and emotional; nothing escapist about it. Mann has a penchant for grabbing you with emotion—feelings cold, warm, raw and afflicted. The characters were deep and quickly entangled my thoughts until I had to know if Hugh and Amelia were going to overcome the ridiculous odds. When I say ridiculous, I mean just that because everywhere this pair turned there was trouble—earthquake shakes, gun wielding fanatics, you name it. Regardless of the tension and conflicts Mann does a miraculous job of balancing internal issues with external, giving readers a chance to get lost in the minds of two people focused on survival, while dealing with a ton of emotional baggage from their past.

There is one subplot I could have done without, which involves Hugh’s superior, Liam McCabe. The addition of this added a little too much head jumping. I would have enjoyed just a Hugh and Amelia story versus getting involved in the early directions of McCabe’s story that is coming up in the next book. For me this killed or numbed my emotions, and slowed the story down. I was more enthralled with the direct romance between Hugh and Amelia.

Overall, Mann is excellent at keeping the suspense rolling, and once you get into the story you can’t help but wonder if someone is going to end up severely hurt or worse. A good read if you’re looking for something to start on in the suspense arena.

*As reviewed for The Season, can be seen in the upcoming Jan. issue.

Writing Profession Series- Book Author

In my first blog in the Writing Profession Series, I thought I would cover book authors. Most of the people reading this are probably aspiring authors, or authors already. So some of this information may be new, some not. Seeing that I am currently not published (ha!), I thought I would refer to some experts.

My guest(s) today are Best-Selling author Anna Campbell and Harlequin Presents author Maisey Yates. Both author's have graciously submitted a little bit of info about writing books. So without further ado here is Anna's blurb about being a book author:

I wanted to be a writer from a VERY young age – books seemed like glamorous, mysterious items to my childhood self. They still do, in a lot of ways! I spent a lot of time writing and not being published but I finally became a full-time writer when I was in my mid-40s. After all that time, it was a dream come true, as you can imagine. Of course, then I started on a huge learning curve. I thought once I received the validation of publication, the writing would get easier. If anything, it gets harder. You have expectations to meet when you’re published – when everything you write ends up under the bed, not so much. I had to learn to deal with deadlines and the way publishers work (revisions, galleys, ARCS, promotion, etc.) and how to self-promote. For a slow writer like me, there was also the difficulty of producing quality work quickly. For genre fiction, a book a year is probably about the minimum requirement. The hard work is definitely worth it – there are some wonderful perks of being published aside from the opportunity to get paid for telling my stories. Hearing from readers all over the world who have loved my books is wonderful and seeing my books on sale in bookshops is also pretty special. Being able to go to work in my pajamas is a nice treat as well!

Thanks Anna, for sharing the information. Pay attention readers, topics you should learn about: Revisions, galleys, ARCS, promotion.
Questions to ponder: Are you a slow writer?

Now on to Maisey, who's writing experiences are a little different than the standard book author.

Hi Landra, thanks so much for asking me to come gab about writing!
I write Harlequin Presents, which is what you call category, or series, romance. These books have a promise offered to their readers (For Presents it's: Glamorous international settings, unforgettable men, passionate romance.) These books are 50K words long which is a bit shorter than a single title novel.
To write a complete romance with a satisfying character arch in 50K words requires one major keyword: Focus. The focus stays on the hero and heroine. There isn't room for a lot of secondary characters, a secondary plot or romance, or pages and pages of the hero and heroine apart.
I personally keep it at dual POV, only the hero and heroine. No one else gets that screen time, because I only have so many words to set up and solve the conflict.
Also, in a Presents especially, the conflict is mainly internal. This allows for the reader to really get to know the characters, and gives opportunity for maximum emotional impact in a small amount of words.
And that's the real goal in category/shorter length novels: To give the reader the complete emotional experience they expect to get in a romance with half the word count. There might not be as many pages as you get in some books, but everything still has to be there so that you're providing a complete and satisfying reading experience.

Sounds like writing on the short side is a challenge! Thanks Maisey for the great info. Fun Fact about Maisey: She writes fast!
Questions to ponder: Are you good at short, concise writing? Is the dual POV something you can stick too?

Reading both Maisey and Anna's accounts of being a book author gives potential authors things to think about and tons of options.
As author you can choose genre, novel length, and whether you would like to work in pajamas or alternative dress wear. Short or long, you have deadlines. Promoting your books through ARCs and blog tours is a full-time task, full of multiple hours spent writing on anything except the next book you desperately need to finish.
Being a book author involves working hard for every penny you make, but reaping the benefits via adoring fans/ fan mail.

Next week: I'll examine the world of technical writing!

Special thanks to Anna and Maisey for participating.
For more info on Anna's books, and latest releases visit her website at http://www.annacampbell.info/ . Latest news is available on her Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/AnnaCampbellFans
Maisey's latest and upcoming releases can be viewed on her website at http://www.maiseyyates.com/.

*If you're not a fan of either of these ladies yet, read one book and you will be!