Tuesday, March 12, 2019

TOXIC GAME (GHOSTWALKER #15)

On a rescue mission in the heart of the Indonesian jungle, Dr. Draden Freeman and his GhostWalker team need to extract the wounded as quickly as possible—or risk spreading a deadly virus unleashed by a terrorist cell. When Draden gets infected, he forces his team to leave him behind. He won’t risk exposing anyone else. He intends to find the ones responsible and go out in a blaze of glory....

Shylah Cosmos’s mission is to track the virus and remain unseen. Her enhanced senses tell her that the gorgeous man eradicating the terrorists one by one is a GhostWalker—and his lethal precision takes her breath away. When he’s hit by a lucky shot, she can’t stop herself from stepping in, not knowing that by saving his life she’s exposed herself to the virus.

There’s no telling how much time Draden and Shylah have left. Racing to find a cure, they quickly realize that they’ve found their perfect partner just in time to lose everything. But even as the virus threatens to consume their bodies, they’ve never felt more alive.
 

Release Date: March 12, 2019
Berkley Publishing Group
Ghostwalkers #15
Paranormal/Romantic Suspense
Review copy provided by publisher

Nikki’s Review:

I broke one of my book rules. I NEVER start a series in the middle. I have to start at the very beginning. Well, the synopsis of this book really intrigued me, and after much consideration, and a few night sweats, I started this series at book 15. Book 15! But in all honesty, the author did a great job not making the reader feel they’re missing bits and pieces of the series and past characters. That doesn’t mean I’ll ever do this again. I’m just too set in my ways. But I do feel like I deserve a cookie for stepping out of my comfort zone! 

I have this morbid fascination with killer viruses. I mean, I don’t want ever want to be in the middle of a Hot Zone, but the way it attacks the body just leaves me gobsmacked and amazed. I’m weird that way. So, I figured this would be a great book...a killer virus and a sexy romance story! See, I told you I was kinda morbid.

Anyways, this book was totally doing it for me. It was fascinating, thrilling, and the characters were really likeable. While this book has a huge romantic suspense storyline going, it’s also paranormal. The hero and heroine have DNA traits of animals. They both possess some of the strengths and the agility of cats. The heroine also shares some DNA with spiders. Shudders. However, it was kinda cool that she could shoot spiderwebs like Spider-Man!
 

I liked these two together. They were both strong and smart. They had great ideas, and knew what needed to be done to survive. Oh! I forgot to mention...they’re both infected with a hemorrhagic virus. But somehow in between feeling like complete crap, and the very real possibility of dying, they fall head over ass in love. I’m still on board at this point. Even when they profess their undying love within 24 hours of meeting, I’m still holding on. But here’s where my eye to started to twitch. The hero wants to give the heroine this beautiful exotic wedding since they’re both going to start bleeding from every opening of their bodies any day now. Did I mention that they’re in the middle of an Indonesian rainforest? But that doesn’t stop them. Their team flies in all the supplies needed for a Hollywood wedding. And a meal prepared fresh by Gordon Ramsey. Well, maybe not Gordon Ramsey, but some superstar chef. So let’s recap a bit. Both are dying of a horrendous virus, they’re in the middle of a rainforest, they fall in love, they plan and have a wedding straight out of Modern Bride magazine. All in about 48 hours.
 

It’s funny how they both have animal DNA, and fall for each other in the same amount of time it would take me to paint my kitchen, and that doesn’t bother me! I’m all like, cool, I can see that. I don’t read romance for the realism. But that crazy ass wedding? That was what threw me over the edge. Even I couldn’t believe that, and I’ve read hundreds of unbelievable romance tropes.
 

All in all, I enjoyed this book. The writing was great, and I was certainly interested, but the wedding could have waited until the rashes from the virus disappeared. I’m not sure I’ll read anymore of this series. Maybe it’s just a little too out there for me. I’m certainly a Christine Feehan fan! I really like her Torpedo Ink series.
 

Rating:  3 Stars (B)

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