No Control

Reviewed by Gina Holland for Rebeccas Reads (3/08) Caleb Stone, pure man, pure operative, pure romantic. Lana Hancock, pure woman, pure victim, purely kind. Caleb met Lana when he was working undercover for Covert Delta Force. He worked as an operative on the inside of a very dangerous and sadistic terrorist group. Lana was a victim, an innocent, and this group tortured her. All of her friends that she worked with were tortured and killed. Lana was beaten until she could barely move. Almost every bone in her body was broken. Her face was badly bruised and swollen from those repeated beatings. Caleb, not wanting to give away his identity, stood by and did nothing as Lana and her friends were beaten and killed. When he took all he could take, he stepped in, pretending to want to hurt Lana himself, all because in his heart, he really wanted to save her. He and his comrades had killed the entire terrorist group, The Swarm, or so they thought. So Caleb knew it was time to get Lana to safety. Caleb sat at Lana's side, in the hospital, until she was recovered. Lana was told she would never walk again, and this sickened Caleb. Months later Lana would prove everyone wrong, and not only did she walk again, but she also became someone very important and very special in the world. While Lana was tortured, her right to have children was also taken. She could never have children of her own. So, she ran a center, just for the children. When she got back from her ordeal, her then fiancée left her for someone else. He broke off the engagement as Lana figured he didn't want her to make him look bad as he was in the public eye. Caleb got a phone call, from his boss, a man named Colonel Monroe. Monroe ordered Caleb to follow Lana around and keep her safe. There was some chatter going around that all of the members of The Swarm were not all dead. And that they may be coming after Lana, since she was the only survivor. Lana's head was covered up while she was captured, however, unknown to The Swarm, she had a hole in it from which she could see certain things. She had seen the face of one terrorist. This would cause her great pain once again. Caleb and Lana get closer and closer, and Caleb is falling in love with Lana. He wants to keep her safe. Lana has a very difficult time accepting Caleb because of what he did, watching while she was tortured. Caleb did what he had to do. And he regrets not being able to help the others. Can he make Lana understand and get into her heart? As Lana and Caleb's story heats up, Butcher's view of the love, hate relationship comes to life. It is truly a romantic love story. Caleb is a big man with a big heart and he doesn't give up on Lana, no matter how many times she pushes him away. She lies to him about one person she has seen, that she knows, from those horrible days, but she wants to keep everyone safe so she doesn't say a word. But when things start getting out of control, especially with the children from the center bei

NO CONTROL is author Shannon K. Butcher's second novel. She writes boiling hot romance intertwined with huge dollops of intrigue and a generous backstory. Romance readers don't always get those, so someone who provides a good mix of terrific hero and heroine, as well as the above elements, is going to get noticed. Butcher has. And if you think her last name is familiar, you may be thinking of her husband, Jim Butcher, the author of the Harry Dresden fantasy series. I enjoyed Butcher's take on her characters. You could almost have picked them out of stock players (take one emotionally damaged heroine who no longer trusts herself, and take one Special Forces guy with a Savior complex that gets totally ensnared in the damaged female's life). Yet Butcher makes both of these characters jump from the pages larger than life but as people readers will learn to love. Eighteen months ago, Lana Hancock was the lone survivor of a terrorist attack. A group that called themselves the Swarm took a group of young American's hostage, tortured them, and killed them. Lana was believed dead as well. Even though she survived, she had to undergo several surgeries and torturous months of rehab to reclaim even a shadow of her life. She's since started a foundation based in art that's aimed at helping kids. The last thing she needed was for special forces soldier Caleb Stone to come striding back into her life. But he did. As it turns out, there's some question about the Swarm and whether that organization was razed to the ground in the bitter firefight that followed the capture of the hostages. Caleb gets assigned to protect Lana, but he's also been ordered to find out everything she knows. Caleb's superiors don't think Lana told them everything she knows. Unfortunately, Caleb is probably the last guy that should have been sent. He was undercover at the time of Lana's abduction. He was onhand and some of the worst torture she went through - and he did nothing. She didn't ever want to see him again. I loved the instant antagonism that Butcher placed between her characters. It's always best to believe in the forces that try to keep two lovers apart. Stupidity and selfishness are big reasons to keep the characters apart in romance novels that I read, yet some writers continue to use them. I totally bought into Butcher's scenario, and she builds up the reasons for Caleb's presence there - because of that history - instead of letting it just sit there. The romance elements of the story are incredibly hot. Butcher takes her time to build those up as well. Nothing happens too quickly in the novel, and readers aren't kept waiting too long. In addition, Butcher is a fine action writer as well. In the action scenes, she proves herself time and time again. The choreography is great, and her military thinking and jargon is dead-on. There isn't much in the way of action for a long time, but when she gets to it, the result is deadly earnest. Even more

Caleb Stone watched as they beat her viciously with a lead pipe, over and over. Her screams will live with him forever, as well as the guilt. Though he did nothing to stop the terrorists from beating her, he saved a school of children from a bomb. Even so, the guilt ate at him. Lana Hancock hated Caleb Stone for a long while until she learned the truth of why he did nothing to save her. She still did not like him, but she did not hate him anymore. After a year of healing and recouperating, she was finally getting the threads of her life back, until the day he walked into her office. Just looking into his eyes brought the terror and the memories back full force. Lana wants him to leave, but Caleb assures Lana he is staying because he is sure that she saw something that could identify the terrorists. She isn't safe and he was going to stick to her like glue until the danger was over, whether she liked him or not! Lana did see something when she was attacked. The terrorists would look for her or endangerher family if they knew she could identify them. Next time she may not make it out alive, so she says nothing. Caleb knows she is lying and hopes to gain her trust so she will confide in him. Before long, incidents begin to happen to those close around Lana. Crimes of coincidence? Caleb and Lana think not. As the stakes get higher, Caleb and Lana get closer. She learns to trust him, to get some control back into her life. As the sparks begin to fly, so do the emotions and the roller coaster of events that lead to a very high-charged adrenaline packed climax. Armchair Interviews says: Shannon K. Butcher is one to watch! Characters that tug on your heart-strings, and a well-formed plot make this romantic suspense a must read!

Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for ReviewYourBook.com Delta Force Operator, Caleb Stone, was working undercover in Armenia. Swarm, a terrorist group, had already killed and were plotting to hit an elementary school. Without blowing his cover, he could do nothing to protect the hostages. He had to watch while they tortured and killed the Americans. Only one survived. Once he had the information he so desperately needed, he carried Lana Hancock's broken and battered body from the cave. She was barely alive. He stood by her bedside, demanding that she live. The only thing that kept her going was the burning desire to tell him how much she hated him. Lana fought her way back to physical shape but still suffered from the nightmares. It was believed that the terror group had reorganized and once again was plotting destruction and death. Lana was again in danger, and it was Caleb's job and desire to see that no harm come to her. She knew something but was afraid to share. The terrorist did not know that the hood they had placed over Lana's head had a tear, just big enough to see their faces. Now eighteen months later her friends and family's life was at stake. Could she trust Caleb to protect them? Occasionally you run on to a book that you know is going to be a best seller. No Control by Shannon K. Butcher is that book. She snatches the reader's interest from the opening and does not let go to the last page of the book. She has a superb talent for conveying emotion whether it is terror or love. The plot is timely, and could have been taken from the headlines. The characters are well developed. Lana and Caleb are the ideal couple. He wants to protect her; she is strong yet vulnerable. Kara is the perfect antagonist. She is a sociopath bent on the destruction of Lana, gleeful at inflicting pain. This is the first book I have read by Shannon K. Butcher. It will not be the last. I was hooked from the beginning. I predict a future book with Grant as the lead (I hope I am right). Readers you do not want to miss this one.

In the followup to her debut novel, No Regrets, Shannon K. Butcher gives us another exciting romantic suspense novel in No Control. Lana Hancock's life has been out of control since a mission trip in Armenia went south eighteen months before. Her group was captured by terrorists and beaten and tortured to death. Lana was the only survivor but was beaten emotionally and physically until she was rescued. The 18 months since have been for Lana to take control of her life again. She had to learn how to walk again, get through the nightmares that plague her sleep every night, and to move on with her life. She has her foundation to get off the ground and that is the only thing that gets her up in the morning. The past comes back to haunt in the form of Caleb Stone, who Lana had met 18 months before and had rescued her from the terrorists. He feels guilty because he was an undercover agent within the group and had watched her getting beaten and couldn't do anything. He is the last person she wants to see but those who hurt her want her dead and he has been sent to protect her and get the information that they think she is hiding. What exactly happened during her three days of hell in Armenia? What is she hiding that people will kill her for? Caleb is looking for a second chance and will not let anything stop him from protecting Lana this time and ending her nightmare. Caleb is an alpha male with a guilty conscience but a good heart. He tries to remedy the past and regain the trust of Lana. Along the way, he falls in love with her. It takes her more time to realize that she has come to love him as well. She doesn't trust easily and also doesn't want her secrets to get anybody she loves hurt including Caleb. They can't ignore the chemistry between them and their love scenes are steamy. This is a couple that you want to overcome the obstacles and take control of their lives together. He is the only one who can comfort her and end her nightmares. She has learned to trust again and doesn't have to be alone anymore. Will Lana's secrets hurt the ones she loves or will the truth finally give her the control of her life and her future? You will have to read this exciting novel to find out.