Storm Force

Author Meredith Fletcher knows how to escalate the stakes of this gripping thriller. Just when you think you know where the story will take you, it reverses course like hurricane force winds. It's not enough for the heroine Kate Garrett to deal with drunk poachers, ex-cons on a prison break stealing her car, or an impending hurricane, but her ex-husband's business dealings have brought trouble to her door, threatening her kids. Fletcher has crafted a strong and memorable heroine in Kate Garrett and the pace of this book will blow you away. Don't expect to set this book down once you've started. It's one wild ride!

Kate Garrett is determined to continue the rugged and successful life she has carved out for herself as a guide and camp owner in the Florida Everglades; moreover, she intends to recover her two children, whom she lost to an uneven custody battle and whom she desperately loves and misses. An accident with a van full of convicts on a narrow Florida road interferes. Then an oncoming hurricane compounds events. At that point problems spin into a desperate struggle what with her former husband's machinations adding to the mix and placing the two children in danger. "Storm Force" indeed. Nature itself in this version of sub-tropic south Florida could provide a near insurmountable enemy. Then there is fate; the bad luck of convicts that kidnapped her and want her to be their guide to find hidden ransom money. Kate Garret herself is a topnotch heroine - but her strength, her beauty and resourcefulness, place her in even greater danger with these desperate convicts. And there is handsome Shane Warren, whose resources and strength match her own, but whose motives and story defy acceptance on any level. As if his motives and his personal history were not bad enough, Shane both helps and hinders her by turns. But why? Through it all one thing matters: her desperate hold on sheer survival, her need to survive and escape in order to protect her children.. Storm Force turns out to be a real page turner. It is soundly plotted with strong characters. Their conflicts are believable and the attraction of heroine and hero to each other seems inevitable. When I finished this book I even wondered if we could have another one, a sequel inhabited with the same people, since I'd grown to believe in and like them. No, we cant - because their story is complete as it is. However, I'm pleased to realize that Meredith Fletcher will continue to work with Silhouette books. Soon, I hope, she will complete another Silhouette Bombshell book.

Meredith Fletcher's elemental thriller "Storm Force" is a hurricane that just made landfall at the intersection of action, adventure, and attitude. Every year wilderness guide Kate Garrett gets to spend the month of July with her children who live with their custodial father. It's a date she wouldn't miss come hell, high water or both. So life gets really interesting when both of those meet belligerent customers, a Cat 5 hurricane, escaped convicts, a fortune in hidden cash, organized crime, and Shane Warren - a strength for strength match for this incredibly complex and interesting heroine. He's handsome, rugged and tough enough, but stands on the wrong side of the line - a line Kate may have to cross to save herself and her children from a storm named Genevieve. Kate keeps her wits and battles through everything that is thrown at her - which includes the kitchen sink AND the house it belongs to! When it comes to her kids and ensuring their safety, it's personal. Kate's strength, skills, maternal instinct and steadfast determination make her more than a match for her adversaries - it makes her story a compelling and entertaining read. The connection that forms between Kate and Shane is natural and fulfilling. It grows through language, communication, need and reason. What follows clinches the story and delivers to the very last page. "Storm Force" is very hard to put down. Count on reading it cover to cover in one satisfying session. You'll be glad you picked up this thriller.

Kate Garrett is a woman with problems. She is a wilderness guide with a so-so buisness in the Everglades. Her ex is a controlling jerk who, even after the divorce, likes to make her life miserable. He send the kids to stay with her right before a hurricane hits the Florida coast. From there her problems get worse. A bus full of convicts crashes, and her jeep gets stolen. Later those same convicts kidnap her and force her to help them escape through the swamps, while getting hammered by the storm. Kate is a heroine with character. She has problems that many of us deal with every day. Her character is richly layered and if she were real, I would hang out with her. She is tough and resourceful. She does not run from her problems she tackles them and beats them. This story is excellent. The bad guys are great, the good guys are awesome. The setting is superbly done. I cannot say enough good things about this book.

This book was so-o-o good that reading it once wasn't enough. As soon as I finished the last page, I immediately returned to the first page and read it a second time. Even now, I have a hankerin' to read it again. Yes, it was that good! When wilderness guide Kate Garrett drives to work that morning she only has two things on her mind, settling an unruly client and picking up her kids. However, her agenda quickly changes when she wrecks and is late picking up her kids. But that's the least of her worries. A hurricane is bearing down with tidal waves in tow. No worry, she and her kids are safe and dry. Right? Wrong! They're kidnapped and put in harm's way. Not exactly the smartest move for the bad guys, especially when they're operating on her home turf. They've not factored in the wrath of a mother protecting her young. All of their lives hang in the balance, dependent upon her skills and experience, as she battles against man and nature in true action-adventure style. Oh! And I almost forgot to mention ... she even finds time for a little romance along the way. A definite roller coaster ride! STORM FORCE is Meredith Fletcher's third Bombshell book following DOUBLE-CROSS and LOOK-ALIKE. She also has "The Get-Away Girl" in Silhouette's Single Title FEMME FATALE. I loved the vicarious trip to the Everglades, the fast pace and strong female character whose problem-solving skills exhibit personal integrity. This story offers great foreshadowing of events for alert readers. A terrific armchair roller coaster ride! Attention to a few details would have strengthened the story world for this reader. In one situation, the antagonist's hands are tied, but the ties morph into handcuffs. Within this same portion, the description for a shelter/semi-tent seemed unclear. This reader was unable to adequately visualize the image as intended, so was yanked from the story experience. Readers who like strong women characters in non-traditional occupations/career choices with lives centered around traditional values -- family, good vs. evil, life vs. death -- will enjoy STORM FORCE.