He’s not happy with his team’s top-secret mission, training the first female SEALs and Griffin Caldwell is determined to prove that his former beauty queen trainee doesn’t have what it takes to join the world’s most elite warrior’s club. Navy media officer Sherri Tate has been given the opportunity to achieve her dream of becoming a SEAL and she won’t let anything stand in her way, not even her sexy, arrogant trainer.

 

The first book in the Valkyrie Ops series is a surprisingly powerful read. The characters are strong, bold and take no enemies in their quest to achieve their goals, exactly what you expect from a SEAL right… But the chemistry between these two is off the charts magnetic and has sparks flying in every direction. The relationship off course has a couple of major snags that just may prove to be impossible to overcome, the trainee and trainer relationship and the fact that Griffin doesn’t think females belong in the SEALs, so this keeps lots of emotional turbulence flowing from the pages even as the passion is building to volcanic proportions.

 

But this fast paced plot is more than a just a romance, this story is about something that the majority of the world feels is impossible… a female becoming a SEAL. The author builds the suspense of the achievement throughout the story and the story pulls readers in ensuring that readers become completely engaged in the lives of these characters as the author has portrayed it in an informative with lots of details to make it realistic and yet not so many to make it boring or overdone. The story also has several twist that adds danger and excitement to the story so, there is no way for a readers to lose interest in this powerfully explosive and emotionally gripping read.

 

The Sleeping King - Cindy Dees I have to confess that I was a bit confused at the beginning because there are so many characters and it jumps between those characters at first. You can see this is first book in a series so there is lot of introducing and world building to do.

Basically we have seven characters on this quest to wake the Sleeping King but the main people are Will; who learns family secrets after family is murdered and Raina; a healer who runs away from family. Sleeping King is supposed to save the world from this evil Emperor who we see on the first chapter. I wish there would have been more about him and the court but hopefully in the next book.

There’s adventure, battles, betrayals, evil emperors, orcs, elves etc. Lots of stuff happening! And I do have a weakness for elves…

One interesting fact was that death isn’t always permanent but you can be resurrected. It makes sense since the book is based on an RPG game but I though it was cool.

Series: Code: Warrior SEALs (Book 1)

Going undercover in a seedy New Orleans club to find her brother, Eve Hankova knows the dangers. But she isn't prepared for the blazing heat arcing between her and the customer who "buys" her for his exclusive pleasure. Like wildfire, it burns hot and out of control.

 

Navy SEAL Ashe Konig knows no other way to protect Eve from the Russian mob she's infiltrated at the club. But for this disillusioned loner, is it a suicide mission? As heavily armed mobsters breathe down their necks, the stubborn woman refuses to quit. Ashe doesn't know who poses the greater danger--the ruthless killers who threaten their lives or the sweet innocent who threatens his heart.

 

Excellent book with action and suspense that kept me turning the pages to the very end. Ashe has been ordered to take some time off by his boss, because he has been taking too many chances. So he heads for New Orleans, where he grew up but hasn't been in seven years. He finds himself wandering the French Quarter and ends up in a bar called the Who Doo VooDoo. He'd just settled into his seat when a fight broke out and steps in to help stop it. Next thing he knows he has a lap full of waitress, as Eve Hankova attempts to deliver a thank you whiskey to him. He's surprised to feel an instant connection with her, and a feeling that she needs protecting.

 

Eve, or Hank as she goes by, is the sister of an art dealer who has gone missing, and the Who Doo is the last place he was seen. So Hank has gone undercover as a waitress, trying to find out what has happened to him. She isn't a trusting person, but there is something about Ashe that says she can trust him. She also doesn't want to blow her cover, so she tries to avoid him for the rest of the evening.

 

That evening, he follows her home to make sure she gets there safely and ends up saving her from an attacker. It doesn't take him too long to find out just what she's gotten involved in, and his protective instincts are engaged. What he doesn't expect is to find Hank rapidly coming to mean a whole lot more to him. He's a loner who has never been a ladies man, but he doesn't want to let Hank out of his sight. And the more he learns about what is happening, the more worried about her he gets. I really enjoyed seeing the methods he uses to protect her.

 

I loved the connection between Ashe and Hank. Both are loners who don't connect easily with others. Ashe isn't a man who plays games, he says exactly what he means at all times and expects the same from her. Hank feels a bit guilty because there is some information about herself that she hasn't told him, but she was trained early that family comes first. By the time she knew she could trust him all the way, she wasn't sure how to tell him. The chemistry between them is also smoking hot, which has both of them wondering if there is any chance of a future for them. In the end, I loved the way that Ashe put his feelings for Hank out there and took a chance that she could handle who and what he was. What he told her about how she changed his life was incredibly romantic for him.

 

This book had me on the edge of my seat all the way through. It was obvious early on that there was much more than just illegal sex going on at the club, and whatever Hank had done was stirring up a whole lot of trouble. I loved seeing how Ashe first got his former teammate involved in helping them. I loved the banter between them, and the respect. Bastien's current job as a cop gives them the means to bring down the operation at the club, once they can get all the proof they need. As the days went on, the danger for Ashe and Hank grew stronger. It wasn't long before Ashe's boss got involved, because of the information that was turning up. When suspicious information turned up about Hank's background, Ashe began to worry that he'd been had, but his heart refused to believe it. As the danger intensified, Ashe's solo attempt to help Hank turned into a full fledged operation with the help of his team. The final confrontation was amazing with a really interesting twist involving Hank's brother. With a start like this, I can't wait to see what's next in this series.

Series: Medusa Project (Book 8)

 

The danger they can handle. It's the passion that terrifies them both...

 

Casey Chandler is a Special Forces operative working under cover. Not a harem girl swept off her feet by some prince. But the way her body reacts to Hakim El Aran, it clearly didn't get that memo. To top it off, Medusa's intelligence is certain that El Haran Industries is close to closing a weapons deal, and it's her assignment to stop it. No matter what.

 

Hakim El Aran lives life in a gilded cage, his family blackmailed by terrorists...until an exotic, mysterious woman saves his life. Cassandra is more than a match for the banker-playboy. Turns out she has to keep him alive only long enough to catch the terrorists. Can he convince her their attraction is worth fighting for?

 

Very good book with intense action from the beginning and terrific chemistry between Casey and Hake. Casey is a member of the Special Ops group, the Medusas, and is working undercover in London. She is trying to get close to the lawyer for El Haran Industries as she performs as a belly dancer. The company is suspected of supplying weapons to terrorists. On the night she expects to get the information she needs, the lawyer brings Hake to her performance. Hake is suspected of being one of the people who have brokered the deal and she can't pass up the chance to get closer.

 

Hake has a lot on his mind. Terrorists are blackmailing his family into helping them. He and his father are determined to find a way to stop them that will protect his family. Neither of them trusts any government group to do it safely, so they are trying on their own. Hake has a meeting with his lawyer to discuss options, and also some personal business. He is distracted by the belly dancer with whom he feels and immediate and intense attraction.

 

Hake is known as quite a playboy. He has never had trouble getting a woman, and he wants Casey. There's something about her that is different than any other woman he has been with. He talks her into dinner with him after the show, with the intent to seduce her, and is flabbergasted when she not only resists, but disappears without a trace after their meal. A week later he's back at the club to see her dance again. While watching her dance he is contacted by one of the terrorists, who doesn't seem happy with the way the deal is progressing.

 

Casey's team of operatives are also there as back ups for her, and their timing is perfect. Just as she is finishing a dance, the club is bombed and she is there to save Hake from danger. Hake is stunned at the change in her and what is going on around him. 

 

I loved the relationship that developed between Hake and Casey. He has been anti-commitment for so long that the strength of the feelings he has for Casey freak him out. He tries to keep those feelings to a no strings encounter, but his heart keeps picturing something else. He is fascinated by her strength and her abilities, and surprised that she can't see what a beautiful and amazing woman she is. It was fun to see him try to understand her. I really loved seeing him go to one of her teammates for help. Casey has never felt such an intense attraction to a man before, and it has her very confused. She has never been what she calls a "girly girl" and doesn't know what Hake sees in her other than the smoking sex between them. Having to pose as his girlfriend in order to protect him gets her closer to him than she's sometimes comfortable with. She's been burned in previous relationships with men who couldn't handle the work she does and she's reluctant to risk it again. I loved seeing them both let go of their fears and accept that there is a future that is possible between them. There are some terrific scenes of the struggles between them. I also enjoyed the scene of the dinner at the palace and the parts with Hake's parents and one of his sisters.

 

The suspense of the story was great. The action was steady throughout, from the bombing in London to the final confrontation. I loved the whole Medusa team and the reactions of Hake and his security team to their presence. The final scenes with the terrorists had me holding my breath to see how it was going to turn out. 

Nothing like a little (or big) natural disaster to bring out the romance. Well, in the case of hurricanes you are likely to dine by candlelight. 

 

Here are some wonderful Romance Novels featuring Hurricanes, Typhoons and Tropical Storms. 

 

My lists are never in any particular order. 

 

1.  The Theory of Attraction by Delphine Dryden $2.99 

 

Camilla can set her watch by her hunky rocket-scientist neighbor who jogs past her window each day. She relishes each glimpse of his shirtless abs, and is dying to see more. But it's hard to connect with a man who doesn't seem to know she exists...

Ivan feels at home in the lab, not in social situations. When he finally approaches his attractive neighbor, it's not for a date—he wants tutoring in how to behave at an important fundraiser. Ivan doesn't expect the chemistry between them to be quite so explosive, and is surprised when Cami actually accepts his proposal to embark on a series of "lessons."

 

Cami soon discovers Ivan's schedule isn't the only thing he likes to be strict about—he needs to be charge in the bedroom as well. She's shocked at how much she comes to enjoy her submissive side, but wonders if a real relationship is in the equation...

 

2. Roman Holiday: The Complete Adventure by Ruthie Knox

 

Ashley Bowman has always been impetuous, but even she is a little shocked when she chains herself to a palm tree in the Florida Keys hours before a hurricane is due to blow in. It’s all with the hope of saving her childhood home from a heartless Miami developer. But the moment she meets Roman Díaz she realizes he does have a heart—it’s just encased in ice. Ashley’s determined to get Roman to crack . . . even if she has to drag him all over the eastern seaboard to do it.
 
Roman can hardly believe he’s been talked into driving across the country with this brazen wild child in a skimpy bikini. He tells himself he had no choice—Ashley insists he meets the elderly snowbirds whose community will be displaced by his career-making development deal. But in truth he knows that there’s something about Ashley that makes him want to get a little wild himself . . . and the closer they get, the more tempted he becomes.
 

3. Forecast by Jane Tara

 

The Shakespeare women were what the locals of Greenwich Village called "gifted."

They did tarot readings and cast spells from their infamous shop Second Site. And each morning, Rowie would perform her popular weather prediction on the pavement outside.

Sure, Rowie's predictions were helpful for forecasting the weather, but when it came to love, her abilities were more like a curse. Why bother dating a guy if you knew at the first kiss he was destined for someone else? And how would she ever meet anyone while she was stuck working at the family shop?

Rowie was resigned to never finding love. Until Drew Henderson, New York's hottest weatherman is injured and the network decides to replace him with a gimmick—the Psychic Weatherwoman.

The very scientific Drew is furious. The witch might light up the TV screen. But how dare the network make a mockery of meteorology.

Now Rowie's overbearing grandmother Gwendolyn won't talk to her. Sixteen generations of Shakespeare women have worked in the family business. How dare she make a mockery of her gift.

But Rowie loves her new job, and won't let anyone ruin it. Until the day Drew Henderson kisses her, and she can't predict his future. In fact she can't predict anything.

 

4. Hurricane Hannah by Sue Civil-Brown

 

Her plan?
Ferry a client's plane to Aruba, play a little poker, get some sun…

Not in her plan? An emergency landing on a volcanic island full of lunatics, an approaching hurricane, a dashingly annoying airstrip owner named Buck Shanahan (who seems as fond of poker as she is) and a lonely, lovesick alligator called Buster…

Sassy redheaded pilot Hannah Lamont has no time for back-island bumpkins like Buck and his buddies—until the hurricane bears down, grounding her on tiny Treasure Island. Treasure, ha! Aside from a couple of ratty tiki huts, all this flyspeck can boast is a casino—and it's right in the path of the storm. But as Hannah throws her chips in with Buck and the islanders to save the place, the stakes may be higher than she dreamed…and winning brings rewards she never expected.

 

5. Hot Intent by Cindy Dees

 

Katie McCloud just wants to be a mom to Dawn and girlfriend to Dr. Alex Peters. But the violent unrest that brought them all together is once again erupting into their lives. Sent to Cuba to help care for hurricane victims, Katie and Alex are thrust back into the thick of international espionage—this time, on opposite sides. 

 

Katie thought she'd made peace with the secrets locked tight behind Alex's handsome, brooding facade. Back in hostile territory, though, those secrets threaten the very bond that holds them together. And Alex? He's finding out that what he holds most precious—Katie and tiny Dawn—is making him way too vulnerable. He's going to have to make a choice…soon

 

6. After the Storm by Amy Knupp

 

With a hurricane heading for the Texas coast, Nadia Hamlin needs to evacuate. Now. Before she can leave, however, there's one more thing she has to do—despite the risk. But that delay lands her trapped in her car in the middle of the storm. Fortunately, firefighter Penn Griffin arrives. Unfortunately, her good-looking rescuer suffers a career-ending injury in the process.

The only way Nadia can think to make amends is to help Penn get back on his feet. Even if he doesn't want anything to do with her, she won't give up. Her determination has an unexpected impact. Because soon he can't seem to get enough of her.

 

7. Royal Street by Suzanne Johnson

 

As the junior wizard sentinel for New Orleans, Drusilla Jaco’s job involves a lot more potion-mixing and pixie-retrieval than sniffing out supernatural bad guys like rogue vampires and lethal were-creatures. DJ's boss and mentor, Gerald St. Simon, is the wizard tasked with protecting the city from anyone or anything that might slip over from the preternatural beyond.

Then Hurricane Katrina hammers New Orleans’ fragile levees, unleashing more than just dangerous flood waters.

While winds howled and Lake Pontchartrain surged, the borders between the modern city and the Otherworld crumbled. Now, the undead and the restless are roaming the Big Easy, and a serial killer with ties to voodoo is murdering the soldiers sent to help the city recover.

To make it worse, Gerry has gone missing, the wizards’ Elders have assigned a grenade-toting assassin as DJ’s new partner, and undead pirate Jean Lafitte wants to make her walk his plank. The search for Gerry and for the serial killer turns personal when DJ learns the hard way that loyalty requires sacrifice, allies come from the unlikeliest places, and duty mixed with love creates one bitter gumbo.

 

8. A Stranger's Gift by Anna Schmidt

 

On the heels of a horrific hurricane, Hester Detlef, field director for the Mennonite Disaster Service, blows into the life of self-made, shunned Amish man John Hafner. Will she find a way through his shield and into his heart? Although the hurricane has left John homeless and badly injured, the last thing he wants is some do-gooder Mennonite woman intruding in his life. Will his impatience with her intention of restoring his faith and property keep him from accepting this beguiling stranger’s kindness?

 

9. One Night in Santiago by Audra North 99 cents! 

 

Lily Stanton's vacation goes from bad to worse when a storm strands her in a foreign country, arguing with an arrogant—and very sexy—stranger over the last available hotel room.

 

Successful CEO Bruno Komarov wasn't expecting the gorgeous woman checking in at the reception desk to challenge him over a room. Even more surprising, he actually enjoys their exchange.

 

But when Lily proposes a compromise—she'll take the bed and he can sleep on the couch—Bruno pushes his attraction aside and assures himself that this can remain strictly business. After all, they're both adults capable of keeping their hands to themselves. They'll share the room, get a good night's sleep, and be off to their respective destinations in the morning.

 

What could possibly happen in just one night?

 

10. A Dark and Stormy Night by Anne Stuart

 

The man had secrets…

Blindsided by a hurricane, Katie Flynn was seeking shelter from the storm—but all she found was a moody, broody recluse named O'Neal. Trapped with him in his house on a windswept cliff overlooking the wildly tossed sea, Katie tried to fight the feelings O'Neal awakened in her—both of sensuality and fear. She began to suspect that something haunted the tall, gray-eyed man's domain, something more than the wicked servants or family ghosts… something strange that only O'Neal himself could reveal.

 

Did I miss your favorite? Let me know!

 

To vote for the best of the best, go to my Goodreads list: Blow Me Down: Hurricanes in Romance Novels.