Judith’s review of High Passion (Adrenaline Search & Rescue, #2) by Vivian Arend

LIFELINE: an elite search-and-rescue squad based out of Banff, Alberta. Specializing in high-risk rescue missions, this team goes wherever the job takes them…

Alisha Bailey left a life of privilege for the dangerous but thrilling world of search and rescue. Denying the lure of attraction to her teammate is another sacrifice she’s made to prove to everyone—including her family— that she’s more than a pretty face or a business commodity.

Since their training days, Devon Leblanc has used the competitive fire between them to hide his fascination with the petite beauty. When a natural disaster forces their rivalry aside, heated passion finally flares between them. Sexual pleasure slowly gives way to a new appreciation for each other’s skills—on the field and in the bedroom.

But when unexplained accidents begin happening to the Lifeline team, their newfound unity may be their only hope for survival.

It wasn’t too long ago that I read Book One (High Risk) in this series and knew then that I wouldn’t be satisfied until I read the next books in this series.  Years ago I first encountered this author through her Granite Lake Wolves series and I have been hooked ever sense.

These main characters first surfaced in Book One as a part of the Lifeline Team, living and working and breathing the kind of intense training needed to develop unbelievable skills to be used in rescuing individuals who either were unprepared for the challenges of mountain and wilderness adventures or searching for those who have lost their lives in very difficult circumstances.  Now readers are treated to the development of the personal love relationship that has been simmering between Alisha and Devon from the beginning of their exposure to one another months earlier.  Both of these people are aware that by moving forward in their relationship they could be opening themselves up for much emotional trauma as well as putting an additional strain on them and other team members of the relationship goes sour.

Yet there is that wonder of a love finally acted on, a break in that almost intolerable tension that had grown and grown so that both Alisha and Devon had to face up to their overwhelming attraction to one another.   Now that their team leader had succumbed to Cupid’s Arrow, it seemed timely that Devon and Alisha allow their connection to develop into something more.

However, Alisha had not owned up to the fact that she had left behind a family and a life in high society, one that she knew she could never accept again in the future and one that would have prevented her from doing the very thing she loved the most.  In Lifeline she found a niche within the team where she was accepted and valued for herself and her skills, not her money or her social connections.  Yet that very life has now come back to haunt her and is making a serious and deadly bid to drag her back, to once again tether her to a life she hates and possibly mean that her life literally was over.

This is a very erotic book and full of high tension sizzle, but it is also a suspense tale that will keep the reader riveted to each page.  The mysterious sicknesses, the stalking, the unexpected “accidents” keep happening and they are putting the entire team danger, not just Alisha.  The story flows so beautifully and the characters are developed with that sense of realism that is gritty and edgy.  The sense of comraderie among the team is unmistakable and adds dimension to the story so that even though this is Alish and Devon’s story, the reader has a connection to all the persons on the Lifeline team.  Their sense of togetherness is absolutely essential to the story in so many ways.

Readers who love Arend’s writing will not be disappointed with this book or this series.  Each novel is stand alone, but the first book really introduces all the team members, individuals who will be featured in subsequent novels in the series.  It’s like getting to know a very special family and that’s the way they all feel about each other.  The writing style is so easy to read, the story so easy to keep straight with all the ups and downs, the twists and turns, the bits and pieces that make up the strands of this literary tapestry.  And as in all of Arend’s writing, there are no superfluous details.  Every aspect of this story, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is really important.  It all combines to make a wonderfully readable novel and one that will please her readers, to be sure.

My recommendation?  Don’t miss this series and don’t miss this novel.  It’s just that good!  I give it a rating of 4.25 out of 5.

The Series:

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.

This title is available from Berkley.  You can buy it here or here in e-format.  This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.