Hi all! I'm back with another book review, but this one is a little different from the other book reviews I have posted. This is actually part of a 2-story boxed set, but I separated them into two reviews so that it wouldn't run too long. The collective book is called Wild Hearts by Doranna Durgin, and it combines the standalone stories of Hidden Steel and Making the Rules for re-release. I received a copy of this book as part of LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program in exchange for an unbiased review. I've tried to refrain from giving away too much of the plot excluding the summaries but just in case, brief plot spoilers may follow.
Summary:
In the first story, Hidden Steel, CIA agent "Mickey" awakens in a place she does not recognize, with no memory of anything, including her name. She adapts the name "Mickey Finn" and escapes, finding refuge in a nearby gym, run by Steve Spaneas. Before Steve realizes it, he is thrown headfirst into the craziness that is Mickey's life and becomes her only ally. As Mickey struggles to figure out what happened to her, she also becomes increasingly aware through flashes of memories that someone is in need of her protection. Add in some local thugs, other operatives who do not have her (or her client's) best interests at heart, little to no memory, and a light tease of romance with Steve, and this is the current state of affairs in Mickey's life. This is an action-packed page turner, where the reader is introduced to a colorful cast of background characters as well as a hero and heroine who don't fit into the traditional action/romance molds.
My thoughts:
I enjoyed Hidden Steel. I appreciated Mickey’s strength in
the face of the blank canvas that was her life and not dissolving into
hysterics. Even though for her it was a fresh start and she felt as though
she’d been dropped into something she had no idea about, life had continued to
function and she had to catch up quickly. I loved that the CIA training she’d
received had been so ingrained into her it became part of her base personality,
something immovable about her that came as naturally as breathing. And if even
with all of that training she still nearly got herself killed, I hate the odds
for someone who was just one step, one heartbeat, slower than Mickey being
placed in the same situation. The author mentioned at the beginning that when
Mickey began to trust herself the rest of the story fell into place, and
gradually throughout the book, the reader can see these changes taking place. I
liked that there were places where Mickey made mistakes, and I also liked the
conflict taking place in herself when she was initially confronted with pieces
of who she was before having her memory wiped. The amnesiac part of Mickey’s
story was interesting; I was waiting for the typical ‘bam’ moment when
everything flooded back to her—I think Mickey was too, at first LOL—but I was
very relieved when that moment never came. I liked that even though she was
eager to find out what her life was about before, she was enjoying discovering
who she was becoming as well. Her quirks, more so the choice in songs, were
campy but endearing and fleshed her personality out a little bit. I also liked
Steve and at first I wasn’t sure what to make of him other than that he was
nice. Mickey was bouncy and had a frenetic, constant sort of energy about her,
while Steve had this quiet, steady sort of strength about him that balanced
things out. He wasn’t a caveman in his masculinity, but Mickey’s strength
didn’t diminish his and I think that was an important factor. He had some
growth to go through in the book and even though it didn’t get quite the
attention that Mickey’s journey did, I did like reading about the changes in
Steve. It was nice being able to read about his adjustment to what his life
became after Mickey came into it rather than an instantaneous acceptance. This book had a lot of evolving in it, even for a few of the
background characters, and that was refreshing to read.
If I had to name
something that I didn’t like quite as much, it would be that we didn't get to
see Mickey through the process of her actually remembering things; we were just
told at the end that she’d since regained the majority of her memories. The
meat of the book was about her functioning cold; she had few details of who she
was and couldn’t put most of them together just yet so it would have been nice
to see a little of pre-wipe Anna or even an integrated Mickey in action. But I
suppose you could look at that another way; when Steve was told she’d regained
most of her memories he wasn’t told anything other than that because obviously,
other things were more important. Lol We found out with Steve, and were privy
to the same amount of information and one thing that I noticed with both of
these books is that the reader is very much living in the moment with the
characters, so that could explain why we don’t get to see Mickey’s growth after
regaining her memories. The climactic finish was alright, but for all the drama that had built up to it in Mickey's various interactions with the operatives chasing her, it ran just a little long and I wondered why someone in the area hadn't called the police sooner with all the gunfire that was ringing out. That part was a little unrealistic for me but otherwise it was fine. There were a few small grammatical errors and some of the transitions between scenes felt a little choppy, but it was nothing that took away from the meat of the story.
Overall, I enjoyed this story a lot. I like how
even the smaller bits, the background elements, were weaved together to create
a cohesive story heavy on action and development with a constant tease of romance
throughout. If there is more to explore with Mickey and Steve (and there
totally is lol), I’m ready for it.
Do I recommend this book?
I recommend this book to you if you're more of an action fan and don't want a book heavy on the romance. If you're looking for a kickass heroine, Mickey fits the bill so if you're on the hunt for a softer, more feminine heroine then Hidden Steel probably isn't for you. Same goes if you're after a book with more romance as this book is pretty clean as romances go. Other than a few kisses and the implication of sexy times at the end, there isn't too much steam in this book. It doesn't run super long but after the first couple of chapters things start to pick up a bit, so if you like to read books in one sitting then Hidden Steel shouldn't be a problem as you won't want to put it down until you're finished. Well, I didn't, anyway. lol
Helpful links:
Amazon ($0.99) | NOOK ($3.99) | Google Play Books ($0.99) | Smashwords ($2.99) | iTunes ($2.99)
To download the boxed set with both books, here are the download links:
Amazon ($5.99) | NOOK ($5.99) | Smashwords ($2.99) | iTunes ($2.99)
If you'd like some more info on the author, Doranna Durgin, here's where you can check her out:
Website | Facebook | Twitter
The second book, Making the Rules, will have a separate review but if you'd like my thoughts on both books at once, you can read my LibraryThing review here.
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