Honor Bound by Hallee Bridgeman: Book Review

 **I received a complimentary copy for consideration. All thoughts are my own. 

It may seem odd to seek peace by moving to a war-torn African country, but for medical missionary Dr. Cynthia Myers, it provided a way to escape a shallow life of unearned wealth, a philandering fiancé, and a father now square in the public eye as vice president of the United States. At least here she knows her work and life have meaning. But all that is thrown into chaos when she fails to save the life of a local warlord's mortally wounded son.

As part of the Army Special Forces "A-Team" on a mission to capture and subdue the warlord, Captain Rick Norton is compelled to use deadly force to save Cynthia's life. Enraged at the violence she witnessed and riddled with guilt that men died because of her, Cynthia tries to hold on to her anger--but an unwanted attraction is taking hold.

With two members of his team badly injured and rebels in hot pursuit, Rick will have to draw upon all his strength and cunning to get her out alive . . . because he's beginning to think they just might overcome their differences and be able to make a life together.

Hallee Bridgeman is the USA Today bestselling author of several action-packed romantic suspense books and series. An Army brat turned Floridian, Hallee and her husband finally settled in central Kentucky, where they have raised their three children. When she's not writing, Hallee pursues her passion for cooking, coffee, campy action movies, and regular date nights with her husband. An accomplished speaker and active member of several writing organizations, Hallee can be found online at www.halleebridgeman.com.

To be perfectly honest when I started reading this one, I really wasn't sure if I wanted to continue. It felt very military heavy... and while I tend to read a lot of books featuring military characters, it tends to focus less on their actual missions than what this one seemed to at the start. I may be a military spouse, but I don't tend to prefer 'war stories' which I feared this would turn out to be. But I read on, and am so glad that I did. Yes, there was definitely a big emphasis on the mission early on, but it was written in a way that actually drew me in after some time. After the first half of the book or so, it balanced out a bit more to my liking. I found by the end I was really enjoying ever minute of it. I loved the romance between Cynthia and Rick... their chemistry was great. I also enjoyed getting to know the other members of the team, and found that the author did a really great job of setting them up for their future stories... by the time that this one ended, I knew I wanted to read more from the series to see what happened with them... certainly a great introduction to a series.

Despite my initial hesitations, I was so glad that I decided to read this one to the end. It was action packed, heavy in faith and an all around great read! I can't wait to read more!