The blurb promised me a story where ”Kristin Hannah meets Tom Clancy: a thrilling, emotional women’s journey …” but I think this book was let down by its marketing.

This isn’t a thriller or even much of a romance - the romance was quite incidental and could have been left out of the main plot without much change. This was more of a coming of age military fiction perhaps. The military sections were actually pretty good, reflecting the author’s previous experience.

I enjoyed the read but more work was needed on the characters and the romance. The last 50-60 pages of action were good - it was like I finally found the thriller I was promised - just a little too late.

In the end, it was a little amateur but it was mostly cheesy fun given that there was no real danger to our intrepid heroes. 3 stars.

This review was originally posted on StrupagHover is the story of Sara, a Navy helicopter pilot. A woman who excels at her job, but keeps a low profile. She and her best friend Em are the only two women on their naval ship. They are also pilots in the same team, so when Sara starts getting more flight hours than Em things become a little strained between them. Em points out that Sara has lost herself, lost her femininity. She's more concerned with blending in, that she's forgotten what it is to be a woman.

I found this book fascinating. Aside from the story, which itself was gripping, I learned SO much! Not only about being a female pilot in the Navy, but also about being a pilot and about the Navy itself.

As for the actual story, I couldn't stop reading. Sara is selected as pilot for training missions with the SEALs. Only she has no idea why, or what is going on. Furthermore, the guy running the missions is Eric, a man she's recently met and can't quite get out of her mind.

Naturally, the other pilots are jealous of Sara's time in the pilot seat. Her boss is particularly unhappy to be told to let Sara take the controls. However, there is a good reason for these requests - she's an excellent pilot. When the mission is no longer just a training mission, Sara must demonstrate her abilities, as well as face her greatest fears.

Admittedly when I saw the whole romance with Eric creep up I wasn't sure. However, I ended up really enjoying this aspect of the book. It was done really well and added an extra element of emotion to the novel.

There were many things in the novel that opened my eyes, made me think or consider issues I'd never have thought of. For example, upon being stuck on another ship in the fleet, Sara is the only woman. She has to take an officer's room, have a guard posted outside the communal shower and generally draw attention to herself in ways that she is thoroughly uncomfortable with.

All in all I loved this book. It was a thrilling, fascinating read. Sara's a strong, inspiring protagonist and I really hope that we'll see her on other missions sometime soon... I want more Sara in my life!