Reviews for THE HEART OF A MERCENARY
THE HEART OF A MERCENARY - Loreth Anne White
Republic of the Congo, Africa - Present Day. Hunter McBride has a past that’s shrouded in mystery he never talks about. Fifteen years ago, he joined the French Foreign Legion, a group of mercenaries with nothing to live for, a past they want to forget, and a future that appears dim at best. After miraculously surviving his five-year enlistment, he automatically became a French citizen, and with the abilities of a mercenary, he started a group called the FDS with three friends. The FDS takes on the dirty jobs for governments, jobs that nobody else wants. Right now he has just found a nurse lost in the Congo with a sealed biohazard container holding the specimens of an Ebola-like disease that hit a small hospital compound.
Rebels came into the hospital where Sarah Burdett was working and slaughtered all the patients, nurses, priests, nuns, and the doctor running the hospital. Then they set fire to everything, but Sarah was the only survivor, put into a hole in the floor by Dr. Regnaud. His dying words were to get the biohazard container to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta and find out what illness was starting to run rampant in the Congo. Little does Sarah know the germs are part of a scheme by a cabal of important men in the United States who are determined to set them free in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago and overthrow the government.
When Hunter finds Sarah in the jungle, she is exhausted and in shock, running from the hospital but not knowing where to go, only that she has to get to Atlanta. Sarah came to the Congo to get away from a husband who got another woman pregnant and flaunted the affair in front of the whole city. Africa was to be the start of a new life and a stronger, more self-reliant Sarah. But when Hunter finds her and they have to walk miles to escape, Sarah must mature in a way she never anticipated. Hunter ran away from his former life and has been living in the present for the past fifteen years; no past, no future. But Sarah…ah, she is something different, she makes him dream and dare to believe in the future. The hot Congo jungle keeps emotions close to the surface, and Sarah and Hunter must deal with the inevitable after a series of adventures that exhausted me just reading about them. Sarah refuses to make Hunter turn from a job that he loves, and Hunter is looking for a love he can believe in after all these years. Have they found their other half in each other?
Loreth Anne White has written a tale filled with excitement and non-stop situations filled with danger, treachery, and treason. This is the first of her books I’ve read, but she has taken the suspense romance and made it her own. Ms. White has presented us with a novel that includes so many twists and turns that it is hard to keep up with all the thrills.
The situations seem true to life, and I can only hope the plot is totally make-believe and not anywhere near real life.
Secondary characters are primarily the leader of the cabal in New York, the rebels after Sarah and Hunter, and the land of the Congo itself. The Congo is filled with heat, bugs, snakes, gorillas, and anything else likely to end their life with no one being the wiser.
THE HEART OF A MERCENARY is the first of a series of three books featuring the founding members of the FDS group. Excitement and breathtaking conflict make for a story that will have your heart beating faster and your emotions at a fever pitch. Don’t miss THE HEART OF A MERCENARY this month.
- Carolyn Crisher Reviews Today
***
The Heart of a Mercenary- Loreth Anne White
Rating: 5 Stars
Sensuality Rating: sensuous
Warning: This book should not be started unless it can be read in one sitting! With the first book in the Shadow Soldiers miniseries being packed with heart-pounding action and rousing emotions, there is absolutely no way to find a stopping place once the first page is read.
THE HEART OF A MERCENARY plays on every sentiment of the reader, as the mounting suspense is superbly intertwined with the passionate romance. By coming to the Congo and working at the Ishonga clinic as a nurse, Sarah Burdett looks forward to forgetting her prior life back in Seattle and the devastating effects of a failed relationship. Unfortunately, a couple weeks after her arrival, some of the local villagers became terminally ill from an unidentified virus. Then an even more horrifying incident occurs in which every person at the clinic except her is killed by merciless soldiers. Just before the attack, the head doctor gave Sarah a vital assignment of getting some samples concerning the illness to a lab for testing. Before leaving the clinic on foot, she relays a frantic radio communication in the hope someone hears it.
Her message was received and Hunter McBride, one of the founders of Force du Sable, parachutes into the jungle near her location. His private military company is working with the United States president on a crucial mission, which if not successful could mean the death of millions plus end up changing the structure of the whole world. With Sarah’s message, the location for testing a lethal pathogen by an influential unknown group is now known plus retrieving the samples will greatly help their operation. When Hunter catches up with Sarah in the jungle, she is overwhelmed by this commanding mercenary, yet knows he is her only hope of surviving the countless threats around her. Hunter is an imposing man, one who always has his emotions under control and never lets his painful memories interfere with his present judgment.
His policy of not letting himself experience any caring feelings has served him well in his chosen profession, yet from the instance he spies Sarah, his emotional stability starts to crumble. As these two reluctantly work together for a much greater cause, they discover feelings neither expected to go through again. However, before they can pursue these desires, they must make it safely out of the jungle to help many others survive.
With her descriptive images, Loreth Anne White is a master at constructing authentic settings which transport the reader to another world. Ms. White has personal familiarity with parts of Africa, and her thorough depiction of its terrain is graphically visual and had me experiencing its every sight, sound and smell.
The traumatic events which continuously happen during this harrowing ordeal surrounding Sarah and Hunter often left me gasping, as even the most diminutive details which they experienced were revealed.
This is a story with many layers, with danger following this couple because of the intercontinental threat plus the tension-filled romance between them. The numerous inner conflicts resulting from past heartbreak still influence the thoughts and actions of Sarah and Hunter, and many of their scenes were genuinely sincere with believable emotions. These moving moments had me connecting deeply with the characters.
This is a noteworthy story and an awesome beginning to the Shadow Soldiers miniseries. THE HEART OF A MERCENARY is mesmerizing with the never-ending action combined with the heartfelt and unforgettable love story.
Amelia Richards - Cataromance
***
THE HEART OF A MERCENARY - Loreth Anne White
A deadly virus breaks out at the African clinic where nurse Sarah Burdett goes to escape an ugly divorce. A militia group kills everyone, leaving her the only survivor with tissue samples of the disease in her possession.
Mercenary Hunter McBride, who has a tragic past of his own, is sent to rescue Sarah and, more importantly, to secure the tissue samples. If the mission fails, it could set off an international catastrophe.
With The Heart of a Mercenary (4), Loreth Anne White begins the Shadow Soldiers series. This journey of survival brings two damaged souls together. The exciting and fast-moving story makes you eager to find out what happens next.
-Sandra Garcia-Myers Romantic Times
