DANGEROUS SURVIVOR (Crimson Point 7) by Kaylea Cross-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 25, 2022

She’s come back to face her demons.

Ember Thiessen is the sole survivor of a horrific attack that killed her brother and blew her world apart. Months later when she learns that his dog has been found, she returns to Crimson Point, ready to confront the past and reclaim her life. The last thing she expects is to recognize the hard, reclusive man who rescued the pup—a man she has crossed paths with before. He’s everything she’s come to fear. Big. Hard. Deadly. Yet she’s drawn to him on the deepest level. But the danger isn’t over yet. The killer responsible for all her nightmares has escaped, and Ember finds herself turning to this hardened soldier for protection.

He’s the only man who can keep her safe.

After leaving his elite military career and its painful end behind, Boyd Masterson retreated to a solitary life in the hills above Crimson Point. All he wants is peace and quiet. Then Ember suddenly appears on his doorstep, and everything changes. He knows what she went through. Knows that she’s still healing and trying to put her life back together. He’s a damaged warrior, the last thing she needs, but she calls to a part of him that still yearns to protect and defend. When the man responsible for killing her brother decides she’s a loose end, Boyd doesn’t hesitate to step up and protect her. But as the attraction between them builds and the killer moves in, Boyd realizes he’s risking his heart as well as his life.

•••••••••

REVIEW:  DANGEROUS SURVIVOR is the seventh and final instalment in Kaylea Cross’ contemporary, adult CRIMSON POINT romantic, suspense series-a spin off from the author’s KILL DEVIL HILLS series. This is forty-eight year old, former US Special Forces soldier Boyd Masterson, and thirty seven year old, IT specialist Ember Thiessen’s story line. DANGEROUS SURVIVOR can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary. Ember’s story begins in book six DEADLY VALOR.

Told from several third person perspectives including Ember and Boyd DANGEROUS SURVIVOR follows in the aftermath of a mass killing wherein Ember Thiessen is the only one to survive. Returning to Crimson Point to retrieve her brother’s dog, Ember comes face to face with former US Special Forces soldier Boyd Masterson, the man she met months before. Trying to bring some closure to her life, Ember rents a cabin in Crimson Point only to find herself homeless within a matter of hours when a watermain breaks, flooding the house. Reluctant to bother anyone else, Ember calls Boyd Masterson, who offers up his home to our story line heroine but Ember’s world is, once again, about to spiral out of control, when one of the gunman escapes from prison, and sets his sights on taking down any witnesses, including our story line heroine. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Boyd and Ember, and the potential fall-out as our couple are target, and Ember’s time in Crimson Point comes to a close.

Ember Thiessen survived the execution style killing of her brother and friends, but when a call reveals the location of her brother’s missing dog, Ember is willing to take Mozzie home, a piece of her brother she never knew she would miss. Boyd Masterson is a loner having experienced betrayal and hardship while in the US army. Never having realized the dog that he rescued belonged to one of the victims of the gangland style murder, Boyd is overwhelmed when the woman who arrives is someone he ‘knows’- the attraction is immediate and palpable. When the Feds and local law enforcement recommend witness protection for our story line heroine, Boyd believes he can protect Ember better than anyone else.

The relationship between Ember and Boyd begins as acquaintances in the wake of so much destruction and loss. Ember had hoped to regain some of the peace she lost with the murder of her brother but never expected to find love with the man who would save her life. Boyd doesn’t do relationships, preferring to remain alone in his cabin in the woods, but meeting Ember stirs something long forgotten, something Boyd is hoping until the end of time. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The secondary and supporting characters include most of the couples introduced in the previous story lines: Sheriff Noah Buchanan and Poppy, Aidan and Tiana, Jase and Molly, Danae and Ryder, as well as the introduction of Boyd’s son, Air Force Tech Sergeant/ pararescueman/physician assistant Travis Masterson. Travis’s story begins in FALLING HARD, book one of new spin off-CRIMSON POINT PROTECTORS SERIES.

DANGEROUS SURVIVOR is a story of grief and loss, murder and vengeance, family, friendships, relationships and love but also a story that introduces the characters and sets up the background for the author’s new series. The premise is intriguing, engaging and exciting; the romance is seductive and spicy; the characters are energetic, determined, and charismatic.

Reading Order and previous reviews

Fractured Honor
Buried Lies
Shattered Vows
Rocky Ground
Broken Bonds
Deadly Valor

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Kaylea Cross writes edge-of-your-seat military romantic suspense. Her work has won many awards and has been nominated for both the Daphne du Maurier and the National Readers’ Choice Awards. A Registered Massage Therapist by trade, Kaylea is also an avid gardener, artist, Civil War buff, Special Ops aficionado, belly dance enthusiast and former nationally-carded softball pitcher. She lives in Vancouver, BC with her husband and family.

FOLLOW: Goodreads / Website /Twitter / Facebook /