Bea Reviews Dangerous Ground by Rachel Grant

Series: Fiona Carver #1
Read As A Stand Alone: Yes
Publisher: Montlake
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: August 17th, 2021
Buying Links: Amazon* | Author site | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Books |
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Blurb from goodreads:

In the remote and unpredictable Aleutians, danger comes without warning in an adrenaline rush of a novel by USA Today bestselling author Rachel Grant.

Archaeologist Fiona Carver has unfinished business in the Aleutian Islands. After an emergency evacuation cut her first expedition short, she’s finally back. But time is not on her side as she races to finish documenting the remnants of a prehistoric village, recover missing artifacts, and track down missing volcanologist Dylan Slater.

Having bluffed his way onto Fiona’s team with fake credentials, wildlife photographer Dean Slater is willing to risk more than federal prison to find his missing brother, but he needs Fiona’s help. She knows the inhospitable terrain better than anyone.

When the two set out together on a perilous journey, it becomes more than a recovery mission. In their fight for survival, nature isn’t the only threat. They aren’t the only ones on the hunt. Mile by dangerous mile, someone is hunting them.

My Thoughts: 

Liked:

1) It's a new Rachel Grant book!!!!!!! I love her Evidence series, which is excellent romantic suspense, and I enjoy her Flashpoint series, also romantic suspense. So I had high expectations of this book from the time she announced it. 

2) Ms. Grant always thoroughly researches her book and this was no exception. Not only do her books take me to exotic (to me) locations but I usually end up learning a thing or two. At times there was more detail than I wanted or needed but some readers will love it. I also appreciated how respectful she was of the Native people in the book. 

3) The were some nice twists and turns and surprises. The story moved quickly with a lot happening in a short time. The romance moved a little more slowly, there were obstacles in the way, but it slowly picked up steam. The action had some tense moments and the story kept me guessing, even when I knew how things would turn out. 

4) The male lead, Dean, was hit or miss for me, but I liked what we saw of his brother Dylan and enjoyed several secondary characters. I know this is Fiona's book but I hope we'll see more of Dylan and the others.

 

5) The female lead, Fiona, was smart, observant, and resourceful; I can see how she's risen in her field. She's also better fleshed out and is more three-dimensional. If I were in a tight spot, I'd want Fiona on my side.

Disliked:

1) It's not a romance despite being marketed as one and being published by a romance imprint. There is a love story but the story ends with nothing resolved between the two leads and their relationship is very much up in the air. The story also ends very abruptly, which doesn't help matters. One reviewer on Goodreads commented that it was as if the author ran out of words, and it did feel that way. In that regard, it was not like any other story by Grant that I've read. The mystery is solved, or it seemed to be, but the romance between the leads was left hanging, unresolved.

2) The male lead Dean was arrogant, presumptuous, and deceitful. Now the latter has mostly to do with the lies he tells in order to find his missing brother so I can sort of forgive that. Combined with his other flaws, it added up to a very annoying character. Which I guess makes him true to life? I mean, nobody's perfect, right? I might have liked him more if he hadn't made moves on Fiona when he believed she was his brother's girlfriend, and if he hadn't treated her like an object he could pass around and decide who she ended up. He did apologize for that, and seemed to mean it, but he was often hard to like. 

3) Although we're not given exact ages, both MCs seem to be early 30s. I had a hard time believing that he had so much success and fame in his career field so soon. He was mid-20s when he started and he's a superstar in the photography world. He was almost a caricature; it came perilously close at times. He was handsome, sexy, rich, charming, successful, blah blah blah blah. Grant does flesh him out some but he still has some growing and maturing to do. Can he and Fiona work out their differences? Considering this is supposed to be a romance, I hope so. But the series has Fiona's name, not his and hers, so maybe he gets kicked to the curb.