SYNOPSIS
In the final novel in the scorching Red-Hot SEALs series, a desperate mother and a Navy SEAL fight fire with fire to protect their love and save the world…
Amy Chastain has made a lot of enemies—none so ruthless as the insanely powerful New Ruling Order (NRO). When they killed her husband, it was hell. Then they targeted her children by injecting them with a dangerous, experimental isotope. Now Amy trusts only one man to help her: the ex-commander of SEAL Team 7.
In the company of Navy SEALs, Jace “Mac” Mackenzie was in his physical element. Now he’s on the run from the same cabal that poisoned Amy’s children. That doesn’t stop him from launching a mission to bring down the NRO—and find an antidote. But the clock is ticking. And as the sparks fly between him and Amy, Mac realizes he has more to lose than ever before.
As Mac closes in on the NRO, he uncovers a plot that threatens more than Amy’s children. Now it’s a race against time to stop a global conspiracy, save the woman he loves, and protect the family that’s starting to feel like his.
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REVIEW
Forged in Ember by Trish McCallanMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Title: Forged in Ember
Series: Red-Hot SEALs #4
Author: Trish McCallan
Release date: May 15, 2018
Cliffhanger: No
Forged in Ember is the final installment of the series, one that's been seven years in coming. Now, I don't mind long intervals between books in a series. Not saying I don't feel impatient, but there will never be a time I complain that an author takes their time to craft a quality story. The overarching action/suspense plot is one that has kept me firmly hooked, as I wait to find out how everything comes to a head. How will the heroes of the SEAL team vindicate themselves? Will Amy's sons find an anecdote before the tracking isotope injected into them becomes irreversible? How will the evil NRO be taken down before their "doomsday device" is completed and detonated? I was READY.
Here's where it fell short.
#1: The hero.
Jace “Mac” Mackenzie, commander of the SEAL team, leaves a lot to be desired. I'm talking from book one. His main fault being his extreme prejudice and misogynistic attitude towards women. He's always been my least favorite person of the group, but I had faith that he would eventually see the light and realize how damaging his attitude was. Unfortunately, insufficient time was spent on Mac's personal growth and inner reflection. At 79% into the book, we had him comparing the woman he supposedly "loves" and the three other women his men fell in love with to his despicable mother. After realizing that they were nothing like her, these are his illuminating thoughts:
Unlike most of her gender, Amy had principles and courage and...he paused. Frowned. Shook his head. Hell, all three women were in the same percentile as Amy. Which just made the four of them an anomaly.
Wait...what? So THIS FAR INTO THE BOOK, his warped perception of women has not budged one iota. He recognizes that these women are trustworthy, brave, and good people. Yet, the conclusion he draws is that it's only because they're rare to their gender. I wanted to bash him over his THICK SKULL. Look, I get it. Both of his parents are worthless human beings who scarred him emotionally. Mommy issues are understandable. (Though, why not an issue with men too? His father was a drunk who neglected him and failed to provide even the most basic needs since he was a child.) I wanted to like Mac more, but unfortunately the author failed to convince me that he had become a better man. He did endear me more than I expected, but his growth was a big fat failure.
#2: The romance.
It. Was. Rushed. Granted, pretty much all of the books were rushed in this aspect, but because of certain PNR elements added in, some couples made me a believer. This was most definitely my least favorite in regards to romance out of the bunch. Let's face it, the author had her work cut out for her. Not only was she dealing with Mac's prickly personality and prejudice, but the heroine has a SLEW of problems hindering their relationship. After being kidnapped with her sons, raped, and her husband murdered months prior, she's not someone you would picture fighting feelings of attraction and lust over someone. But that's exactly what happens six months after being rescued and widowed.
It was so strange. If you counted by days, John’s murder hadn’t been that long ago. Almost six months now, 180 days— give or take. But emotionally . . . It felt like forever. Years at least. John felt like a dim, treasured memory. She didn’t dream about him anymore. Not like she had in the beginning. Mac dominated her dreams these days. Guilt swelled. John had been a good man, a good husband. A wonderful father. He deserved better than this.
Honestly, there was literally no grief shown by her, no mourning. The woman propositions him for sex because she didn't want her rapists to have control over her sexuality. I can understand the sentiment, but when you're googling PTSD in order to prevent triggers and flashbacks, that's not working for me. The first time went smoothly with no touching, the second attempt worked completely. Simply by using google. Her method of pushing away her feelings rather than dealing with them, combined with the amount of time that her life had been completely turned upside down, made for a very unbelievable romance. Amy's feelings of love seemed to have been plucked out of thin air, because I couldn't find a natural progression. I actually felt no sexual tension or attraction between them, which was a disappointment to say the least.
When Mac returns from a mission, he marches himself to Amy's room to reveal to her that he loved her, and all it did was make me roll my eyes. There's alpha, and then there's Mac. A man who doesn't have an ounce of tenderness in his bones.
He dug deep and coughed the emotion out. “I think I love you.” Think? You think? Dumbass. She looked like she’d been poleaxed. Obviously his suave sophistication had impressed her speechless.
#3: The resolution to the entire series.
As previously mentioned, the NRO is a demented group secretly plotting to annihilate the population. They've been temporarily foiled by the SEAL team, but in return made them wanted men by the US authorities. The majority of the action sequences in this book were minor missions as they raced against the clock to obtain information that would save Amy's children, and locate and take the NRO down for good. For me, there were too little of these moments. The action doesn't remotely compare to the nail-biting, non-stop suspense of the previous books. They were edgy, they made my heart pound, and my excitement rush. Personally, I felt that it wasn't matched on that level, and that was the main attraction of the writing for me.
The only way I could describe the final confrontation would be underwhelming. After being shown time and again how powerful and sinister this group is, I was expecting one hell of a fight. It all seemed way too easy and uncomplicated when everything was said and done. I felt deflated.
To sum things up, this was a disappointing finale overall for me. While I can't say that I hated it, it certainly wasn't what I waited so many years for. It was just okay. Wolf remains one of my favorite characters, and I'd be intrigued to read his and Jillian's story. A spin-off series about the Eagle Clan and the Shadow Mountain warriors is not beyond the realm of possibility after the epilogue. I love the fact that the paranormal gifts would carry on into that series, because that is one of the big draws for me with the Red-Hot SEALs. I love Trish McCallan's style of writing, so I'm hoping that there will be more to come in the future.
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