Review: Hot Zone by Catherine Mann

Hot Zone 
(Elite Force #2)
by Catherine Mann
Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages
Expected publication: December 1st 2011 by Sourcebooks Casablanca
ISBN 1402244983 
ARC Courtesy of Publisher

Master sergeant Hugh Franco lives only to save others, until he plucks beautiful attorney Amelia Bailey from the wreckage of an earthquake and finds himself embroiled in ways he never expected. On the run from kidnappers, Hugh must call on all his training to protect them. But Amelia's fiery touch threatens to crack his world—and his heart—wide open.

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My Thoughts:
Hot Zone is another exciting edition to a fantastical series centered on a team of sexy and daring Pararescuemen!

Hugh Franco lives life on the edge as a PJ (Pararescue Jumper), running from his past and saving lives to make up for the ones that he lost so long ago. When an earthquake sends Hugh and his team to the Bahamas, he is the first one crawling through the rubble.  Trapped underneath feet of debris Hugh finds Amelia Bailey and is instantly drawn to her bravery and cool head, earning his respect and starting a fire in his blood even before he can tell what she looks like.  Once free from the fallen building Hugh can’t seem to let Amelia and her young nephew go but before they can explore their attraction further they are swept up into an abhorrent scheme of kidnapping and human smuggling. Can Hugh extract Amelia and her nephew from the evil clutches they find themselves in before the kidnappers realizes that they’re on to them? And if he can, will their new attraction survive past the devastation they’ve found on the ravaged island?


Catherine Mann weaves heated romance with nail biting suspense in the second installment in her captivating and intense Elite Force series. If you’ve read Cover Me then you will remember the daring Hugh Franco from the PJ team in Alaska, but if you haven’t then that is okay because the author has set Hot Zone up perfectly to read as a standalone. 


Hugh is a tortured soul, living through the loss of his wife and child he is easily relatable to any reader and his story tugs on your heartstrings. Having nothing left to lose he feels that it is his job to take on the most dangerous assignments and spare his team mates. Brave, honorable, self-sacrificing, sexy as all get-out with a soft spot for children…Hugh Franco is a dream boat. ;)
His story was well written and paired with the feisty Amelia they gave each other balance in all the right places. Together they sizzled and the story intrigued. 


I didn’t find Hot Zone wasn't as fast-paced and riveting as the first novel, Cover Me, but it definitely made my must-read list of 2011 and the series in general is on my must-read series list so I am eagerly anticipating the next novel, Under Fire (May 2012) which features Liam McCabe,  Rachel Flores and Disco, who we see a bit of here in Hot Zone. 

Rating: 4 Wine Glasses - Loved!

Sexual Content: Recommended for adults. Hugh and Amelia heat up the island jungles together and will def. steam up your reading glasses!