Book Review for CYCLONE by Janie Crouch

He’d protect her from any threat… 
But what if the biggest threat is him?
 
Doctor Anne Nichols is back in Oak Creek, Wyoming, only because she has no other options. Here, she was always the shy, stuttering girl, invisible to everyone. 
 
Except Zac Mackay. The very reason she left in the first place. 

Zac’s years in Special Forces taught him survival skills, and he’s created a company—Linear Tactical—to teach those skills to others, so they never have to live in fear.
 
Then why is Annie, the last person he’d ever want to hurt, afraid of him? 
 
Zac’s determined to wipe the fear from the eyes of the woman who has never been far from his mind. And fix the mistakes--his mistakes—that put that look there in the first place. 

But a predator has set his sights on Annie. And now survival skillswill become much more than lessons…

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Cyclone is the book one in a new intense indie published series from Janie Crouch that will highlight the brotherhood of men in military service and demonstrate the devastation and exhilaration of finding your soulmate and completely submerge yourself in loving adoration of that one person. 
The painful and awkward history between Anne Nichols and Zac Mackay, especially that one night after Zac's wife, Anne's best friend, died, had a drastic influence on both of their lives. The wounds in Anne's heart and soul are deep, and to face Zac again is devastating.  
I liked Anne, throughout the story, through some fierce battles both emotional and physical, she finds her inner strength and the warrior woman inside her. The shyness and stammering have always made her seek the shadows in social settings, but her precise professionalism as a doctor gives her self-confidence and nearly another persona that she can put on to face the challenges of her demanding career.
Zac loved deeply and lost everything at a young age when a car accident took away his wife and young son. Over the years he has dealt with the pain, he has faced the demons of sorrow and accepted that part of him will always miss them. But what he did to Anne during the most painful moments of his life, is something he has to deal with now that the memories of that night are surfaced again. 
The romance between Anne and Zac pulls the heartstrings, it is passionate, the ardent love scenes engulfing the mind and heart of the readers. Anne has a big, loving, forgiving heart, and I can only admire her for it. Zac has used to get away with his charm, but now he really has to put the effort into the game to convince Anne he is serious about building a relationship with her. 
The suspenseful elements come into the front and center of the story at the third part of the tale. There are severe, brutal violence against a woman, detailed sexual assaults during an attempted rape that can be a trigger to some. The emotional depth of the aftermath of the first attack brought tears to my eyes, the raw pain and fear are tangible as is the fragility of life. 
With this fervent second chance romance, a story that is well written and has wonderful natural flow in the tense scenes and situations of the story, the author introduces an intriguing and charming cast of characters, whets the appetite for more to come in the future books, and I for one, can't wait to see where Ms. Crouch will take the series. 
A gripping, exciting, alluring, and compelling story that entertained, a great start for a new series
~ Four Spoons

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USA TODAY bestselling author Janie Crouch writes what she loves to read: passionate romantic suspense. She is a winner and/or finalist of multiple romance literary awards including the Golden Quill Award for Best Romantic Suspense, the National Reader’s Choice Award, and the coveted RITA© Award by the Romance Writers of America.

Janie recently relocated with her husband and their four teenagers to Germany (due to her husband's job as support for the U.S. Military), after living in Virginia for nearly 20 years. When she's not listening to the voices in her head (and even when she is), she enjoys engaging in all sorts of crazy adventures (200-mile relay races; Ironman Triathlons, treks to Mt. Everest Base Camp) traveling, and movies of all kinds.

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