Aftershock by Jill Sorenson

Category: Romantic Suspense
Publication date: 12/18/2012
Kindle Unlimited: No
Cliffhanger: No

Holy crap, this book surprised me. In a REALLY good way.

via GIPHY

Plot overview: Ex-soldier Garrett and paramedic Lauren are trapped underground when a San Diego freeway collapses on top of them during an earthquake. They must fight to save those who are trapped with them, all while trying not to starve and get murdered by some convicts who escaped transport during the earthquake.

Y’all know I struggle a little with romantic suspense at times. I also struggle with sex that takes place when the hero and heroine are REALLY dirty and gross. It’s just so...unhygenic. Makes me think of UTIs, which is NEVER sexy. Then there’s the fact that romantic supsense heroes and heroines sometimes have sex while bad guys are literally chasing them and trying to kill them. (Sorry, but even if I’m on the run with Chris Hemsworth, I will NOT be stopping to have sex while bullets are flying past my head. Sorry, Chris. Nothing personal. But I digress…)  But this book manages to make the sexy times NOT seem forced and out of place, and the hero and heroine managed to bathe first in a way that actually made total sense in context. Jill Sorenson is a genius!!

Besides the sex (which was on the spicy side but nowhere near erotica-ish), I really loved Lauren. She was strong and smart and great at her job, but was also vulnerable and emotional. She didn’t carry around a ton of emotional baggage (despite a recent shitty experience with her ex), and was pretty much a heroine that any young romance reader could look up to. 

And Garrett...oh, Garrett.  He was a sweet, gooey cinnamon roll  wrapped up in a tough, hot, ex-soldier package. Unlike Lauren, he had TONS of emotional baggage and a few secrets, but it didn’t bother me. Anyone who’d been through what Garrett went through would be a little secretive and messed up. His motivations and actions all made sense to me, and watching him fall for Lauren while protecting his group of survivors was pretty awesome. 

The side characters are also AWESOME. I’ll be reading THE CRAP out of Owen’s story. He’s a damaged, emotionally distrustful convict who develops a little bit of a crush on young mother, Penny. I just KNOW their story is going to be EPIC. 

Romantic suspense fans will love the nail-biting action in this one, too. The pace is fast, but there are nice little breaks between action scenes that let the readers get to know and love the characters. In other words, this book is the perfect balance of action, emotion, and sexy times. Not something I find too often in romantic suspense.

Long-story-short, I just did some research and found out there are like 5 other books in this series (yay!!), so I’m off to do some binge-reading. But do yourselves a favor while I’m gone--go read this book. 

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
Crushing the romance stigma! No rehab needed.