ARC Review – A Prince Among Men (Task Force Zeta #6) by Cat Johnson

You will fall in love with these characters (even the “surprise” one), you’ll appreciate your indoor plumbing, and have a new found respect for the men and women who serve our country day in and day out. I don’t know how she does it, but Cat has managed to even make a war zone sexy.~ Slick, Guilty Pleasures

Description:
“Who needs a prince when there’s a sexy soldier in your bunk? Hoo rah! ”

“Red, Hot, & Blue, Book 9”

Sergeant Ryan Pettit blogs anonymously as Groundpounder, recording non-confidential details of a deployment where every day feels exactly the same-until a female reporter shows up at his firebase. And he realizes nothing will ever be the same again.

Though his orders are clear-protect her, but make her life so miserable she high tails it back to London-the last thing he wants is to watch her leave in a cloud of Afghanistan dust.

Intrigued by Groundpounder’s blog posts, Vicki Vanover flirted, bribed, and outright threatened her way to the front lines outside of Kandahar. Nothing has ever stopped her from getting a story, but an accidental night in Ryan’s bunk is a distraction-and attraction-she never anticipated.

Yet Afghanistan leaves Vicki with more questions than answers. Why won’t Ryan let her anywhere near the local women she wants to interview? Who is the mysterious, red-headed Lt. Wales everyone treats with such deference? Worst of all, why is watching Ryan run toward danger, instead of away from it, enough to stop her heart?

Warning: Contains super-hot sexual encounters in the war zone.

Pssst…I have a secret; Cat Johnson dedicated this book to me, well me and every other reader who has “stood behind me for eight—now nine–books in the Red, Hot & Blue series.” Okay, so it wasn’t dedicated solely to me but I am one of those readers and I have enjoyed each and every story. I like that this series keeps evolving and A Prince Among Men is an exciting and excellent story. This is the first book in the series that takes place in a war zone (although book one took place on a rescue mission) and I think that gave this book a greater since of danger and expedited the intense feelings our hero/heroine developed in a short time.

I liked Sergeant Ryan Pettit in the last book, Model Soldier, but in this book we really get to know him and I went from like to love in a heartbeat. First off he’s a blogger and his posts are wonderfully written and you get a sense for how important his job is to him. I enjoyed reading his blog posts as well as his banter with one of his “fans.” I admire him for his dedication, his loyalty, and how he goes out of his way to help everyone, especially Vicki.

Vicki Vanover can’t believe she finally got approval to travel to Afghanistan to do a story on the plight of the Afghani women. Once there she realizes she’s getting nowhere so when a handsome soldier asks to share her table, she agrees and then she propositions and basically blackmails him so he’ll take her to his outpost. She recognizes him as the new face of the army and Hawkins (our hero from Model Soldier) decides to take her back with him. I really liked Vicki; she’s smart, she not easily intimidated, and she’s not afraid to speak her mind.

Since Hawk is “attached,” the minute he returns to base with Vicki he asks Ryan to watch over her. Ryan feels an instant attraction to Vicki; meanwhile Vicki is worried that Hawk is going to want his “payment” for bringing her with him. Soon Ryan discovers he and Vicki have something in common and the attraction turns to lust. He isn’t alone in his feelings though, Vicki is having some pretty damn impure thoughts of him as well. It doesn’t take long for them to act on their mutual attraction and although frenzied (remember shared living space), it is way hot!

Being in the middle of a war zone the danger element was always present and when things start happening Ryan and Vicki’s feelings for each other intensify. In addition there are some really interesting side plot lines that I couldn’t help but enjoy immensely. Not only is this a great love story but this book is action packed and I couldn’t put it down. I’d like to say more but I don’t want to give any of the secrets away so I’ll stop with that and move on.

Without a doubt A Prince Among Men is my favorite book to date in this series and considering how much I’ve enjoyed this series that’s saying a lot. You will fall in love with these characters (even the “surprise” one), you’ll appreciate your indoor plumbing, and have a new found respect for the men and women who serve our country day in and day out. I don’t know how she does it, but Cat has managed to even make a war zone sexy. Oh and groundpounders rule!