I’d like to think that I’m not “one of those people” who are all judge-y about romance but sometimes a flippant comment dismissing certain types of romance sneaks up on me.
When I first saw Cleeton’s fighter pilot series making its way through the blogosphere I assumed it was some Romancelandia version of fighter pilots like Romancelandia’s version of billionaires. I thought the fighter pilot aesthetic in this book would be all about sexy uniforms, alpha dudes using their Awesome McCoolname call signs and maybe there’d be a scene where the hero takes the heroine for a joyride. Needless to say I was so very wrong.
When Florida boutique owner Jordan Callahan meets Air Force fighter pilot Noah Miller in a Vegas nightclub she deems him the rare “Chubacabra”of men. From the first few chapters I thought this was going to be a snarky, sexy Victoria – Dahl-esque romp com, but man this book takes a turn as Jordan and Noah try to build a long distance relationships while dealing with the realities of Noah’s Air Force lifestyle. It quickly becomes a story about what is means be a military significant other, the sacrifices of service members and some of the dangerous realities of being a fighter pilot.
According to Cleeton’s blog her now husband was going to fighter pilot training when they met, and I think this is what adds so much realism to this book. She really gets into the nitty gritty of what fighter pilots do on a daily basis. There are a lot of fighter pilot / military terms to learn in this book and while we get some spoonfeeding through Jordan’s POV, the jargon used during Noah’s POV are just sort of thrown around so you kind of have to pick it up in the context clues.
I think most people’s context of fighter pilots’ come from the movie Top Gun and I really like how early on in the book when Noah and Jordan are first meeting Noah sort of goes through the list of things that are real and fake about fighter pilots based on that movie.
“So do you guys wear the white outfits?” she asked, a speculative gleam in her eyes.
Fucking Top Gun
“That’s the Navy.”
“Oh.” She flashed me an apologetic smile. “Those are kind of hot.”
I choked back a laugh. “Not letting you around any sailors. Check.” Her eyes twinkled with amusement. I hadn’t been wrong last night. She definitely liked to play.
“How about the one from A Few Good Men? You know, the black one with the gold and the cool hat.”
“Still the Navy.”
“Just out of curiosity, do you know anything about the military that doesn’t come from a Tom Cruise movie?”
This book is written in first person, which is kind of uncommon for romance novels. I personally like it because that’s what I’m used to reading mostly YA, but I do think that will be a barrier for some romance people.
I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait to finish the series. This three book series follows the other male pilots in Noah’s Wild Ace’s squadron, but seriously my entire kingdom for a female fighter pilot romance.
SIDENOTE
Incidentally enough there is a shortage of fighter pilots right now because this job is dangerous AF