Eric “Thor” Jansen broke Becca Madison’s heart when he chose the Air Force over their future together. When Thor comes back to town a decade later, mentally shaken from witnessing the death of a fellow pilot, he knows he needs more in his life than the military. Maybe even Becca…if she’ll have him.
Into the Blue is an emotional, heartfelt, passionate story about two people learning how they fit back together after a decade apart. Cleeton’s experience as a fighter pilot wife adds a layer of nuance and authenticity to this story–she really digs into the technical side of being a fighter pilot this one. I hate that the blurb on the front calls this book a Top Gun fantasy when it’s really, really not. I think Cleeton goes out of her way not to glamorize the military
I read this book right after Priscilla Oliveras’ Anchored Hearts, which also does the second chance-romance-a–decade later-after-the-hero-left-small-town- to pursue-his-passion. Anchored Hearts didn’t work for me and I think the reason this one did is that Cleeton showed how her characters grew since the breakup and there was some sacrifice to get to the HEA. I don’t think a trope like this works if the characters are basically the same people they were a decade ago. Also, Thor is doing some world-class groveling throughout this entire book.
This series was recently released on audio with Lillian Clare and James McAdams. The two work well off each other but James does not do variations on his voices and it can get confusing when there is a scene with all men. The military jargon is also tough on audio because you can’t see what is and isn’t an acronym.
