Falling for Zeke by Sara Blackard

Falling for Zeke by Sara Blackard
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Xeranthemum

An ex-Army Special Operations member burned once by love. A single-mom stalked by a powerful enemy. Can he risk his heart for her safety?

Zeke has everything he could want.
A multi-billion dollar inheritance allows him to protect others…
… and with the camaraderie of his brothers-in-arms.
He spends his time growing his security firm and keeping his head down. Love is the last thing on his mind, until Samantha and her daughter are in need of his help.

Samantha used to have a comfortable life.
Now she waits tables to put food on her own.
Forced from the life she had built, Samantha works to restore what was lost. With her daughter in tow, she begins a new life in the Colorado mountains. It’s not perfect, but it’s all theirs. But when the tempting Zeke offers to help her, she begins to wonder if love could heal her shattered life.

What will Samantha do when past troubles come knocking? Will Zeke protect his heart or will Samantha shatter his defenses?

Have you ever come to the end of a story and realize you just discovered book candy? Falling for Zeke bowled me over and left me craving more. Especially if the other books are anything like this first romantic suspense story in the Stryker Security Force series; I want to meet EVERYONE on the team.

The book opens with this obviously alpha man being flummoxed and frustrated over a common accounting program. The author’s descriptions made me smile right from the start. I was left in no doubt just how disgusted he was with the whole computer program. I haven’t used it myself, but I’ve heard tell and his thoughts of revenge fit right in with what others have experienced. But none of their stories have entertained me as much as Zeke Greene’s.

The heroine is kind of typical. A single mom, trying to keep herself and her child safe, fed and housed while holding a job that a reader knows from the interchange, is doomed. The author did a wonderful job of building the sympathy for Samantha and her daughter, Eva. I truly believe readers are going to fall in love with little Eva. Sometimes, I swear she steals the show. Samantha has a serious anchor around her neck, people from her past are going to stir the plot and give the hero and his team a chance to shine. But the heroine has some remembered motherly advice from her own mother’s experiences and that plays a role in some of the internal conflict. Family has a tendency to inspire things like that.

The story doesn’t waste any time getting into the drama and suspense when someone tries to steal Eva from school. That starts the ball rolling and it puts Zeke and Samantha right in the thick of it. The pace of this novel is perfect. It more than kept my interest; I was glued to my seat and didn’t want to stop until I read the whole book. There were so many things that happened, lots of great dialogue, and a lot of people to get to know, that I had a ball. Zeke and his team showed that they were more than co-workers, they were a family. I adored how Eva wrapped all the guys around her little finger and scenes that had her and the guys interacting were some of my favorites.

This is a romance story with lots of ‘steamual’ tension … I made that word up because it just fits with how all those kisses and accidental touches affected the hero and heroine. I have no doubts that they both felt the building steam and sensual sparks that flowed between them. If this was another type of story, for sure they’d end up acting on it, but as this novel is a clean romance book, I was able to enjoy a full plot, great character development, and a romance that grew through adversity, respect and trust. Their relationship brought out the best in both Zeke and Samantha; they complimented each other. Nothing proved that better than the scene when a guy tried to once again take Eva and Samantha stepped up to the plate. It was glorious. It was perfect. It was fist-pump time.

I read Falling for Zeke in eBook format and it came with a bonus epilogue. It’s like being told you can have extra hot fudge for free in your sundae. It gave me the happy feels. I enjoyed this book so much, I am stoked to read the next book in the series. If you’ve never read a book by Sara Blackard, then you are in for a treat. This is an awesome introduction to this author’s wonderful writing style. Try it out and see for yourself.