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Izzy Zanella wasn’t looking for another reason to butt heads with his Navy SEAL teammate, and nemesis, Danny Gillman. But then he met Danny’s beautiful younger sister, Eden. When she needed it most, he offered her a place to stay, a shoulder to cry on—and more. And when she got pregnant with another man’s child, he offered her marriage. But Eden’s devastating miscarriage shattered their life together—and made the intense bad blood between Izzy and Danny even worse.

Now Eden’s back, and she’s on a mission to rescue her teen brother, Ben, from their abusive stepfather. Even if she and Izzy can prove that their broken marriage is still in one piece, winning legal custody of Ben is a long shot. But they’re not alone: Danny and his girlfriend, Jenn, offer to help, and he and Izzy agree to bury the past and fight for Ben’s future.

As they plan their strategy, Izzy and Eden grapple with the raw passion that still crackles between them—while Danny and Jenn confront new depths in their own rocky relationship. But events take a terrifying turn after Ben befriends a girl fleeing a child prostitution ring. When the young runaway seeks refuge with Eden and Izzy, her pursuers kidnap Ben—and a deadly standoff begins. Now they must all pull together like never before and strike back, swift and hard, to protect their unconventional little family and everything they hold most precious.

Character List
(view spoiler)[
Irving (Izzy) Zanella: Navy SEAL, Team Sixteen. He's estranged from his wife, Eden.
Eden Gillman Zanella: Izzy's estranged wife, Danny and Ben's sister.
Benjamin (Ben) Gillman: Danny and Eden's younger brother who is being abused by his stepfather and has diabetes.
Daniel (Danny) Gillman: Navy SEAL, Team Sixteen. Ben and Eden's older brother.
Jennilyn (Jenn) LeMay: Danny's girlfriend, chief of staff to Assemblywoman Bonavita.
Mark (Jenk) Jenkins: Navy SEAL, Team Sixteen. He's a corpsman (medic). Izzy's friend and he's married to Lindsey.
Lindsey Jenkins: Mark's wife who is a Troubleshooters, Inc. operative.
Jay Lopez: Navy SEAL, Team Sixteen.
Tony Vlachic: Navy SEAL, Team Sixteen.
Neesha: Young runaway from the slave trade.
Greg Fortune: Ben, Eden, and Dan's stepfather.
Ivette Fortune: Ben, Eden, and Dan's mother.
Sandy: Danny, Eden, and Ben's oldest sister.
Michael (Mick) Callahan: NYPD Detective.
Maria Bonavita: NY State Assembly Member, Jenn's boss.
Shelia Anderson: Marine assigned to Germany.
Jake: One of the men looking for Neesha.
Nathan: One of the men looking for Neesha.
Todd: One of the men looking for Neesha.
(hide spoiler)]

Discussion Question #1
Discussion Question #2

yea I get my Izzy story. I hope its a HEA for him.

I finished this one and enjoyed it!

We'll open it up for discussion on the 8th! LOTS to talk about with this one.

So, let's get started! This is now a spoiler zone.

Much of this story is told from Izzy's perspective. Does the author effectively capture his "voice?" Did that work for you?

I really liked this one. Izzy is usually one that gets on my nerves and is not one of my favorites but I really liked him in this one.

I think the author definitely captures Izzy. I have always loved him and glad he got his story. He is truly an American Hero and has saved Danny Boy's life more than once. the story of Ben is so sad to think that there are in fact conversion camps like the one described in the book. The author really makes you feel for Ben as well as feeling such hatred for Ivette and Greg.

Jonetta wrote: "So, let's get started! This is now a spoiler zone."

I'm behind this month, but I've ordered this one from the library. I'll join as soon as I have read this book -- looking forward to it and not reading any spoilers!

Jonetta wrote: "Much of this story is told from Izzy's perspective. Does the author effectively capture his "voice?" Did that work for you?"

I loved getting Izzy's perspective by getting a peek inside his head! Being privy to so many of his thoughts gives readers a chance to see and know Izzy beyond his sometimes flippant attitude. I felt like I got to see the heart & soul of Izzy in this one, and I liked what I saw. What a sweetheart...and what a REAL man and hero. How many times has he saved Dan's butt and helped his family? The only thing that "almost" got old was the miscommunication between Izzy & Eden (and Dan & Jenn). I began to think Enough Already! lol

Izzy has a distinctive voice and Brockmann stayed in character throughout his points of view. I could actually hear and see him! And, it really worked for me. He used to truly grate on my nerves and now I'm a big fan. Behind all that teasing and joking around is a man of substance with a huge heart.

Do you understand why Eden Left and stayed away from Izzy for a year? Was it the right thing for her to do at the time?

Jonetta wrote: "Do you understand why Eden Left and stayed away from Izzy for a year? Was it the right thing for her to do at the time?"

I can say I completely understand why she left but don't like the way she did it. As someone that has lost a child that is the hardest thing for a parent. I felt for Eden even when she frustrated me which was often lol.

In past books Izzy has always been one of my least favorites mostly because of how he acted at times. With that being said He changed my mind in this one. You really got to see the real Izzy in this and how big his heart really is. He uses his humor and jokes as kind of a cover I think. It just frustrated me that they couldn't just talk which caused all the miscommunication. Overall I really enjoyed this book.

Do you understand why Eden Left and stayed away from Izzy for a year? Was it the right thing for her to do at the time?
I understand that Eden needed space to be alone after Pinky died but thought she should have communicated better with Izzy. she did not take into consideration that he was hurting also. The two needed to talk physically and this book was so frustrating with how much time it took them both to finally not lie and communicate with each other.

I agree that Izzy and Eden have needed to talk for a long while, to be open and honest with each other. It was often frustrating to read that they almost missed the entire prize with their lack of trust and communication.

This could be said for other characters in this story, too.

I agree, Charlene. Dan & Jenn were also guilty of the non-communication thing. After awhile, it became a little frustrating.

I really disliked Gilmann in this book. He is always to full of himself. I really dislike how he treats Eden always putting her down and never seeing anything positive about her. He does the same with Izzy. He should take a good look at himself before he puts others down. It was a very difficult life for Eden growing up the way she did and then suffering all she did thru Katrina while taking care of her brother. I am also very glad Brockman stayed tru to form and did not have Jenn loose any weight but kept her at her lovely bouncy large self

I was happy Brockmann didn't play the "lost a lot of weight" to transform into a beauty queen card also. I love Jenn. She is the steadying hand in this story...she talked Dan down a few times.

As far as Dan goes - I'm okay with Dan and was good with his journey from jerk/brother to finally understanding what Eden had gone through - how badly he & others had misjudged her and what she had to do to survive. Eden's story is heartbreaking, but I really have to admire her not only getting herself out, but also trying to get her little brother Ben out.

Brockmann always takes on some big issues and this book is no exception. She shines the spotlight on so many in this book that it borders on emotional overload - dysfunctional family, abusive parents, child sex trafficking, prostitution, life as a gay person, religious cult-like interventions, kidnapping, alcohol/drug addictions, custody issues, emotional immaturity, relationship phobia, lack of communication. It's a lot to tackle in one book. This is the first book in the series where I actually thought it came close to being "too much" and yet, I still enjoyed it. I did think she dragged the "miscommunication" between Izzy & Eden and Dan & Jenn out a little too long though.

Great point, Sandra. There was a lot of drama in this one.

I also applaud her for chronicling the maturation of the "adults" in this story, painful as it was. Eden and Dan had no role models for how to communicate authentically, essentially growing up without training on how to be an adult. They learned through lots of trials and errors and that is why we found it so tiresome. This was pretty realistic given there circumstances. Kudos to Izzy and Jenn for hanging in there. Izzy brought Eden along; Jenn showed Dan the way back to her, demanding more from him. He'd skated a lot through life because of his good looks and was fairly shallow. I'm still not a fan but I'm much more understanding of him.

Much of this story is told from Izzy's perspective. Does the author effectively capture his "voice?" Did that work for you?

Izzy is my favorite SEAL, right up there with Sam. I love his humor and big heart. I always felt that the humor hid some really deep pain and insecurity. I loved hearing him through out the book.

Do you understand why Eden Left and stayed away from Izzy for a year? Was it the right thing for her to do at the time?

I did not understand Eden, I just hurt so much for Izzy. It showed me that she really didn't have a deep level of feeling for Izzy to do that to him. Yeah, she had just lost her baby in a most terrible way, but she was very selfish. I get the total dysfunction of her family, but using people seems to be her MO. I've never been a fan of hers. Now she needs Izzy to save Ben and like the big softie he is, he gets drawn back in by her.

Susan wrote: "I really disliked Gilmann in this book. He is always to full of himself. I really dislike how he treats Eden always putting her down and never seeing anything positive about her. He does the same w..."

Gillman was just so judgmental, making him hard to take. He had an overblown sense of self, which was why Izzy always gave him such a hard time.