Alicia’s review of Riding the Storm (ACRO Series, Book 1) by Sydney Croft
Paranormal romance released by Delta Trade Paperback 28 Aug 07

I went into this book pretty blind.  Sybil gave me some books and said, “These need to be reviewed, do any interest you?”  When I read the blurb, this one sounded good and I just dove right in.  The story is so good, I had to double check that it is an erotic title.  Believe me, it is erotic, but it in no way sacrifices quality authorship.

This book is the first in a series about a secret agency called Agency for Covert Rare Operatives, or ACRO.  This agency is a para-military organization that finds and trains people with rare, special abilities.  They have psychics, telekinetics, mediums, people who control or release energies, all kinds of cool stuff.  Very X-Men, very well done and very fun!

Remy is a tortured hero but he isn’t cold hearted.  He’s not one of those heroes you almost hate until he redeems himself near the end of the book.  I felt for him the whole way.  His character held through the book.  His choices and actions rang true to the end.

Haley isn’t quite as well drawn.  For example, it says that she has never liked military men, instead preferring the corporate suit types.  But, even if she has strong feminist feelings, she doesn’t come across as a fem-dom.  So she would have wanted a man she could respect… and she, knowing what went into military life from personal experience, would have respected military men more than suits.  But I still liked Haley.  She’s a strong woman but not unbelievably so.  She’s very real-feeling in the way she struggles to face bizarre circumstances.

I loved the storms!  The weather and its effect on the characters is so well written that I felt tlike I was there.  This was a big draw for me to read the book in the first place.  DH and I stood outside during parts of Hurricane Rita because we just loved the passion of the storm. This book captures this beautifully!  And Remy and Haley do all the things I wish I’d been able to do.  Yummy!

Now for what I read at the end… The author, Syndey Croft is actually a team!  The books are a collaborative effort between Stephanie Tyler and Larissa Ione.  I’d never have guessed from reading the book.  How they can make such a wonderful, cohesive finished product amazes me.  I can’t believe I have to wait for the next book (March 2008)!

Grade: A-

Blurb:

     A storm’s rage. A woman’s desire.  A man with the power to set them both free.

     He can summon lightning at will. Emerge unscathed from the center of a tornado. Strip a woman down to her barest defenses through the sheer force of his sexuality. He’s gorgeous, dangerous, and the target of parameteorologist Haley Holmes’s latest mission. Haley has been dispatched to the Louisiana bayous to investigate the phenomenon known as Remy Begnaud – a man with a gift he never wanted: the ability to control a storm’s fury. But even a woman trained in bizarre weather phenomena has no defense against the electrifying power of the ex-Navy SEAL… a power his enemies would kill to control.

     With her agency monitoring their every move, Haley’s job is to seduce Remy, gain his trust-and help him harness his extraordinary gift. But who will protect her from this voracious lover who’s introducing her to a new world of erotic thrills-a man who grows increasingly insatiable with each new weather event? Haley knows a big storm is approaching and with it will come unexpected delights. But so, too, will the storm unleash her greatest fears: an enemy bent on destroying Remy. And her worst fear of all–falling in love with this magnificent man, then having to betray him.

     Read an excerpt.