Viable Threat
Julie Rowe

Such a great read. Kept me on the edge of my seat all the way till the end. My first Julie Rowe book and it won't be my last. She proved she belongs on my favorite authors list.

Special Forces soldier and medic Walter River would give anything to snatch more than a few seconds of down time to see if he can rattle the no-nonsense and incredibly hot Dr. Lloyd he's protecting, but dodging explosions, snipers, and student radicals who've unleashed a lethal bio-engineered microorganism have made that almost impossible. Maybe he'll get a chance—if he can figure out how to keep them both alive. CDC microbiologist Ava Lloyd races to find a cure for a bio-terrorism organism sweeping El Paso. The few stolen moments with her very hunky bodyguard River have been explosive, but no matter how alluring he is, she can't afford to get distracted. The clock is ticking, people are dying by the hundreds, and once this crisis is solved, they'll both be off on their next assignment, thousands of miles apart.

Can't wait for another great book by Julie Rowe. Thanks NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Wow!!! This is the first book I've read by Julie Rowe and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna need to pick more up. Totally digging her writing style and the way she pulls readers in. Impressive.

Walter River is a Special Forces soldier who specializes in many things, but has recently been given the task of protecting a CDC doctor (Ava Lloyd) who's trying to find patient zero of a deadly outbreak in El Paso. Yep, it's a lot to take in immediately, but it works...stay with me. Within minutes of reporting to "duty", River is helping medical respondents care for outbreak patients, kills a man and is nearly blown up.

Ava Lloyd is a CDC doctor who's first field responsibility is a dozy. Thinking she's alone in a coffee shop believed to be ground zero for the outbreak, she starts to collect samples. Only she's not alone. One minute she's talking to a potential threat, the next...well...the next she's literally thrust in to a non-stop whirlwind to try to identify the cause of this deadly outbreak. Oh...and her partner is ridiculously hot and actually respects her. So there's that.

This ^^^^^^, this is just the suspense that happens within the first few chapters. This is non-stop suspense, and I mean NON-STOP! Be prepared to turn those pages faster and faster as more and more drama unfolds, exposing the mastermind behind the deadly outbreak. Although, truth be told, I figured out who it was early, but it didn't stop me from finishing. After all....I had to find out if River and Ava got their HEA, right?

reviewed by Chris

An excellent book that is action packed and full of suspense. With a deadly virus spreading like wildfire throughout El Paso, Dr. Ava Lloyd needs to be able to do her job. It's clear that someone out there doesn't want her to so she needs protection to get the job done. Walter River is just that protection. A former medic in a special forces unit he knows how important it is that Ava be able to complete what she's doing. There are enough threats out there he needs to keep her safe from, their sizzling attraction has to be put on hold. Easier said than done at times.....

This one is very well done. It did get a little too technical for me at times but it was easy enough to get the gist of the story. Overall it is a great read and definitely one I would recommend.

Julie Rowe captured my attention right from the start of this story and just held it all the way till the end of the book. Cant wait for more from this author and this fantastic series as even when your not reading it, your also thinking about it and thinking about what's going to happen etc. The characters are fab and funny and sexy at times too and you can't help but wanting them to do well and to get there HEA too. It was all around a great action suspense story with love thrown in the middle of it which I just loved. Would recommend

Viable Threat by Julie Rowe is the first installment in the Outbreak Task Force series.
Viable Threat is a fast paced thriller - romance who had me at the edge of my seat while reading.

Meet Special Forces medic Walter River, he´s ordered to work with CDC in El Paso to investigate the outbreak of a disease.
And Dr. Ava Lloyd, she´s with the CDC as microbiologist. Both get paired up and there is this crazy insta-chemistry.
But the clock is ticking and people are dying . Nobody knows if they will be successful.
They race against time and terrorists evil.
This book has it all, a great story, wonderful characters and emotions.
I greatly enjoyed reading Viable Threat and can´t wait till the next book.
5 Stars and Thank you Julie Rowe!

This is my first read by Julie Rowe and I just loved it. It's very fast paced and keeps you thinking the whole way through. Not the sort of book I'd normally chose but I'm so glad I read it. River is just so sexy, hot and macho without trying! Special forces kinda hot. Yummy. My brain was working overtime to solve the mystery of who was the ring leader of this bio-terrorism fiasco. Very gripping stuff. The love story threading through the book, with River and Ava, is just so sweet.

The rush is on to find out who the terrorists are who have infected the students and others of El Paso Uni. This is bio-terrorism at its scariest. River is more than capable of ruining any 'bad guy's' day! He is there to protect the lovely doctor, Ava, in her efforts to collect evidence from the area and try to work out what this thing is that's killing people by the dozens, soon to be hundreds! This needs brain power and smarts. Fantastic!

So many nail biting moments and quite a few laughs too with the retired Drill Sergeant. He is awesome!
Such a well written story and very addictive.
You should read this!

I LOVED THIS BOOK! It was so exciting, scary, fun, and sexy. It was exactly what I want my romantic suspense to be! This is my first book by this author, and I want more!

Dr. Ava Lloyd is a microbiologist working for the CDC. She investigates infectious diseases, and she's been called to El Paso, Texas for an outbreak of an unknown pathogen. She's brilliant, and great at her job, and the last thing she needs is some military man showing up to tell her what to do. She's worried that's exactly what's about to happen when she's assigned a partner to watch her back while she investigates.

Walter River is Army Special Forces. He's a soldier, a medic, a teacher, and a protector. He gets called in to help Ava, since he's dealt with an outbreak during his service in the past. He gets to El Paso and walks into chaos. He is ready to jump in and help wherever he can, as it's obviously needed. When he meets Ava, he's taken with her beauty, and with her intelligence, right away, even inside a hazmat suit. He's determined to keep her alive throughout this mission.

River and Ava's chemistry was strong, and I loved their banter, and nicknames. They were really there for each other, in all different ways, throughout the entire story, and I loved that. There was definitely some insta-lust happening, but I am so ok with that! Especially as there was a lot keeping them too busy to act on it for a while, so it was constantly simmering beneath the surface.

The suspense plot line was scary and exciting, and so well done. It was even scarier to think how easily something like this could happen in real life. It kept me guessing about what would happen next and who the bad guys were. I can't say much more about that part of the plot without spoilers, but I was so excited to be kept guessing till the end. I also really enjoyed many of the side characters, especially Henry. I'm hoping, as this is to be a series, that he'll be getting his own story soon.

This really was a fantastic story, and I had so much fun reading it. I can't wait for more of this series!

this was a test, this was a test, this was a test, this was a test, this was a test, this was a test...

My MO is to not really comment on the covers but this one? Well look at it. Isn’t scrumptious and utterly lickable?
My first impression is there is a lot of suspense not so much romance. The romantic aspect of the MC went under in all the action packed, face paced plot in the book. Nevertheless I still liked the book.
A deadly virus has been released in El Paso, Texas. The number of deaths are quickly adding up and the number of infected even more so. River our Hero is called to protect Dr. Ava Lloyd so that she can do her job.
River is a strong Hero and a keep cool kind of guy. He is up to the task of protecting his mouse.
Ava Lloyd works for the CDC and is to collect samples at locations where the virus first turned up. Mr. Smooth goes to help her and there is instant attraction.
I guess under extreme circumstances of having four near death experiences with explosives catching the virus and having an overall pretty shitty day can lead you to fall in love with one another quite quickly.
It is clear that the author knows what she is writing about what with a detailed description of viruses, pathogens etc. I was overwhelmed by the information at times. The author touches on topics of domestic terrorism camouflaged as international terrorism her ability to depict a realistic real case scenario are kind of scary.
What irritated me the most? I guessed the brain behind the master plan of destruction pretty early on in the book.
My recommendation is that if you are looking for something different and it being light on romance then this is a book for you.

This book was awesome! It has it all: an engaging premise, lots of action, smart characters and romantic tension. With the leads being military and from the CDC, they were both fighting for the good of the public, which made it easy to root for them. It was refreshing how supportive River was of Ava's abilities and how sure she was in what she was doing. He was protective, but understood she was experienced and well-trained. Both her hang ups about dating another Special Forces soldier and his PTSD were minor plot points and didn't feel fleshed out until the end. Which is fair, considering how high the stakes were during the terrorist attack.
I did figure out pretty quickly who the lead bad guy was since most of the other side characters were not named or were killed, but I didn't mind going along for the ride to see if I was right.
I can't wait for another installment in the series!

Terrifyingly possible. River and Ava work together to find a way to stop a biological attack that could decimate the world. Despite a few times when I thought, "not sure that could happen in real life", this was a book I wouldn't put down. Tense, scary, and manages to include a romance on top of the thrills.

Now I understand why so many of my customers have been asking for her books! Great romantic suspense- can't wait to go read more of her books!

What a good solid romantic hot romance. Good solid plot kept me interested.

This book was great...a special forces guy helping a cdc lady stay protected both have a past and neither knows what to do with their feelings for one another. Between life threatening times and trying figure out who is responsible the only thing they can do is trust one another and do it quickly.

This is the first book I have ever read by Julie Rowe and I must say she certainly knows how to write romantic suspense. Although I must say this book has the potential to seriously freak readers out simply because the threat posed within this book is sadly all too possible. Ava Lloyd is a doctor with the CDC who is called in to identify the origin of a bio-terrorist attack while River is the special forces medic assigned to protect and assist her. This book had everything from bio-terrorism, explosives, kidnapping, political intrigue and more. Definitely a nail-biter since most of the action in this story takes place over the period of one day. In fact, at times you might think seriously all this has happened to River and Ava in 24 hours. This book will pull you in and not let go until after the last page is turned!

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this novel.

This book was such a fresh breath of air for romance, it was filled to the brim with intelligent characters (including high ranking, fabulous women) and the plot was wrapped around a biotech terrorist attack that had me on my toes the entire time.

This followed Walter River, an army medic who is called into El Paso, Texas, where there was an unknown outbreak of a man-made pathogen, which was killing and infecting people rapidly. River is put in charge of protecting microbiologist, Ava Lloyd (and all round kickass) as she is tasked with finding the site of the outbreak.

Together they end up being ~*almost*~ blown up five times, held at gun point, shot at and kidnapped.

The two main characters had my heart within the first couple of chapters, their witty banter and strength made me oddly protective of the two. Together they continuously had me in stitches, their banter was hilarious but the way they interacted together was even better. This was a romance between two people who had an immense amount of respect for each other, River only ever supported Ava in her position of authority and never undermined her.

Unfortunately, the big mystery of who was behind the terrorist attack was never really a mystery to me. I picked out the mastermind before I even knew there was supposed to be a mastermind, just by how the character was set up to be over eager and a little shifty.

The description of everything was clear and beautiful, every little thing was painted perfectly in my head but I wasn’t overloaded with inane details that made the story drag. There was a lot of technical jargon, that honestly sometimes left me needing to kindle ‘definition’ the hell out of it, but most of the time it was explained in such a way that I could pick up the basic drift of what the words meant without needing an encyclopedia.

There were a few hilarious moments like when River just happened to have a condom on him, even though they were in the middle of fighting a terrorist who had set off a deadly pathogen with the death toll at roughly six-hundred? All I could hear when I was reading this part was River’s favourite saying—

“I’m a firm believer in plan for the worst, hope for the best. Proper preparation and attention to safety protocols can mitigate a lot of the danger.”

He was definitely prepared.

Honestly though my favourite character might have to be Drill Sargent “DS”, despite the fact he was only in the story for a short portion. He was bloody hilarious!

“Shut your pie hole, all of you,” DS yelled. “If I have to come back there, you’ll all wish your mother had swallowed.”

The ending was absolutely adorable, and like usual, I wish I was able to read more about their lives after everything was resolved. I'm already sure this series will be an absolute favourite of mine, I can't wait until the next book is out!

Full of energetic action and suspense with a ton of intrigue. Viable Threat by Julie Rowe was the first book I've read by this author and will not be my last. It was wonderful, and I immediately fell in love with the characters. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a honest review.

enjoyable read.

*about 3-3.5 stars for me

Well this one was a bit of a whirlwind. Um. Well. Okay so I'm going to start out by saying this was definitely fast paced and had a whole bunch of bureaucracy to set up each scene. The whole premise surrounded a mystery virus that was quickly spreading around a college campus. This is how the main protagonists River, special forces, and Ava, CDC epidemiologist meet. He is her muscle throughout the whole ordeal but needless to say Ava is her own badass the story and has some very ballsy soliloquy's in very opportune times. Through their close proximity they develop a very "instant" attraction.

This story had a very big "24" feel to it. I mean that in the sense that the whole story is about the rush against time. The rush to find who is behind this virus, people are dying, everyone is in panic, is this terrorism. What was very throughly depicted was the tensions between the CDC, Homeland and FBI, that added to the frustrations of Ava, River and the reader. You could just feel the red tape and secrecy the author wanted you to feel. It was its own obstacle the main characters had to face.

I liked Ava and River, I thought they were a good match. I just was am not a fan of insta-love. You understand it because of the dire circumstances both of them were under and they looked to each other for comfort. However, that doesn't mean it always works. I just felt it took a back seat to everything else that was going on that it was almost like an afterthought. There were some really connected moments but then Ava would bring up her past and I felt it was so unnecessary, like you have a chance of dying, River is in front of you and all you do is bring up your past that really isn't explained all to well till later on in the story when too much time has gone by. I guess there was too much going on that I got annoyed.

The story itself was interesting and it almost read like a TV show. Just there was too much. It wasn't terrible, just wasn't great. Sometimes books like these you got to take and read in chunks. Give them a chance but proceed with caution. Plus the end after all this build up, felt rushed.

Recommendation: Wanna try a thriller/romance/special forces/combat themed story? Well try it. Maybe you will like it better than I did.

Hoot! Hoot! I have found myself a new author! This book is seriously zero to sixty and then continues to climb in action, speed, dark humor, loyalty, and more. It's everything I could ask for in a book and I could NOT put it down. My geek side showed a little in how much a liked this book. I love the fact that the heroine is just as strong as the hero, in fact she's a bit smarter too.

When River, Army Special Forces soldier, is called in to assist the CDC in an biological weapon attack he has an idea what he's in for but not who he'll be partnered with.

Ava, is on her first job for the CDC in El Paso when as she is collecting samples from the coffee shop thought to be ground zero for the initial spread of what's infecting people, when a seriously sick young man wired with a bomb comes in to make his demands. Immediately she has River in her ear helping her through keeping the kid calm while he lines up a sniper shot to protect her. She is shakey and terrified of how today is going to go.

The two work together but are put in impossible situations to which they have to add their own sense of humor to stay sane. The book gets better and better as you read it but it starts off perfectly, as well.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.