This book had me at the edge of my seat since the start all the way to the end. There were quite a bit of action scenes that were well described, maybe even too well. I give fair warning that this book is not for the faint of heart, mostly due to the description of violence.

I felt that the romance between leads was mostly believable as it did seem like it was a bit quick.

A riveting story.

Kim Pritekel is one of the first authors I stumbled across in the lesbian romance genre. Her stories are always well thought out with interesting characters. Going into going into her stories you know you are going to get a slow burn romance and a bit of craziness.

Burton Blinde is an investigative reporter for a local Denver new station. When we first meet her she is on her way to being a star, courted by CNN, she slated to be the next Barbara Walters. Days away from her move to New York, Burton is still tracking local stories, one including the juicy gossip of a Colorado senator being blackmailed by his former lover. As Burton is questioning the politician all hell breaks loose and a madman throws a grenade into the car, killing everyone but the reporter. Suffering horrific injuries Burton closes her friends out ad retreats to the wilderness to live in near isolation.

Years later, after going through some of her old boxes from her reporter days, Burton comes across cryptic postcards. Her inquisitive mind will not let it go so she begins trying to find the old clues as to what the anonymous postcards were trying to clue her in on.
Okay so up until this point right here, I am digging this book. A great foundation is been laid out and I’m like oh yeah where we going with this. Then it kind of went haywire. So to make it quick, a small country, Chilvokia, near Russia is under attack, total warfare and has been for years. Dr. Lilli Novikoff, while studying medicine in Denver was the one trying to reach out to Burton to tell her of her country’s strife. First off, just tell her, she’s a reporter they are always looking for a story. Second, maybe contact the UN or NATO, just a thought. I think they would like to know if there has been coup slaughtering person in the streets.

So any who Button goes to Chilvokia, it's damn war zone, meets back up with Dr. Lilli, saves the king, falls in love…and goes home a hero. I can’t give you more because I was lost in the second half of the book numerous times. I wasn’t always sure who was who, and what was happening. What was the point of the war, I am still not sure, and something about selling women, kids and weapons, maybe. I was swimming in muddy water. It was fun and I enjoyed it but sometimes I had no idea my left from my right if that makes any sense at all. Also, I needed way more time with Burton and Lilli the couple, the romance part of Blinded was lacking.

Blinded is good, not great like Pritekel’s other books. I felt like she needed more chapters to explain what was happening. I think if the story had been longer, it could have cleared up the confusing pieces. Her characters definitely had chemistry I just needed more time with them together to solidify a stellar romance.

It's weird, I feel like I've read a Kim Pritekel book before, and yet, I haven't (or any of the stories that she has posted at the Royal Academy of Bards either. But as I was reading this book I just couldn't shake the feeling like I'd read her stuff somewhere.

That weird feeling that I can't explain aside, this was a pretty cool book. It was a thriller, just as good if not better than any James Rollins, Raymond Khoury, Tess Gerritsen thriller that I've read, and, to add to its awesomeness, it had a little bit of LesFic Romance in it too. That's never a bad thing. Oh, who am I kidding, I picked it up for the latter reason (as well as the fact that the summary blurb said something about the main character working at a library, and I'm a sucker for any story that has a librarian in it) and was happy that it was such an awesome Thriller too.

It's the story of Burton. She had been a reporter, until a horrific attack took so much from her. She retreats to a small mountain town in Colorado and changes her entire life, becoming a librarian. But, her old job and an old mystery that she didn't get to look into because of the attack sucks her back in, and suddenly she finds herself on the hunt again for the story, and it takes her far away from her new oasis of calm and solitude. I won't give away too much about the romance part of the plot, since I really liked that I was sorta surprised at how it unfolded. I had suspicions, but, then I wasn't totally sure. But, the romance was good, and was seamlessly intertwined with the rest of the story. One flowed into the other. And I really liked the end too, again, I had had thoughts about what was going to happen at the end, and I was presently surprised that I was only sorta right.

I did think that the librarian parts were well done, the interaction with the older lady who wanted the Nora Roberts but didn't want her husband to know because he didn't quite approve was spot on (comes up more than you'd think). I was a little bummed that she was taking a spot from a librarian with a MLS, but, even that was written around quite deftly by Pritekel. (What can I say, I just know too many librarians with MLSes who don't have full time jobs, so, non MLS'd peeps taking one of those jobs sorta got under my skin in a way that had nothing to do with the fictional story and everything to do with real life).

It was thrilling, it was heartfelt at times, it was scary at times, and on occasion I just wanted to punch some of the characters on the page. And through it all I definitely couldn't put it down. If you want a thriller that's not a "Boys Club" sort of Cotton Malone, SIGMA, etc. thriller (not that they're bad), then this is the thriller for you!!

I got this galley via Netgalley on behalf of Sapphire Books Publishing.

This is the first book I have read by this author. Lesbian fiction with a whole lot of action, some mystery and a romance... What more could you ask for? This book was hard for me to put down. I would consider this a book that I would reread over and over again. This book is a really awesome find in lesbian fiction. I wouldn't typically pick up a book like this to read, but I am so glad I did. The writing is so well done, and the characters are very likable. After reading this book I will for sure be picking up the author's other books. Actually, I could use another book about these characters. Fantastic read.