Monday, November 9, 2015

Review: Base by Cathleen Ross

Book coverBase by Cathleen Ross
Purchase link: Amazon

My rating: star star star halfstar

Heat rating: Flame  Flame  Flame


The world’s gone to hell, and her only chance of survival is the sexy, dominant soldier determined to keep her safe…

Doctor Ruth Parker has always taken care of herself, and that’s what she’s doing now, hiding out in her apartment and avoiding her neighbours: once privileged Mosman residents, now flesh-eating braindeads, thanks to the virus that’s turned her world—and everyone else’s—to hell.

Captain Jack Lang has always taken care of others, and with the newly secured Base he and his loyal commandos control the only safe place in the city. But the Base has needs that he can’t meet—doctors. And women. So when he discovers Ruth and her two friends in an unsafe apartment, he brings them back to Base where he knows he can keep them safe, and where he will do anything to make them stay.

Ruth is used to giving orders, not taking them, and the Captain’s methods for making sure she stays put don’t gel with her fierce independent streak. But the world has changed, and Jack will make Ruth understand that he is in charge and that her survival is more important than her control-freak tendencies—even if he has to chain her to the bed to do it.

It's a world gone mad and the zombie apocalypse has happened, or in this case, invasion of the braindeads. Cathleen Ross spins a fascinating tale of survival in a world where neighbours are eating neighbours, husbands having to kill wives who have turned, and only the strongest and toughest survive.

In the heart of all the craziness is Jack Lang, Navy captain. He's the leader of a group of highly disciplined Navy men who have answered his call to protect the few people there is left to protect from the braindeads. He's strong, tenacious and autocratic. His word is law and everything he does is for the survival of his people. I love Jack. If he wasn't so principled and so filled with integrity, if he wasn't so much about doing what's right for the protection of his people, he's be a total alphahole. As it is, he'd come across as a lot more of an alphahole with the way he treats Ruth, if not for all these qualities of his. Oh! Did I mention he's super hot? How could I forget that? I think it's because my Kindle melted from the heat he generated and it affected my brain!!

Ruth, on the other hand, has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. She's mean, selfish, opinionated, out of touch with reality and ungrateful. She also has the typical god complex that so many successful surgeons and doctors have. I don't understand why Jack likes her as much as he does, but then again, his choices are limited and she is physically attractive. It's a pity her personality is such a pill. It had a huge impact on how much I enjoyed the story. For the most part, I do not mind an independent, strong female character, but she needs to have qualities that make her likable. With Ruth those qualities don't show until almost too late, after she's been given a big dose of the reality of the world she now inhabits, and by then, my opinion of her had already cemented in my mind. After that, she shows a bravery and compassion that is admirable though I find myself hesitating over trusting her to not trample all over Jack after her behaviour in the beginning. It's not till the very end I stop waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The thing I really enjoyed about this story is that it's set in Mosman, an area I'm fairly familiar with. I even had lunch there very recently and saw where the naval base is located. I loved being able to picture in my mind where everything was. I know the Harbour Bridge and the Spit Bridge very well, and have even sat in the traffic while the Spit Bridge was raised to let tall ships through. I loved being able to visualise all of that. It brought so much of the story to life for me.

I would have liked to learn more about the virus, it's origins and finding a cure. I wanted to know why the antiviral worked on one person and not on another. Ms Ross has hinted about most of it but my inquisitive mind wants more information so I hope there will be another book which delves more into it.

View all my reviews


About the author

auCathleen Ross likes to write about the quirky side of life. She thought she was a "Sweet" writer until she was asked to write her first erotic story, sold it immediately and never looked back. Her first novel, Man Hunt sold to Black Lace/Random House. Man Hunt became the number one best selling erotic novel on the Publisher's website in 2006 and has been translated into German. She loves writing erotic short stories. Highlander is the second in her Forbidden Fantasy series along with Take Me and The Lover. Highlander is special to her because she dreamed the story - about a dispossessed Scottish noble named James, who had to fight to get his land back. She followed this up with Highlander in her bed and is currently working on her Highlander series.

She has also sold Psychic Sex and Shift into Pleasure to Harlequin Spice Briefs. Psychic Sex was included in the Naughty Bits Anthology. Finally, she thought she'd better write something her mother could read. Her romantic paranormal mystery, Tempting Trouble, a novel set in a waxing parlor was re-released as an indie, quickly followed by her September 2013 sale of Love, Lust and Lies to Harlequin. Her Demon Prince, an erotic paranormal romance is an August 2013 release.

Author links: Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads


Find Deanna around SOCIAL MEDIA:
blogger  blogger  rss  facebook  twitter  instagram  email  youtube  pinterest  google+  goodreads

5 comments:

  1. Thanks Deanna. Yes Ruth was a tough doctor, which one had to scratch in order to find her inner core.I enjoyed writing her though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, she definitely had an independent streak a mile wide. A bit dangerous in those times though.

      Delete
    2. But it was great that Jack was more than a match for her. He stayed one step ahead of her all the time.

      Delete
  2. It think that's the fun of writing a tough heroine is getting the hero to match her and that makes him more adorable because he was patient in winnng her love where in this apocalptic world, other men wouldn't have been.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He's more than patient. Most men would not put up with it.

      Delete