No Control, by Shannon K. Butcher

No Control is Ms Butcher’s second novel, following her debut with No Regrets. This is my first contact with Ms Butcher’s writing, thanks to SuperLibrarian Wendy. The novel is marketed as romantic suspense. A warning, though: Lana suffers from PTSD and some of her nightmares include short descriptions of the abuse she suffered after being captured by terrorists.

No hiding

Lana Hancock knows all about danger—and betrayal. Eighteen months ago, she was captured by a terrorist group known as the Swarm while one of its members, a rugged man with sinfully dark eyes, did nothing to help her. Now when she’s freed and desperate to put it all behind her, the unthinkable happens. The Swarm is targeting Lana once again and the man who stood silently by has become her protector. But can she trust him?

No escape

Delta Force operative Caleb Stone will never forget the hatred shining in Lana’s eyes. Ordered to take down the Swarm by infiltrating its ranks, Caleb couldn’t blow his cover to save her—no matter how much it haunted him. Now, gifted with a second chance, he vows to move heaven and earth to protect her… and fulfill her every desire. But the Swarm has reorganized. It’s more powerful than ever and hell-bent on revenge…

The blurb is, as usual, meh. So here’s a brief summary.

Lana goes to Armenia as a volunteer of some sort. She and the rest of her group are captured, tortured and killed one by one, until she’s the only one left. At the last possible second, she’s saved. A year and a half later, she’s struggling with nightmares, memories and guilt—and not just survivor’s guilt. Lana has a secret, and while she’s convinced that by keeping it she’s also protecting her family, it is also damaging her already fractured psyche.

Caleb’s boss is convinced that Lana knows more than what she told them after her rescue. After her name starts being mentioned in less than desirable channels, he assigns Caleb to protect Lana from the bad guys and to get the information out of her, by whatever means necessary.

The bad guys are indeed hot on Lana’s trail—although things are more complicated on that front than what meets the eye. There is, in fact, a neat little twist there that I enjoyed. (more…)