Amy's 5 star ARC review of Charlie Foxtrot by Lani Lynn Vale

Synopsis

Foster made a promise in his hospital bed when his leg was taken from him that he’d get back to one hundred percent. Leg or no leg, he’d get back on the SWAT team if it killed him. 

And he does get back. But he has a problem. 

He can’t let go of the past. 

The anger burns deep, making his emotions volatile at the best of times. 

Then he meets Blake with her haughty attitude and inability to distinguish the difference between a pocket knife and a sword. 

Little by little, she makes him whole again, one bad joke at a time. 

She doesn’t see the revenge in his eyes, though. Doesn’t see the rage burning deep. 

Rage so pure and all encompassing, that he knows it’ll explode. 

It’s just a matter of time. 

What Foster doesn’t realize, though, is that the love that Blake has for him is enough to fight his demons, one kiss at a time. 

Foster never stood a chance.

5 stars -- meaning that going back and picking up every single one of these books is a MUST! 

I’m going to be all over the place with this review because one I’m ticked at myself. Little story; I have had these books on my radar for weeks and just hadn’t swung over to click them up. A few days ago, an ARC of Charlie Foxtrot showed up on my kindle I thought “NICE .. now I will get to see what these guys are all about.” I finished the current ARC I was reading and then dove in yesterday.

SILLY SILLY GIRL ….. Yeah that’s me. WHY am I silly – because I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THROWING EVEYRTHING ASIDE AND READING THIS THE MINUTE IT SHOWED UP ITS THAT DAMN GOOD. AND YES IM SQUEALING WITH DELIGHT! 
Lani Lynn Vale is something else. I laughed; said hell yes, oh shit, or at minimum had a smile on my face throughout this entire book. This girl can write her ass off. 

So if you hadn’t read any of Code 11 – KPD SWAT like my dumbass then you don’t know that Lani gives us words of wisdom at the beginning of each chapter. These words to live by are ether thoughts from the characters themselves or from … “words of wisdom.” I found myself highlighting several of these and reading them to my hubby last night the minute he worked through the door and headed for the shower. (Yes he was looking at me like I was cray cray but that’s normal.) At one point I was laughing so hard he said “I don’t even know what you are trying to say.” --- bwwwwaahhhh! That is your first gift from her in these books. 

Second you have the most fascinating group of characters intertwined in the pages of the story. Charlie Foxtrot is the story of Foster Spurlock. Foster lost his leg in a horrific incident protecting his brother Miller and sister in law Mercy from “CB.” There is plenty of back story so if you haven’t read the previous books you are good. These books are written as standalones. Foster is bound and determined to make it back to SWAT and that is exactly what he has done. The guys at the station refer to Foster as “Crush” which is getting old, leaving him disgruntled. The constant rimming by the guys sucked so he was ready for the ticked off woman, whoever she was at the front of the station with her snotty attitude demanding she see Office Spurlock; Badge number 654. 

Blake was a woman on fire. She was livid that some despicable police officer would give her grandfather, a fine man, a veteran a ticket for having a pocket knife on him. Who in the hell does that? After exchanging some more sass Foster pulls out his phone and shows Blake that not only was her grandfather carrying more than a pocket knife but it was closer to a butcher knife. Blake now reeling with her grandfather and being followed outside by Foster lays into her grandfather, comes back with a “pocket knife” that turns out to be a double sided switchblade that is also illegal. Storming off Blake is livid and runs for cover back home to drop her grandfather off with her parents hoping she hasn’t just screwed up the opportunity her Uncle Darren, also known as Chief Rhodes at KPD, had just gotten her at KPD as a dispatcher. LOL – this story just gets better and better … but right there is exactly what happens to open up the floodgates to this hysterical read. 

The banter between all of these characters is entertainment in itself especially all the Foster brothers. You have everyone or what I believe is everyone on the pages of this book. There is the snake in the grass of an ex husband David whom also is an officer at KPD, the legendary Lou Shank Rhodes (Blake’s Dad), the SWAT team (Downy, Luke, Nico, Bennett, Michael, Miller, John and James), guys from the The Dixie Wardens and Free which let me just tell you is comprised of police officers, Marines, Army Rangers, Navy SEALS and more. Just throw me in a mosh pit with all of that and shut the door. DANG! 

I know I absolutely cannot do this book justice through a simple review and it seems like Im babbling along here but I can tell you this series is a must read. Its an easy read but a great storyline. There is drama, crazy stuff happening to Blake, a pet bird that is awesome, continuous stages of hysterical laughter but also some pretty real to life heart wrenching events. 

Im planning on picking up the previous releases as soon as I am done writing this and also the future releases. I get giddy with these types of series because with all the characters running through the pages the books we HOPE to get from Lani could be endless. I went back and counted six books in the Dixie Wardens series I have to pick up and an additional six in the Freebirds series. I have been lost and now I am FOUND ladies. Go grab all of these up including the other series I just listed and get to reading. 

Lani gives up a preview of Kill Shot releasing September 3rd. Bennett’s story, at the end of Charlie Foxtrot

Coupe De Grace -- Michael’s story is coming soon --- (Fist pumps the air!) 

Review to post on Ramblings From Beneath The Sheets blog on release day. I was so thankfully gifted an ARC for an honest review.