Author: Serena Yates
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Pages/Word Count: 200 Pages
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Blurb: Luiz Oliveira, a US-born Brazilian, joined the US military when he was eighteen to escape his ambassador father’s tyranny. Once his active duty obligation ends he starts a private investigation and security company with his Army buddy, Reinaldo Valverde. Years later, Luiz learns Colombian drug lords have kidnapped his childhood friend and teenage crush, Dr. Pascal Taylor-Cornett. Geography and their careers may have kept them apart, but they have been attracted to each other since they were fifteen, so Luiz is determined to come to Pascal’s rescue.
Pascal is a dedicated emergency doctor who defied his rich father’s wishes to become a surgeon because making a contribution to world health means more to Pascal than money. Once qualified, he volunteers for Médicins sans Frontières, first in Sri Lanka and Chad, then in Buenaventura, Colombia. There he discovers that American-owned pharmaceutical Biomedical Inc. is selling ineffective vaccines to MSF, but before he can gather enough evidence to expose their scheme, he is kidnapped by a drug lord.
The battle for Pascal’s freedom isn’t easy, but some things are worth fighting for. Luiz and Pascal want a relationship—but they will have to stay a step ahead of their powerful enemies.
Review: Growing up together, Pascal and Luiz were both young men from wealthy families, and with overbearing fathers. They were doing their best to live their own dreams instead of the ones laid out by for them. Luiz believes the only way to get out from under his father’s rule is to join the military, while Pascal decides to become an ER doctor instead of becoming the surgeon his father wants him to be.
With these choices made, both men lose not only their families but each other. They haven’t actually confessed their feelings to one another, but there is definitely something brewing between them before they are separated and unfortunately, they don’t get to explore those feelings.
The two men reconnect through phone calls and emails years later. Before they could reconnect face to face, Pascal ends up being kidnapped by some pretty scary characters. Luckily, Luiz runs a company that can rescue Pascal, and that is exactly what he sets out to do. With the help of all of his co-workers Pascal is brought home safely, and he and Luiz begin the task of getting to know each other again. Sparks fly from the beginning, and the closeness they shared in their youth just seems to grow.
When it seems everything is going to work out, there are a couple people from their pasts who reemerge to throw a wrench into the works. When both men are thrown into a dangerous situation again, they begin to realize how much they really mean to one another. They will just have to survive these men who are out to kill them if they want to have a future together.
This was a great story filled with action packed scenes and plenty of steamy moments. I hadn’t read the three previous books before reading Fighting for Freedom, but it was written well as a standalone. I didn’t feel as if I was missing anything that affected this story.
I truly liked Pascal and Luiz, both individually and together. They were well written characters, and I found myself rooting for them from the beginning. I will definitely be reading the other three books so I can experience the rest of the story. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes hot military guys going after what they want, and the men they go after.
You can buy Fighting for Freedom (Modern Battles: Book Four) here:
