Espionage and secret agents make up this latest in the Elite Force series.

The book takes place in Africa where at first the SEALS with the PJ's backing them and Interpol try to breakup a pirating ring. Pararescueman Jose "Cuervo" James was actually rescued on this mission by Interpol agent Stella Carson. The two embark on a 5 month affair but end it when what they want out of the relationship gets in the way.

Now its a month after they've broken up and Jose is called in to help rescue her when she is taken hostage along with a group of college kids.

Jose and Stella have a ton of baggage they carry with them. Jose is a recovery alcoholic who fears commitment and family because most of his family was alcoholics. Stella mom who worked in Africa with the Peace Corps and died when she was a teenager left a gaping whole in her heart and she's always wanted to know what really happened to her.

This wasnt the strongest book of the series and it really made me miss Franco and McCabe.

The book is full of traitors and plenty of twist but left me unsympathetic to certain secondary characters. ( )

This is book 4 but I could jump right in and it could just as well have been book 1. So it worked really well as a stand alone.

The book jumps around a bit. Stella and Jose had a love affair and we get a few flashbacks as he tries to save her life. And then the story continues. The flashes were good and bad. I kind of wished we would have gotten it all at once instead of half a page here and there. I get very impatient.

Right, Stella, tough, searching for the truth, spying. Jose, tough, commanding job. Both with pasts. Two people who really do no have time to sit down and fall in love. But the attraction is there. And it's not like I can smack them over the head cos their jobs are tough!

While these two want and can't there is a kidnapping plot, and then a bigger something is gonna happen plot. A thrilling book that threw a few punches. ( )

Good book, with action, suspense and romance. Jose and Stella first met when she, as an Interpol agent, rescued him and his team during an anti-pirate mission. There was an immediate and intense attraction between them, and they began seeing each other whenever their work allowed. Their relationship was hot and fast, but began to fall apart when they realized they wanted different things from it. A month after parting ways, Jose is called in as part of a team to rescue Stella and other hostages in the African jungle. Their attraction reignites, but in order to do anything about it, they have to stay alive.

I liked both Jose and Stella. Both of them are intense, honorable, and very good at what they do. In order to focus on their mission, they have to try to set their emotions aside, something that is easier said than done. It's obvious that their feelings are just as strong as ever, but the obstacles to being together haven't changed.

Jose is a terrific guy. He can be sweet and romantic, as shown in the flashbacks of their relationship. He is also a recovering alcoholic, from a family of alcoholics, which has affected the way he looks at his future. He experienced the effect his mother's alcoholism had on himself and his sister as they were growing up, and saw what happened to his niece and nephew because of his sister's. Even though he has been sober for five years, he refuses to risk having children and ruining their lives. He's deeply in love with Stella, but he can't give her what she wants.

Stella is a really awesome heroine. She became a codebreaker for Interpol, but also uses her time to try to find out what really happened to her mother. While she was growing up, her mother was rarely home, as she was a Peace Corps worker in Africa, leaving Stella and her brothers to be raised by their father. When Stella was fifteen, her mother was killed in a car accident in Africa, but something never felt right to her. She wants to know more. She also has her life planned out so that, once she has had enough of her field work for Interpol, she'll take a desk job, find a man and have the family she always dreamed about. She never expected to find the man she wanted in the middle of a mission. Over the five months of their relationship she fell hard for him, and was heartbroken when he made it clear that his vision of the future wasn't the same as hers.

Their reunion was full of stress, emotion and passion. They have to work together to stop the terrorists and their plans, which means setting their emotions aside. But they also find it impossible to keep their hands off each other. They are miserable when they are apart, and know that there isn't anyone else who is so right for them, but finding a way to be together seems impossible. I really liked the way each of them respects the job that the other does, and doesn't try to change them. Knowing what they do about the other's job, fears for their loved one's safety run very deep. Stella tries to show Jose that he isn't anything like his mother and sister, but he can't see it. Jose is frustrated by the fact that Stella can't seem to accept how deep his fears are. Both of them have to find a way past their issues if there's to be any hope for them to be together.

The suspense aspect of the story was riveting and action packed. The initial preparation for Stella's rescue showed her strengths, as she found ways to pass information to the rescue team. The rescue itself was intense, with some questions about just what the purpose of the capture was. Information about a planned public attack comes to light, and the agencies present have to find a way to stop it. As the story goes on, danger, drama and secrets keep the action moving along. There is a huge twist at the end that I never saw coming. The final confrontation at the end was intense, and very well done.

I enjoyed the secondary characters, who added depth to the story, along with a few moments of lightness to break some of the tension. I especially enjoyed the parts with Bubbles and fuzzy things. I also liked the romance between Annie and Sam, as "mature" romances are few and far between in romance novels. Even as a secondary story line, it's nice to see. ( )

Another top notch read by Cathy Mann. ( )

Reviewed by: JoAnne
Book provided by: NetGalley
Review originally posted at Romancing the Book

Free Fall is a military adventure but also a romance novel. Stella and Jose had such chemistry you could feel it oozing off the page. They were both so alpha and gave 110% to their jobs and also to each and every assignment they were given. But they were always aware of each other with an almost hypersensitivity even when they didn’t want to be. The story was so real and believable and took so many twists and turns to keep me guessing at what might happen next. Even though a military story there was an unbelievable amount of romance and love along with friends and family, heartache and tears, some laughter and lots of intrigue. The prologue and epilogue were ingenious both to get me involved in the story and also give me the background on Stella and Jose. It also gave me the closure I needed with several unexpected happily ever afters.

It’s been awhile since I’ve read one of Mann’s books but she is definitely moving up my TBR pile. This book – fourth in the Elite Forces series – kept me engrossed so much that I didn’t want to put it down and finished it in less than 24 hours. I haven’t read books 1, 2 or 3 in the series but I will definitely be going back to do so. This was so well written that I didn’t realize it was part of a series and I didn’t feel there were any missing gaps to the storyline. I look forward to reading the other books in the series already written along with others that may be in the pipeline. Pick up a book by Mann if you haven’t done so already. You’ll be glad you did! ( )