Surrender Your "Getting Treated Like a Lady" Card in Hover by @Anne_A_Wilson

I never gave much thought to helicopter flying on an aircraft carrier. When I think aircraft carrier and Navy, I think F-14s, F-35s. I think of tailhooks and arresting wires. But now I'll def give some thought to the helos. Having read this book, I gotta admit they're pretty bad ass. (This is coming from an F-16 mechanic so that's a compliment. We tend to be loyal to our birds.)

There's some incredible flying and emergency scenarios in this story. There's heart-pounding moments and lots of educational bits about the Navy and life on an at-sea deployment, from how the men behave on ship and leave, to the different attitudes toward women, to having/initiation, to small spaces. And I learned a lot about helicopters.

And I love how strong this woman is, and yet at times, I thought her weak..hold on... By the time I finished the story, I realized she wasn't weak; she was human. I appreciate that a strong heroine is presented to us in a realistic way. She's not perfect, not fearless. We're not talking about a comic book hero, but a woman with thoughts, feelings, desires, insecurities. And she overcomes them, from her fear of water to her fear of love.

And through her we see the constant battle a woman in a man's world--namely a Navy carrier in the middle of the ocean with only one other woman aboard--goes through. It's a constant tightrope--don't say the wrong thing, don't use the wrong tone, don't wear the wrong clothes...


I thought the heart-pounding situation was a tad implausible and the build-up to answers took too long, like why she was on every flight rotation and who the Aussie guy was. It took took long for her and us, the readers, to get answers, in my opinion. That's my only quibble.

But the romance, the writing describing Sara's thoughts and feelings toward Eric....superb. I was right there with her, feeling it, experiencing it, and that doesn't happen often for me in the more romancey scenes. I also found myself growing invested in some of the side characters. By the end of the story, I cared about them too and wanted them to get home to their wives and babies.

A solid read. I received this via Amazon Vine. Quotes may not be exact in the final copy.