PUBLICATION DATE: JANUARY 1, 2011

arine sniper, Colton Neely (aka Cowboy) was one of the best.  He never missed a target, which made him invaluable.  Even after being held as a prisoner of war in Iraq and suffering from repeated flashbacks, the Marines were unwilling to grant him an early discharge him.  Struggling to lead a normal life, he accepts the offer to become a member of an elite team of covert operatives called Nightshade.  While working with the team helps, he still does not feel as though a normal life is within reach.

Afraid of his secret past and covert nature of his current job, eight months after meeting Piper Blum at the department store where she works, he is still fearful of asking her for a date.   Little does Colton know that Piper not only wants him to ask her out, but she has her own secrets—secrets that if revealed could result in her father’s death.  With both hiding their dark pasts and double lives, they must decide if they can trust each other to not only rescue Piper’s father, but to save a country.

The first book in this series, Nightshade, was pleasant surprise.  Since I’m not a huge fan of romantic suspense, the fact I loved the book speaks highly of its quality.  Even though Cowboy was not the lead inNightshade, I adored his character and couldn’t wait to read this one which focuses on his story.  While I enjoyed Digitalis and particularly Cowboy’s background and current struggles, I was not as content with the romantic aspect nor did I easily embrace his romantic interest, Piper.

Digitalis starts out incredibly strong, with a gripping prologue which perfectly sets up Colton’s personal struggles.  It excels in presenting a ‘damaged’ character trying to function in reality while his mind keeps returning to the past.  Kendig does a beautiful job of making sure the reader falls in love with Colton and regardless of the decisions he makes, it’s hard to feel anything but sympathy for him.  However, it’s that deep connection with Colton that caused me to struggle with Piper’s part in the book.

Piper’s character never felt authentic.  For someone who supposedly spent time in the military, she seemed to be rather unprepared for the situations she found herself in.  Her constant fear and inability to make critical decisions seems unrealistic given her background.  Instead of an adult trained to handle adversity, she seems more like a dependent child.  Not only did I find her background not matching her actions, I struggled with her decisions.  Personally I found her choice to bring danger to Colton’s family unacceptable and while it made for a good story, it made it difficult for me to sympathize with her when the tears started pouring.

Since I lacked true sympathy for Piper, it made the romantic angle feel a bit intrusive and slowed the overall progression of the story.  About a third of the way through, Colton precisely nailed my thoughts concerning their relationship.  They really didn’t know each other, which caused internal thoughts of love to feel highly questionable.

The military portion of Digitalis is spectacular.  I loved the action sequences, the plot, and again the glimpses of the soldier’s struggles.  This is the heart of the series and really shines.  Kendig is at her best when writing the tragic story of these discarded heroes and the slow process of rebuilding their lives.  The desire to know what happened to Colton during his missions and the struggle with his personal demons kept me reading late into the night.

While I didn’t like the romantic angle as well this time around, I still enjoyed Digitalis.  This is a highly entertaining series complete with great action and passionate characters.  I look forward to the next book,Wolfsbane, set to release in July 2011.  Though this is planned as a four book series, I hope both Kendig and Barbour Press will reconsider and add a few more—maybe a story that features an Air Force character?  I’m beginning to think that perhaps there’s a little between branch prejudice going on.