I'm a Lindsay McKenna fan. Her romances cross genre as they are more of a general fiction with the romance added in. This makes them a very good reading experience, of which COURAGE UNDER FIRE is one of the better books I've read lately. Two people trying to recover from their own personal traumas find each other even though they weren't looking for romance.

Don't get me wrong, I love the forward thinking, environmentally aware characters. The hero who views the heroine as an equal, fantastic. I just didn't get the chemistry between them, no sexual tension and what connection they did form wasn't until past three quarter of the way into the book. It started of so well as a romance with suspense, but there was so much talking, not a lot of doing. What action there was was great but there wasn't enough of it. We need more farmers in romancelandia.

I bought this book out of optimism. I was ready to try one time. I was hoping for a good read with no silly political stances. A quick scan tells me that I'm not going to enjoy this.

Lindsay McKenna wrote some good books before she started injecting her irrational belief system into the texts.

Now her books are pretty much unreadable.

I'm not sure of the words to use with this one...

it was a sweet story with lots of heart, emotions and even some action. the town is interesting and I can't wait to read more about some secondary characters.

Everything you wanted to know about bees, but were afraid to ask is the alternate title to this book, I’m sure. There is a romance in here, and a decent one, with characters that are well developed. A little less bee info and I would give this 5 stars.

This is a voluntary review of an advanced copy.

I love when a new Wind River or Silver Creek book comes out and enjoyed this book as well.

One of the things that I enjoy about these books is there is a slow burn as the couple gets to know each other and appreciate them. There is no instant physical attraction then they jump into bed. Instead, they get to know the other person and find that they truly like them and want to be part of their life.

In this book, Cari is running from her murderous step-brother who has escaped from prison and wants to kill her since her testimony is what sent him to prison. She runs to Silver Creek where she finds a job as a beekeeper for Chase and his mother.

There was a slow growing romance, fast action, danger, and lots of drama throughout the book so it kept me engaged and entertained while I read it. The only negative that I had about the book was when Cari kept going on (and on) about finding a man who was not a Neanderthal and was a matriarchal man. I don't mind reading about it and find it interesting but not as much as it was brought up again and again. At times, I just had to skim over those parts as it was just a reaffirmation of what Cari had said previously.

Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and story, and liked their HEA.

This is a great book about empowering women and working together to save the Earth. Characters are well drawn and details are naturally revealed through character interaction. At times the women empowerment is a bit much, but it fits in with the story so it isn’t too distracting.
Overall a great book in a great series. Can’t wait to read the next one!

Cari Taylor is on the run from a murderer. She comes to Silver Creek looking to change her life and hide. Chase Bishop is the owner of the organic ranch Three Bars Ranch. He’s an ex-military sniper who employs former military men and women as ranch hands. When the new beekeeper reveals her dangerous situation, a smitten cowboy will jump to be the protection she needs. Cari & Chase will face Courage Under Fire when the face fear and danger.

Lyndsay McKenna takes you back to Silver Creek with the story of a woman facing the murderer she put in prison and her fear for those around her. An ex-military sniper turned rancher will become the help she’ll need to face the danger coming her way. Courage Under Fire takes the reader on a suspenseful, nail biting trip that will have you hoping these two characters will make it out alive. Along the way they’ll come to realize that their lives need to be entwined to continue past the fear and danger. Lyndsay McKenna brings two characters together that you wouldn’t think to have anything in common but have a lot more than you realize at first. She lulls you into thinking that these characters just maybe are in the clear, then the surprises come. She even gives this wonderful Wild Child that may just wing their way to being the hero of the entire story. A story that keeps you on the edge with the danger. Courage Under Fire that is that book, you won’t be able to put down until the end. Lyndsay McKenna doesn’t disappoint with the second story in her Silver Creek series. I’m very much looking forward to the next book in the series Strength Under Fire. Lyndsay McKenna’s Courage Under Fire and Silver Creek in her Silver Creek series are must read books for any and all of her fans as always or if you’re looking for a new author is a wonderful entrance into one of the Lyndsay McKenna worlds.

This is the second book in Lindsay McKenna's Silver Creek series. It can be read as a standalone though.
Cari and Chase had good chemistry. And I was looking forward to their romance.
But the book was too much a lecture for me. I can tell that the author must have done a great deal of research but she tried to impart everything she had learned. In fact it was distracting and pulled me right out of the story.
I'm happy she knows so much about bee keeping, raptor rehabilitation, etc. But i didn't pick up a non-fiction book.
Where's the romance and suspense?
It's a pass for me.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC for this book in exchange for my honest review.

Courage Under Fire by Lindsay McKenna is the second book in the Silver Creek series but it can be read as a standalone. This is a romance story between Cari and Chase with some suspense and action included. Cari is a beekeeping expert and Chase is a former marine sniper. An odd combination but it works. I loved all the characters, the plot, and the action. It was well written on these elements.
What I did not agree worked in the story at all was all the unnecessary details (almost felt like a textbook) and the heavy push with the author’s personal agenda. I struggled reading the details on beekeeping, raptor rehabilitation, women’s equality, organic farming, women’s empowerment, environmentalism, etc. Was this a romance suspense story or was it a push of the author’s personal agenda issues onto the reader. It was just too much! I am sorry to say that I became frustrated reading this book and had to skim through a lot of it due to these issues.
I love a good love story and if the above issues we removed or toned done considerably then I would have given it 4 stars. But reading a romance story that keeps going off to discuss all the above issues was why I had to rate it 3 stars. I read her previous book in this series and it also had the very same problem, but I was willing to give her another try. The author needs to decide what type of book she is writing (romance, educational, personal agendas) and stick with only one type. I am sorry for the negativity, but I read for entertainment and not to be frustrated with all the “commercials and side issues”.
I was given this advanced reader’s copy by Netgalley for my honest review.

Courage Under Fire by Lindsay McKenna is the second book in a new series by Lindsay McKenna. The new series is called Silver Creek and once again takes place in Wyoming. I found this author with her series Wind River Valley and enjoyed her writing. I did like how she shared information to help teach people about soldiers and PTSD, without being overwhelming.

Chase Bishop owns a huge ranch in Wyoming. His family has focused on sustainable and organic farming for the ranch. Unfortunately his old bee keeper was not able to maintain healthy hives, so Cari (Carissa) is hired to salvage the operation.

Carissa Taylor is a famous beekeeper and has found jobs over the world helping save and then plan for safe and well cared for bees. Her love of bees is documented in the book by a flashback (in a dream) to when she saved her first hive. Cari’s life is just where she wants it when her step brother breaks out of prison threatening to find and kill her. Cari accepts a job living on the ranch under an assumed name to help protect her. Then one day she sees her brother in the small town.

Cari and Chase have some chemistry and the ramping up of the step brother presence and threat being nearby increases the tenor of the story. However, as much as I found the straight storyline as interesting and enjoyed reading it, I found parts of the book long winded and “lecturey” on beekeeping, organic farming and a stronger matriarchal society. As much as I personally have beliefs that line up with the story, I felt they did not add to the story and as a matter of fact - took away from the story and may turn off readers. I also was unclear about how the step brother found them. Where there was a supposition about it, I was not satisfied with the explanation.

Lindsay McKenna's newest book, Courage Under Fire, will be enjoyed by many.

Wow...what a ride!

Cari is an environmentalist from her earliest memories, saving a bee colony at her school as a young child. Loving bees as she does, she is excited to take a job in Wyoming for two reasons. She wants to help keep an organic honey farm afloat after the first beekeeper totally let everything go, and she needs a place to hide from her step-brother who is a sociopath and has escaped prison. He is now looking for Cari because her testimony helped put him away.

Chase is the owner of the ranch where Cari is headed. He was a military sniper and has come back to Wyoming to care for the land. Cari tells Chase her reasons for wanting to take the job, because it's not fair to keep him in the dark. He is also has a raptor rehabilitation center on his land and she is intrigued with that as well.

The suspense was palpable as Cari was evading her step-brother Dirk. Loved this!!

The love story between Cari and Chase is somewhat of a slow burn, but they totally connect with each other in so many ways. Chase's understanding and appreciation of women and their abilities was perfectly done.

I also enjoyed the information about bees, raptors, and found it added to the story. Not only was there a fabulous love story, I learned some very important things about the natural world.

All in all another good book by Ms. McKenna. I have been reading her books for years and am always happy when another book is published.

I had the privilege of getting this book from NetGalley to read early. My opinion is my own.

Courage Under Fire by Lindsay McKenna is another in her Silver Creek series and features Cari Taylor and Chase Bishop. Cari had only come to Wyoming because of the wonderful e-interviews she had had with Mary Bishop and Theresa Sandoval which had excited her beyond words when they talked about Three Bars Ranch and the bee farm they were trying to start there. Bees were her life and this was so enticing. She needed to get away, to hide, and Wyoming was the perfect place. On the plane she had an attack of conscience and vowed to tell Mr. Bishop the truth of her desire to work her. It was the bees but it was also her stepbrother, Dirk, who hated her and had vowed to kill her. He would, too. She had witnessed him kill is girlfriend and had testified against him. Now he had escaped from prison and she was sure he was after her. Chase Bishop was an ex-sniper and after hearing her story was convinced they could protect her. After seeing her with the bees, he knew she was the one to rescue this enterprise. It was weeks later that Cari saw Dirk at the cafe in town. How had he found her? What was she to do?

The information about the bees was enthralling...so interesting. Cari was a likable young woman who cared about bees and other species, including raptors, as well. She was knowledgeable and insightful. She was such a change from the last guy Chase had hired who had left him with a whole lot of dead bees. Chase was an astute businessman who knew that he had to rely on the expertise of others to succeed. His mother had taught him well. He thought her could protect her, but he didn't have the resources a drug cartel had and all his skills nearly cost them both their lives. It was a race to safety. He had skills. She followed directions well. Dirk was a crazy man, a sociopath, and he almost won. It was an exciting chase. A book well worth the read.

I was invited to read a free ARC of Courage Under Fire by Netgalley. All opinions contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #courageunderfire

Fantastic blend of suspense and a sweet, slow-burn romance. The story opens as Cari, a beekeeping expert, dreams of a life-changing childhood moment. It is quickly followed by a phone call from the local sheriff, warning her that her stepbrother, a sociopathic killer, escaped from prison. Cari is terrified because Dirk threatened to kill her for her part in putting him in jail. Taking the sheriff's advice, Cari immediately leaves town, quits her job with the state of California, and applies for a new job in Wyoming. She lands that job at the historic Three Bars Ranch in Silver Creek.

Rancher Chase Bishop is a former Marine sniper who came home to heal after losing his first love. A man with a deep love for the land, his ranch is well-known for its natural growing practices and diversity. His latest project involves the production of organic honey. Unfortunately, the beekeeper he hired quit after his neglect killed almost all of the hives Chase set up. Determined to try again, Chase hires Cari to restore the hives and run the honey business.

Cari is conscious of the threat Dirk poses to her and those around her and tells Chase about the issue, sure he will send her packing. Much to her surprise, Chase listens intently to her story and clarifies that not only does he want her to stay, but he also promises to keep her safe. Between his training, the abilities of his ranch hands, many of whom are vets themselves, and the involvement of local law enforcement, he feels that the Three Bars Ranch is the safest place she can be.

I loved the development of the relationship between Cari and Chase. They connected immediately over their shared love of the land. I enjoyed the tour of the ranch and seeing Chase's love and pride for it. The conversation between him and Cari about the importance of the bees and the land was fascinating. I loved her first visit to the bees and Chase's reaction to seeing her with them. Over the next few weeks, they form a solid friendship, sharing many of their world views and life experiences. With Dirk's threats always at the back of her mind, Cari is especially fascinated by Chase's sniper training and asks him to teach her some of his escape and evasion techniques.

In addition to her beekeeping skills, Cari also has a keen interest in raptors. Chase has a raptor rehabilitation and education center on part of his land, and in her free time, Cari spends some time with one of the young red-tail hawks recovering from an injury. I had to laugh at the descriptions of this hawk, named Valkyrie, as the center's "wild child." Once again, intriguing information about a vital subject became an integral part of the story.

Underneath Chase and Cari's friendship simmers a growing attraction that both are reluctant to acknowledge. Cari is cognizant that Chase is not just a friend but also her boss and doesn't want to do anything to ruin either relationship. Meanwhile, Chase also recognizes the hazards of doing anything about the attraction. He's a modern man, raised to respect women and treat them as true equals. He doesn't look at Cari as a prize to be won or a sex object to be conquered. Eventually, they get to the point where neither can deny the growing feelings. Rather than ignore them any longer, Cari and Chase sit down and talk about them, covering everything from pet peeves to expectations. I loved their honest exchange and desire to see where it goes without rushing anything.

Meanwhile, Dirk's vendetta is never far from Cari's mind. We get a couple of dips into his point of view, which only emphasizes the danger she is in. There is an intense scene in which Dirk unexpectedly appears in Silver Creek. Cari's fear leaped off the page as she uses her newly learned skills to evade his notice. I loved seeing her handle the situation despite her fear. I could feel the frustration of both the sheriff and Chase as Dirk evaded capture. The intensity picks up later when Chase and Cari are attacked while taking Valkyrie to her new forever home. I was glued to the pages as Chase used his training to evade their attackers. The final confrontation was a nail-biter with critical intervention coming from an unexpected source.

The ending was terrific as Chase and Cari moved forward together. Chase's big moment was sweet as his love for her was expressed in an incredibly beautiful and unique way. I hope they make appearances in future books.

Of all the secondary characters, Chase's mother, Mary, is my favorite. She is a woman of incredible foresight and determination and a force to be reckoned with in the community. She is the CEO of her own organic grocery business and has been the inspiration, and frequent financial backer, of similar enterprises in the area. She also has a loving heart and a way of making anyone feel welcome and safe. Her influence on Chase made him the man he is today.

One of the things I loved about this book was the detail that added depth to the characters and the story. The information on bees and beekeeping was intriguing, and I loved the emphasis on the importance of those tiny creatures. Various raptors have been included in others of the author's books, and Valkyrie's inclusion in this one was fascinating. Again, the information provided was an integral part of the story and not just thrown in to make word count. The descriptions of Chase's time as a sniper were both amazing and heartbreaking. He didn't downplay the effects of that time on his psyche, but he could also use those skills when needed.

Working with nature, bees, birds, animals requires a certain sensibility. Understanding connections between species and their environment, natural or otherwise is essential to the wellbeing of everything. So in COURAGE UNDER FIRE Lindsay McKenna first sets the stage by teaching us how awareness of our surroundings is imperative to survival. Animal and human alike.
Chase learned that in the military. But candidly his mother Mary had taught him early on to take note of his surroundings. In farming and ranching taking care and note of the environment is crucial. In the military the same holds true.
Cari comes to the Bar Three ranch to escape her own personal environment that became toxic since her stepbrother Dirk’s escape from prison. Cari was eyewitness to his killing. It had left her as his most obvious target. So she winds up in Silver Creek with Chase on his family’s ranch. Cari had all the necessary credentials and experience but was enormously worried about bringing any danger to the Bar Three ranch and it’s folk.
Cari has a way with animals, most amazing is her interaction with honeybees and birds of prey. It becomes clear to Chase that having Cari reestablish the ranches bee population is a smart decision. Having Cari use his huge ranch as a safe place until Dirk is captured is also smart. As Chase learns more about the ranches bee population he takes advantage of time spent with Cari to give her some survival pointers.
Watching the relationship between Chase and Cari makes you think of two parts of a whole. They are so different and yet their worlds mesh seamlessly.
COURAGE UNDER FIRE isn’t my first Lindsay McKenna experience. There are always so many fun facts throw into a Lindsay McKenna story. And here is a little hint - any little tidbit just may be used again in the story so pay attention. When it reappears it will certainly bring a smile to your face. I call it vintage Lindsay.
Lindsay McKenna characters are smart, sassy, strong, well developed and conceived. Never more so than those you meet in COURAGE UNDER FIRE. These characters have been bred for their role in this wondrous story centered on taking care of things like environment and people. The interdependency of all living things is central to COURAGE UNDER FIRE. Learning to respect that interconnection in the environment just may be crucial to your survival. That is certainly the case in COURAGE UNDER FIRE.

Cari Taylor was living her dream life. As a bee keeping consultant for the state of California, she traveled the state helping farmers, and traveled the world as well. It all came crashing down the night she received a call that her step brother had escaped from jail. She had helped put him there and he swore he would kill her if he ever got the chance.

Scared and unsure, she accepts a job from Chase Bishop. The Wyoming ranch owner ran a natural organic ranch, raising a variety of crops free of pesticides and chemicals. He's looking to add bees and natural honey to his list of crops and he needs a professional bee keeper to get the project up and running. Worried that trouble may end up following her, she shares her concerns with Chase who seems unconcerned. As a former marine sniper, Chase assures her he can keep her safe.

Cari enthusiastically settles into her new job, feeling at home on the ranch, making friends with the ranch hands, and gaining confidence studying self defense techniques with Chase. She finally feels safe enough to head into the small town of Silver Creek on her own only to have the past catch up with her in the form of her step brother Dirk. Fighting the panic, she makes her way back to the ranch, ready to run again. But Chase is determined to keep her safe, and keep her close.

I have read Lindsay McKenna's cowboy stories for years. She always imbeds in her stories her strong love of the earth, of natural and spiritual healing, and the importance of protecting the land. Cari is a bee keeper because Ms McKenna wants the reader to grasp the importance of raising bees, protecting them and working to increase the bee population. Unfortunately, her enthusiasm sometimes over takes the story and Cari and Chase get lost in the background. When returning to the plot, it took me a few pages to switch gears out of lecture mode and back into the suspense of the story. That being said, the story finishes strong, the last third of the book being a page turner.

This is the second book of the Silver Creek series, but it can easily be read as a stand alone. The characters from the first story are alluded to, but most of the characters are either new or reintroduced. Despite some of the issues with this story, I enjoyed the book and I look forward to the next book in the series set to come out in the Fall.

Courage Under Fire is the second title in Lindsay McKenna's Silver Creek series. Since I haven't yet read the first in this series, I was happy to realize that it worked just fine as a standalone. There were quite a few things I liked about this novel, and quite a few things that I didn't, and for that reason, the best I can give this novel is 3 stars.

The novel opens with the heroine, Cari Taylor, asleep and deep in a dream about her childhood experience in day care. Her day care provider noticed a nest of honeybees in a tree near their playground, called the children indoors, and called the fire department to have them come, kill the bees and remove the nest, despite Cari's pleas not to kill the bees. In a scene reminiscent of Fried Green Tomatoes, Cari, daughter of an environmentalist, women's equal rights advocate, and beekeeper, sneaks outside undetected, reaches into the nest, grabs the queen bee, settles her in a new location, and the rest of the bees follow, so that when the firemen arrive, the bees are gone, and Cari saved them without being caught. If that, and learning that present-day Cari was not only a beekeeper, but a beekeeping consultant worldwide, it would have been enough, but that didn't happen, as I'll soon explain.

Young Cari's father died long before his time, and when her mother remarried, she gained a loving stepfather and a stepbrother--Dirk, clearly a sociopath, who tormented her as a child, and who, by the time he was 20, had shot and killed his girlfriend. Unfortunately, Cari witnessed the murder and testified to it in court, resulting in a long prison sentence and Dirk's vow that as soon as he got out, he was going to hunt her down and kill not only Cari, but her mother as well.

Plot-wise, so far, so good, as we move to the present day, when Dirk escapes prison, and Cari, fearing for her life, leaves her home and takes a job using her beekeeping talents on a ranch in Wyoming, where she meets the hero of this novel, Chase Bishop, former Marine sniper, and son of a woman much like Cari and her mother--an independent, empowered matriarch, smart, innovative, an environmentalist, and proprietor of an organic farm market and organic food business, and with a serious problem. The beekeeper she'd hired managed to kill off most of her 20 hives, and Cari soon accepts a 2-year contract to restore the hives and help keep the organic honey business going. It's also a great place to hide from her violent, drug-dealing stepbrother. Nice, suspenseful set-up to a romantic suspense novel, but after that, there were problems.

Had the author stuck to the basic story line I just outlined, this would have been an excellent read, but I never expected that more than half of this novel would be a doctoral dissertation on apiculture (beekeeping), raptor rehabilitation, organic farming methods, herbalism, environmentalism, women's equality and empowerment, and their attempts to avoid and/or re-educate patriarchal men. While I not only applaud Ms. McKenna's advocacy on these issues, and actually share them, the seemingly endless minutia of facts and extraneous details, up to and including the pattern of dinnerware on the ranch, it was all I could do to finish reading this novel.

Luckily, by the time I reached the last 20% of this novel, the action, the danger, and finally, the romance between Chase and Cari gets back on track, and this once again becomes a romantic suspense novel with a really intense life or death struggle. And finally, Cari and Chase begin to acknowledge their feelings for one another, but again, I wish the author had stuck to more forward momentum, emotional connection "on-screen," and action, rather than more seemingly endless conversations between Cari and Chase. Yes, there's an HEA ending, but it would have greatly benefited this story for the editor to have made or suggested some serious cuts to the very long, drawn-out passages that were quite informative but which caused much of this novel to become more of a textbook on the aforementioned issues, than a romance, and which unfortunately almost made the action in this novel to draw to a complete standstill.

While I don't think this is a bad or poorly written novel, Ms. McKenna is a highly skilled author whose books I've enjoyed for decades, but I think this novel would have been a far more engrossing read with the edits I mentioned.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions stated are my own.

There was a lot I did like, the story line, the interesting facts on beekeeping, the naturalist way of running a ranch and giving women positions in a basically mans’ world. Cari a beekeeping consultant who goes into hiding from her escaped convict step brother that has vowed to kill her. She winds up in Wyoming on Chase’s ranch, who is into natural resources in running his ranch. Having been brought up to respect the land and respect women, his ranch has always welcome women to work on the ranch. He is in need of a Beekeeper and that is how Cari winds up there. Afraid for her life she does tell Chase about her brother, is most likely hunting her down. As a ex-sniper, Chase is ready to protect Cari with his life if need be.
Feeling developed between the two, but is awkward.....Boss...employee. They decide to discuss their feelings.....this was very long winded. Which after a while turned me off, I was almost was to the point of not finishing the book. I am glad I did get thru that part, the rest was action packed and very good. If it wasn’t for that one part I would have given 4 stars.
I received this book from netgalley and Kensington publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Cari, a beekeeping expert who also knows a lot about raptors, is on the run from a vicious stepbrother who has broken out of prison, so she takes a job working for Chase, who wants to create organic beekeeping on his Wyoming ranch. He's a retired Marine sniper who has a soft side. You know how this is going to go, don't you? It's quite trope-y and there are big plot holes. I liked learned about bees but the bees are actually less important to the story than a raptor. I want to like this series but it's sort of a meh for me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Sweet romance with a frightening issue. You can run, but you cannot hide is all too evident in this tale. Lots of interesting bee details. A bit much on the unnecessary verbiage. Some exciting and suspenseful moments along the way. Eager to get to the happily ever after, so I did skim over not only the intimate parts, but also some of the rest. There are also inconsistencies or head shaking moments of how was that possible. Still an enjoyable read.