Annie's Wild Ride

Rating:
Summary: A touching and intimate book
Review: This book does for romance what Anatomy of a Murder did for mysteries. It takes apart a broken realtionship to see what went wrong, and gives you an intimate look inside why love is sometimes not enough, and why pride can hurt even the strongest relationship. Once the walls are down, though, and honesty comes in to cleanse the wounds, Annie and Paul are able to remember why they loved each other, and to build something even stronger than before.

Rating:
Summary: A wild read about a dueling duo.
Review: This is the first book of Alina Adams I've read. I found the story to be a 4 star selection for me. For one who likes to read military life stories, it's great. Annie & Paul are both in the United States Air Force and in competition for everything they strive for. Paul is jealous of Annie and the things she accomplished. She was the first woman to achieve many of the accolades he wanted for himself. Paul's mother, on the other hand, was the same type of woman as Annie. She, too, had been in the Air Force, and had wanted many of the things Annie was achieving. Paul's mother tells Annie to "follow your dream". Paul was jealous of this. Paul didn't know how to express his love for Annie; he only knew how to disapprove of her. This wrecked their marriage and they divorced. Annie, however, wanted to know Paul's innermost thoughts and he didn't know how to respond to her except to be negative to her. Their daughter, Amelia (Ace), just wanted her folks back together. Annie and Amelia go off on a skiing trip. Annie is flying the plane that is taking them on their trip. It crashes and they are lost in the freezing weather. Paul goes through Hell and high water to find them, discovering what is really important in his life - Annie & Amelia. Annie is forced to realize what matters most to her is Paul & Amelia! All in all, it's a good story with a good story line. The moral of the story is that you need to give and take in a marriage, be honest with your mate, be proud of their achievements (not jealous) and let the other person grow in order to make it work!

Rating:
Summary: Good Book - Great Story Line - Worth Reading
Review: This is the first book of Alina Adams I've read. I found the story to be a 4 star selection for me. For one who likes to read military life stories, it's great. Annie & Paul are both in the United States Air Force and in competition for everything they strive for. Paul is jealous of Annie and the things she accomplished. She was the first woman to achieve many of the accolades he wanted for himself. Paul's mother, on the other hand, was the same type of woman as Annie. She, too, had been in the Air Force, and had wanted many of the things Annie was achieving. Paul's mother tells Annie to "follow your dream". Paul was jealous of this. Paul didn't know how to express his love for Annie; he only knew how to disapprove of her. This wrecked their marriage and they divorced. Annie, however, wanted to know Paul's innermost thoughts and he didn't know how to respond to her except to be negative to her. Their daughter, Amelia (Ace), just wanted her folks back together. Annie and Amelia go off on a skiing trip. Annie is flying the plane that is taking them on their trip. It crashes and they are lost in the freezing weather. Paul goes through Hell and high water to find them, discovering what is really important in his life - Annie & Amelia. Annie is forced to realize what matters most to her is Paul & Amelia! All in all, it's a good story with a good story line. The moral of the story is that you need to give and take in a marriage, be honest with your mate, be proud of their achievements (not jealous) and let the other person grow in order to make it work!

Rating:
Summary: Strongly Recommend!
Review: This story was a wonderful fantasy (5 stars for that) but a grossly inaccurate representation of life at the US Air Force Academy, and life as a USAF pilot. (one star for horrific research) The characters totally skipped pilot training. That's like a surgeon skipping residency! And they hopped from one type of airplane to another, including the common assumption that fixed wing pilots can fly helicopters, too. That would be like a doctor practicing OB-GYN one month, and switching to podiatry the next. The author could easily, I think, put an author's note explaining that fact complicated her plot, and that would have been satisfactory for me, and understandable. But to pass off what she wrote about as an accurate representation of USAF life and combat is unforgiveable.

Rating:
Summary: grossly inaccurate
Review: This story was a wonderful fantasy (5 stars for that) but a grossly inaccurate representation of life at the US Air Force Academy, and life as a USAF pilot. (one star for horrific research) The characters totally skipped pilot training. That's like a surgeon skipping residency! And they hopped from one type of airplane to another, including the common assumption that fixed wing pilots can fly helicopters, too. That would be like a doctor practicing OB-GYN one month, and switching to podiatry the next. The author could easily, I think, put an author's note explaining that fact complicated her plot, and that would have been satisfactory for me, and understandable. But to pass off what she wrote about as an accurate representation of USAF life and combat is unforgiveable.

Rating:
Summary: Often like pulling teeth!
Review: To use my own mere words to describe this book would be a gross injustice. It was asbsolutely perfect. I must admit picked up this book because it was on the RITA AWARD list but wasn't too thrilled with the premise. Reading about a relationship between a couple that had been divorced for years did not appeal to me. Afterall, how endearing, or romantic can a story be about two pilots whose marriage ended and had been over for several years. I was afraid it would deal with a romance gone sour and rekindled. I had no idea it would deal with a romance that needed no rekindling - it was an inferno that never died. How Adams manages to go back and forth from past to present without allowing the reader to lose the momentum is a sign of her phenomenal writing skills. Every transition is perfectly timed and pulls together the story in a way to keep you up until all hours to finish. Who could ever guess that the most heartfelt emotion would come from the hardest, tough guy - hero you will come across in fiction? This is a book you will not hestitate to pass on to your friends.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Perfect - No other way to describe!
Review: To use my own mere words to describe this book would be a gross injustice. It was asbsolutely perfect. I must admit picked up this book because it was on the RITA AWARD list but wasn't too thrilled with the premise. Reading about a relationship between a couple that had been divorced for years did not appeal to me. Afterall, how endearing, or romantic can a story be about two pilots whose marriage ended and had been over for several years. I was afraid it would deal with a romance gone sour and rekindled. I had no idea it would deal with a romance that needed no rekindling - it was an inferno that never died. How Adams manages to go back and forth from past to present without allowing the reader to lose the momentum is a sign of her phenomenal writing skills. Every transition is perfectly timed and pulls together the story in a way to keep you up until all hours to finish. Who could ever guess that the most heartfelt emotion would come from the hardest, tough guy - hero you will come across in fiction? This is a book you will not hestitate to pass on to your friends.

Rating:
Summary: Often like pulling teeth!
Review: Yes, Alina Adams can write a pacy yarn and the crash/survival/rescue scenes were terrific, as were the love scenes and almost anything with Amelia in it, but there were times (often) where Annie & Paul (especially Paul!) needed to take a good hard look at themselves! Such bright people - wouldn't you think that they might have taken a cue from history continually repeating itself & done something about their communication skills? Yep, it all turned out OK in the end but don't read this one if you are looking for a relaxing read (or a hero you can like).....or if you are from a services family - you may want to give Paul a hard shake in the hope that it might rattle some sense into his duty-bound/controlling skull!