Review: The Commander

The Commander by Melanie Moreland
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Unpopular opinion, but this book did not work for me

I am a romantic suspense junky. It is almost all I read. I appreciate the tension suspense creates in a book. Relationship angst leaves me a bit cold. The action in romantic suspense helps pull the story forward while you have a building relationship (and lots of heat with all the adrenaline flowing!)

The Commander is book 3 in the Men of Hidden Justice series. I admit I did not read the first two books and after this, I am even less inclined to do so.

Although the blurb promised me all the elements I love in romantic suspense, this book did not deliver on any of that. I never felt Tally's fear, her hesitance at being out in the world. I also could not get a good handle on her as a person and character. Who was she really?

And Julian - our supposed alpha male that protects the innocent and deals out vengeance? All the reader gets is that he is a creepy stalker. It never felt as if he was keeping eyes on Tally for her safety but rather as an obsession - and not because of her personality either as he knew even less about her than the reader. And his vulnerable moment when the two are supposed to pull together? Well, there is vulnerable and then there is weak. He goes to the bar Tally works at after an emotional Op and gets blind drunk even after Tally tells him to ease up and cuts him off. And then off-page she has to get him home and care for him. His actions are not vulnerable, it is concerning that he deals with strong emotions in this way.

The organisation of the book was also weird. If you are a fan of Melanie Moreland
I think you will still enjoy the book so perhaps skip the spoiler below. 

The book starts with a scene where Julian is told his ex-wife has been spotted in an airport with a baby. So going in you know that they were together and then broke up. However, the build-up of the relationship holds little emotional connection. There are no hints or emotional build-up towards the break-up. There is only talk of the action and suspense and the reader is never really shown much of the inner workings of "getting the bad guy". And then we jump back to Julian picking Tally up from the airport. Oh and don't forget the final token "bad guy" thrown in for good measure. 

I felt a real disconnect with both the suspense and the emotional connection the couple is supposed to have. In all, this book left me feeling Blah.

I received an ARC from Grey's Promotions. This is my honest review.