Blog Tour & Giveaway - INVINCIBLE by Alana Albertson

INVINCIBLE

(The Trident Code #1)

by Alana Albertson

Publication Date: March 9, 2014

Genres: Contemporary, Romance,Suspense, Young Adult

I’ll be honest with you—I'm no hero. Sure, the media tries to brand every Navy SEAL as some kind of Batman dressed in cammies. There’s even a line in one of our cadences: “Superman is the man of steel, he ain’t no match for Navy SEAL.” You've seen the movies—we’re indestructible, invincible. But that night, the one you read about in the papers … all I really wanted to do was get laid.

One harmless fuck with a Curaçao whore, no strings attached. I picked her out of a lineup—wild, dark hair, long legs and a crooked smile. After she sucked me off, I relaxed back onto the creaky, cum-stained cot, thankful for the blissful moments she gave me when I actually forgot for a second the faces of my buddies who died because I made the wrong call, the tears of the children I couldn't save, and the eyes of the enemies I slaughtered during their last seconds of life.

But before I left, her hazel eyes peered into my soul. She whispered in a distinct Californian accent, “My name is Annie Hamilton. I'm an American citizen. I was kidnapped from a cruise ship five years ago. You're my last hope. Please save me.”

One desperate plea. This wasn’t a Hollywood blockbuster or a New York Times best-selling thriller. I knew that this time there was no room for excuses, no margin for errors. I had one chance to put the cape on and be her hero.

INVINCIBLE

(The Trident Code #1)

by Alana Albertson

ARC Review

Re-release: June 8, 2014

My rating: 4 of 5 ⭐️

Patrick is a navy seal on short leave in Curacao when he engages with a prostitute who whispers in his ear that her name is Annie Hamilton, an American who disappeared off a cruise ship five years ago. After his initial shock and disbelief, his sense of duty and responsibility take over and he takes it upon himself to orchestrate a rescue mission with the help of his closest friends.

A mere shadow of her former self, Annie is barely surviving her dehumanizing conditions until the arrival of the kind military man. She wants to believe he can help her, but hope is difficult to cling to when daily circumstances push you further and further away from anything resembling normalcy. Fear has guided her for so long that hope is an almost painful experience. 

Events have made it more complicated than anticipated to rescue Annie, but Patrick is not about to give up. And even when Annie is finally brought to safety, Patrick finds it difficult to step back into the shadows after his part is done. There is something about Annie that keeps drawing him back and when Annie seeks him out and shares some more of her experience with him, he discovers she might not be completely out of danger yet.

******

An awesome synopsis, one of the best I've read and I am happy to report that the story that followed, with the new addition of Annie's point of view as well as some very compelling and strong story motivators, is tied in much better with this re-write!! Well done!

A very sensitive story to write on many levels, not in the last place because of the slightly unfair judgement that is being placed on our hero for visiting a whorehouse in the first place. But let's be fair here..... we are talking about a young, unattached military man who is deployed for months at a time, who is seeking some 'companionship' and physical release, unaware what he is walking into. Aside from which, he does not hesitate to take action as soon as he sees the lay of the land. It is easy to condemn from our comfy armchairs, with our needs provided for at will, but there are times where we would do well to try and place ourselves in the battered shoes of others, whose circumstances aren't always as uncomplicated. 

Alana Albertson has been very careful to write these characters with the respect they deserve and without judgement, and that is how I've chosen to read them.

The attention for the difficult adjustments after the harrowing years are over for Annie, are what makes this story special. This is so much more than a simple happily ever after. This story takes you beyond the end of the 'nightmare' and shows some of the permanent scars left after all the dust has settled. The irreperable damage done to the lives of victims and loved ones, but also the unbelievable resilience of spirit and healing power of love.

I so appreciate the courage of Alana Albertson to listen to her readers, to go back, enhance her book and ensure that the story she intended to tell is heard. That took some guts! Bravo!

✨A dark and disturbing but also very courageous and touching story of survival against the odds....✨

**Copy provided in return for an honest review.**

I’d give it another month or two. If he didn’t come back for me, I needed to start looking at other options for my future. Ha—back when I was younger, the word options to me meant travel, colleges, cars, jobs. Today, the only options I had available to me were to continue to live this miserable life, or to end it all. I couldn’t go on like this forever.But I had a reason to live. A reason to hope. And for now, that was enough to keep me going.

Alana Albertson is the former President of both Romance Writers of Americas’s Young Adult and Chick Lit chapters and the founder of Academe Advantage, a college admissions & test preparation company. Alana Albertson holds a Masters of Education from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Stanford University. A recovering professional ballroom dancer, Alana currently writes contemporary romance and young adult fiction. She lives in San Diego, California, with her husband, two young sons, and four dogs. When she’s not spending her time needlepointing, dancing, or saving dogs from high kill shelters through Pugs N Roses, the rescue she founded, she can be found watching episodes of House Hunters, Homeland, or Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team.

        

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