Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Review: Survival Instinct by Janie Crouch

Title: Survival Instinct
Series: Instinct
Author: Janie Crouch
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: October 24, 2017
Publisher: Kindle Press
ASIN: B0752ZH46K

The voices in her head have decided to kill her.

Most people joke about hearing voices in their heads. For Chloe Jeffries, they're real. And as the creative force behind one of the most popular shows on television, she has used the constant flood of voices in her mind to her advantage: fuel for entertainment.

But now one of the voices has decided it wants Chloe all for itself.

Ex-Special Forces soldier Shane Westman just wants to make it back to Wyoming to begin to heal from the horrors of war. The last thing he needs, even as a favor for a good friend, is to take on bodyguard duty of a flighty television writer. But once he does, he realizes there are threats at play he doesn't understand. And the woman who has somehow begun to thaw his frozen heart is in desperate danger from a menace they can't see, but is always close.

The voice that will never allow Chloe to escape alive.


My rating:

Chloe Jeffries, creator of a hit TV-show, isn't beyond using some unusual help in her creative process. Namely, the voices in her head...But now, one of the voices is getting too loud, too insistent, and Chloe feels she's close to the end. Combined with a evil-hating stalker deciding to sabotage her show, she's in quite a pickle.

Then, the studio decides to go professional with the security, hiring a Wyoming based firm, Linear Tactical, for help. In walks Shane Westman. Cool as a cucumber and hot as hell. He's everything Chloe isn't and he's everything Chloe could possibly want. No wonder she's prickly and pushes him away...If only it weren't for the cool reprieve from the voices he offers her.


The last and absolute best of this trilogy. It had it all—amazing characters, sweet, sexy and not-that-rushed romance and one heck of a suspense (though some of it was pretty transparent).

Let's start with the main characters. Okay, main couple, I don't really care about the rest. I loved Chloe. She was a gal I would love to call friend. Prickly on the outside, but it was immediately obvious it was all for show and protection. Thanks to her "gift" she didn't let many people in, so self-protection was a must. But luckily for her, her hero immediately saw through the prickly exterior and loved the potty-mouthed firecracker.
Shane was perfect for Chloe. His ice balanced out her fire, his coolness and calm balanced out her "jitters". And the way he took her ability at face value, accepted it and helped her see it not as a curse but a gift was absolutely priceless. Not to mention the adorable use of nicknames for her short stature.

Unlike with the other two books, where the acting on the attraction was instantaneous, these two took their time. Mostly because Chloe was stubborn and kept him at arms' length, but still. He saw her, he got her and he used his military background at infiltration behind enemy lines to sneak under her defenses. They were cute, they were funny, they were hot and they were sexy, and I absolutely adored their romance.

That's not to say the suspense part was lacking. Quite the opposite. There was so much going on, it was a hoot reading. Though the exploitation of the stalker subplot for selfish purposes was rather transparent, the real stalker came out of the left field. I sure didn't see that coming, though the loud and insistent voice in Chloe's head did turn out to be the person I suspected.

Everything worked and I'm beyond glad the trilogy ended up on a high note.

P.S. Kudos on the plug for the other series. Now, I have to read it.



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