M. L. Buchman

Carla Anderson must make it though qualification if she is to become the first woman in Delta, but she is competing against some of the best men the military has to offer including Kyle Reeves. Carla is determined to make it after living through the deaths of both her mother and brother, who were also serving in Special Forces units when they died. While Carla and Kyle go head to head as leaders of their class, they also find that their attraction for each other can't be denied.

Target Engaged is a very good military romance that is well researched and filled with adequately developed characters. However, much of the romance hinges on the physical attraction between the leads, leaving little time for emotional connection. Also, there are so many detailed military operations throughout this book that the romance is overshadowed. Overall, Target Engaged is an action packed military story with a romance that needed more attention.… (more)

Had to read this one when I found out it was written by a man. Very good military romance. I think men just do a better job than most women with the details and feel of military life. I like the realism of all of the guns and helicopters being properly named and their effects explained correctly. I enjoyed the tough as nails heroine and the hero who, while not an alpha guy, was strong and quite good and confident at what he did military wise. He just didn't really do well with women. The romance was balanced equally with the military missions etc., neither one taking over the other. There were some sex scenes which were differently presented I thought than how women typically write them which I enjoyed because it seems lately that most love scenes are derivative of all the rest I've read lately. There were not too many of them and thankfully they didn't happen in the middle of the action which I find disturbingly stupid when authors stop the action to throw in a love scene. I only had one problem with the story and it was at the very end and was only a smallish quibble I don't think the issue of fraternization was adequately dealt with. It wasn't clearly stated that he was no longer a superior officer at the end. I can only assume he wasn't as they got married. It was however brought up many times in the book and should have been clearly resolved.… (more)

This was a good beginning to a new series by M.L. Buchman. The characters were likeable and there were also crossover characters from the Night Stalkers series. My only problem was that this story couldn't seem to decide what it was. There was enough technical detail on firefighting that this could have been a novel about that alone. There was also a smaller story about a terrorist training camp that was hardly explored. The romance between the main characters was burdened by these other stories. Both characters had lots of baggage which was revealed in the story, but it was hardly explored and their relationship seemed almost like an afterthought just added to the story to make it a romance. Overall, however, the story was very good and an enjoyable read.… (more)

Gail Miller is transferring to the Landing Helicopter Assault Ship, the USS Peleliu, to begin her assignment as Chief Steward of the galley there. Sly Stowell is already aboard the Peleliu and serves as Chief Petty Officer and hovercraft pilot. Gail hasn't been on the ship for 10 minutes and she is already going out on a Landing Craft, Air Cushion Hovercraft for a mission under the command of Sly. Once they rescue the many civilians from the US Embassy in Abidjan which is under attack, Gail sees that her time on the Peleliu is going to be about much more than cooking.
Even though some of the Night Stalkers from previous books are featured here, this story lacked depth and emotion, possibly due to its short length. The characters are poorly developed as is the plot. The reasoning behind the choices the characters make is not clearly explored. There is a great deal of technical jargon that isn't necessary to tell a story of this length, and to top it all off, there are several glaring grammatical errors that take attention away from the story. This is a real letdown by M.L. Buchman, whose stories, especially The Night Stalkers, are usually so good.… (more)