I found Rescue Me, to be a gripping romantic suspense, with a strong emphasis on the relationship between the hero and heroine.

Although Devon Winters grew up among the privileged of Washington, D.C., she had a horrible childhood with an almost unbelievably cruel mother. One constant in her young life was her love for Jordan Montgomery. In fact, she decided to marry Jordan when she was 13 and he eight years her senior.

When Devon was just 21, she deceived Jordan into believing she was someone else (this sounds crazy, but he hadn’t seen her in years and was a bit drunk at the time). When Jordan discovered her identity only after the two had sex, he lashed out at her. Within minutes of their fight, Devon was involved in a horrible incident (primarily told off the page) that left her nearly dead.

Seven years after the incident and following multiple surgeries, Devon is no longer the young woman she once was. In addition to being physically unrecognizable, Devon has evolved from a fragile young woman into a strong, capable one. The world believes Devon disappeared seven years ago. Under her new identity of Eden St. Claire, she works as an agent for Last Chance Rescue (LCR), a group that rescues children in dangerous situations.

Suddenly, through the manipulations of her boss, Jordan is back in her life, but there’s a catch: Jordan, who knows her only as Eden, is instantly attracted to her. Eden (the former Devon) can’t forgive him for his behavior seven years ago, but against her will, finds herself still attracted to him. The two are soon involved in the rescue of a young girl from a brutal family.

I found both Eden/Devon and Jordan to be flawed, but appealing characters. Jordan at first almost seemed too good to be true. He saved a school bus full of kids from a gunman when he was 17, and attracted the interest of a secret government agency while in college. By the time he was 21, he spoke seven languages, had a black belt, and had won numerous science awards.

Eden is equally brilliant and, thanks to the wonder of plastic surgery, is breathtakingly beautiful. I thought the author did a good job conveying the emotional difficulties Eden goes through, as her memories and feelings begin to resurface.

Some people aren’t going to like how angry Jordan was at Devon when he discovered who she was after having sex with her. I found it believable, given the circumstances. I also felt that he more than made up for his behavior by searching for her for the past seven years.

I am very squeamish, and have a low tolerance for violence in romantic suspense. There were some truly awful crimes against young women in this book, but they largely occurred off the page, so did not cause me problems.

I enjoy romances set in European locales. While the majority of this book is set in Paris and a Greek Island, the locations really took a back seat to the romance and mission in which Eden and Jordan are involved.

This is my first book by Christy Reece, but it won’t be my last. In fact, I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the LCR series, featuring Eden’s mysterious boss.

Buy it at Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes and Noble/Kobo