Danger Close

The Echo Platoon Series, Book 1

By: Marliss Melton

Narrated by: David Brenin

Book 1, Echo Platoon--a military romantic suspense series that depicts the perils and passions of U.S. Navy SEALs and the women strong enough to love them.

Navy SEAL Sam Sasseville resents being called upon repeatedly to rescue Madison Scott, an oil tycoon's daughter, from trouble of her own making. Just weeks after extracting her from drug-riddled Mexico, Maddy disappears into the terrorist-threatened region of El Chaco, Paraguay.

Dedicated to protecting the world's last agricultural frontier from her family owned oil wells, Maddy knows her long-dead activist mother would approve of her work, even if that blasted Navy SEAL doesn't.

But between the terrorists trying to nab her and the shadowy assassin intent on snuffing out her life, Maddy and Sam discover a common goal--keeping her alive--while Sam faces a difficult choice: love Maddy just the way she is or walk away with just his pride for company.

©2014 Marliss Melton (P)2014 Marliss Melton

Pretty good start to the series :)

3.5-4 stars

This was a pretty good story. Maddy was a good heroine (for the most part) and I liked Sam. The story was interesting and kept me engaged.

Maddy is an environmental activists. She's the daughter of a rich oil tycoon but follows in her dead mother's footsteps, fighting for the environment. The problem is that since she's so passionate about her work (seeing it as her "calling"), she often won't stop what she's doing even when she's in imminent danger.

Sam is a latino Navy SEAL. He grew up poor and due to an issue when he was a senior in high school where he was targeted because of his race and income level, he has a very strong prejudice against right people. He's a nice guy outside of his issues with the rich.

When the story begins, Maddy is in a bad situation...the area she's in has been taken over by drug runners but she refused to leave because she wanted to try to protect the girls in a local school from being taken by the drug runners to be sold into the slave trade. TBH, she wasn't much of a deterrent since she had no real fighting or defensive skills but she felt the need to do what she could even if it put herself in the same danger as the girls. Sam and 3 members of his team get called in to rescue her and he's not pleased about it, thinking that she's just another spoiled rich girl that is putting herself in danger and her daddy has enough power to pull his team off of a more important mission to go save her. Obviously, their first meeting doesn't go well be even with that, the attraction between them is pretty obvious.

Maddy and Sam end up being thrown together a couple times...ending in a situation where he's been sent to an area to work against the terrorists that are inhabiting the area and she's gotten a job in that same area testing for pollution due to the oil wells in the area (ones owned by her family's company). They're both surprised to see each other but Sam suspects that her father may have been using his contacts so Sam will be close and can look after her, something that Sam is not happy about. Regardless of this, their attraction flares and things heat up between them. In the meantime, Maddy ends up drawing the attention of some terrorists and becomes a target but she doesn't want to leave because of her work which leads to even more danger. There ends up being multiple threats to her safety and Sam has to work hard to keep her safe. They fall pretty hard for each other while this is happening but Sam does let his prejudices lead him into an act of relationship stupidity and it takes a bit for them to work things out. Thankfully, they do and end the story in a nice HEA together.

This was a pretty enjoyable story. I liked Maddy outside of her stupid insistence of her work being more important than her life. She was kind of a TSTL heroine when it came down to it but I guess if she let herself be run off the story wouldn't have progressed... Sam was a good hero and I liked him (except for his stupid move at the end). Once they came to an understanding, they worked pretty well together. I thought the story itself was very good and it kept me engaged through the end. I'm on the edge about recommending it, I guess I would as long as you can deal with a heroine who puts herself in danger (a lot). :)

* note - The narrator did a pretty good job...he pronounced all the names of the foreign places well but there were time he seems a bit stiff in his narration.

Wow talk about a small world

Would you listen to Danger Close again? Why?

Yes I was I was very engrossed in the story from the start

What was one of the most memorable moments of Danger Close?

When Sam realized Maddy was in Paraguay.where he is

What does David Brenin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He does an amazing job of bringing the characters and the story to life.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

yes when Sam realizes he's been an ass about Lye and Maddy and finally calls Lye to check on Maddy

Any additional comments?

I actually just started this series backwards by reading/listening to book 5. I was so hooked by that book I realized I needed to read the whole dang series.

Good story!

When a book is about a military main character it should be read by a male. This narrator made this book hold my interest! Of course this is one persons' opinion😅

Sorry to Say "For Melton Fans Only"

Is there anything you would change about this book?

This had no reviews, but was a recent release. I did not buy the Enforcer, which had good reviews, but older listen. My mistake! I took a chance on this one, but this needed better editing. It had a good outline, but it also listened like outline. So much potential in the story and characters. More mystery maybe...it seemed to be missing the "macho" of the Seals. If you like tender men, then this is for you. If a listen is about the Seals, I want it as hunky as it can get. I would consider this a tender story. Not much mystery, ok suspense maybe, but a stretch. For me, it was not worth 9 hrs of precious listening time.

Has Danger Close turned you off from other books in this genre?

I love the genre, but this author may not be for me. I know a bit more editing could have made this fantastic. Wobbling on now trying the "Enforcer". That sample was not long enough to tell if author continues to have "tender heroes", which are not for me.

What does David Brenin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

David got such great reviews, and he did a fab job on this listen. He brought all the characters to life.

Do you think Danger Close needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Author wrote about Seals and there can be more books with each of the Seals. However If author writes with the same level of "tenderness", not for me. This book was not a mystery, and it missed on the erotic vain, so "Tender" sums it up. The suspense was some what there, but needed better editing.

Tightly woven & well-written romantic suspense

Danger Close (Echo Platoon, #1), my second read from author Marliss Melton. Enjoyable, tightly woven & well-written romantic suspense. I'd received a free Audible copy of Take Cover (Echo Platoon #4.5) and read it & enjoyed it greatly and decided to read the series. “I received a free Audible copy of this book and I'm voluntarily leaving a review." David Brenin's narration adds to the enjoyment of the book. The gifting of this book did not affect my opinion of it. I'll be reading more from this author and in this series. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).