Marine Corp Sergeant Khatereh Shinwari watches the Taliban as they get ready to attack a SEAL team in the Hindu Kush Mountains. Khat is a black ops sniper and she begins picking off the Taliban one by one, but not before Petty Officer Michael Tarik is blown into a wadi and injured. When the fire fight is over, Khat goes down the mountain, gets Mike and takes him back to her cave to give him medical attention. With a gash on his head and a broken arm, Mike won't be moving soon. The ensuing days bring Khat and Mike into a special relationship of mutual trust. When he is airlifted off the mountain, Mike promises Khat he will find her again.

Several turn of events bring Khat right into Camp Bravo where Mike is stationed. Their relationship grows even stronger, and Mike feels he is falling in love. When Khat leaves suddenly, Mike is heartbroken, but doesn't give up fighting to get her back down off the mountain. Strings are pulled, and Khat is reassigned to Camp Bravo, meaning she must go there for her supplies. When she returns to the forward operating base, Khat learns that Mike will return to the mountains with her to map out the goat trails and rat lines for Intelligence. They make a good team, until they get split up when Khat hangs back to take out a group of Taliban. Will Mike be able to find Khat again?

TAKING FIRE is another book in Lindsay McKenna's Shadow Warriors series. Khat is a Shadow Warrior and has been on this mountain working alone for five years. Both Khat and Mike have warrior personalities: strong, brave and stubborn. The plot of this story thrusts you into the action of a fire fight at the very beginning, then lulls you into a tender romance.

However, there are several unexpected turns and twists that will keep you riveted to the story until you turn the final page. TAKING FIRE is a story about healing: physical, emotional and psychological. TAKING FIRE is also a story about the pull of family and kinship, and it's hard not to become emotionally involved with the characters and their struggles. All of Ms. McKenna's Shadow Warriors books are great, and she is expanding Khat and Mike's story, as well as Bay and Gabe's, in a novella coming out soon, Zone of Fire. Don't miss any of them!