Perhaps the "least-Christmassy" Christmas book I have read is ALASKAN CHRISTMAS ESCAPE, a high-octane romantic suspense by Juno Rushdan. Zenobia Hanley has been hiding out in Alaska but when maligned forces close in on her, she needs to make an escape. John Lowry is her nearest fellow resident outside a town to the wild side of Fairbanks. People here get around in a pickup and haul wood home. They don’t have internet access in the house. Zee has been a hacker for hire to the CIA, but something went badly wrong, and she can’t depend on their help now.
SEAL training has equipped John Lowry with survival skills but also left him with an injury and PTSD. He has come to Alaska to forget, but this has made him a loner and we see that his help and determination are just what fellow loner Zee needs. But she knows how ruthless the man after her can be, and does not want John to get hurt.
Ryker Rudin is the antagonist in the story. We see him first being thoroughly nasty, and I have to say he never shows any redeeming features. Quite the opposite as he throws caution to the wind and lets a gun speak for him. He controls a team of brutal men called Delta Team and they are assigned to find and kill Zee. Why this might be, takes some time to discover. We just know it is happening, along with a high body count. Actually, the number and manner of deaths of those not directly involved, a man who asks what someone is doing in his yard, for instance, is quite distressing.
ALASKAN CHRISTMAS ESCAPE is the action-packed second book in the Fugitive Heroes: Topaz Unit series. People we hear about but don’t meet until very late were part of Zee’s team, and scattered, so presumably each one gets a story. To humanize the characters and raise the stakes, the plot also includes Zee's eleven-year-old daughter, Olivia. I suggest it would be good to read in order, but other than some initial confusion over who was chasing Zee if they were not law enforcement, the ALASKAN CHRISTMAS ESCAPE reads well as a standalone. Juno Rushdan is smoking hot.
An elite CIA kill squad has located hacker Zenobia Hanley’s Alaska wilderness hideout. With commandos hot on Zee’s heels, she’s saved from capture by her neighbor John Lowry. Zee has kept her yearning for the SEAL, who has a disability, in check to shield him. But, despite her secrets, John’s determined to protect Zee regardless of the risks. Because there’s more at stake this Christmas than just their lives.
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