Jewel's Reviews > Fight the Tide

I am so ready for book 3! SO SO SO ready! Just a few more days. I am very glad I reread books 1 & 2. It's been a minute, ya know? Onward -- soon. :)

-----------Original Review -- July 2016----------------
~~~BR with Dani!!~~~

We'll keep the shenanigans over on her thread :-)


Yeah, so it isn't much of a secret among those who know me that I was clamoring for this book. Yep, Kick at the Darkness was one of my top 10 books last year and as soon as I got word that Fight the Tide was eminent, I was all grabby hands. Patience is overrated.

Fight the Tide wasn't event driven as much as Kick at the Darkness was. It is still about the human condition and finding out who you really are when the times get tough. It's about Parker and Adam dealing with the fears and uncertainties of what the future will bring and figuring out their place in it. Parker, especially has a rough time of it because he isn't as physically strong as Adam. He underestimates himself, though. Parker is strong. He is resilient. But it takes him a really long time to see it. Of all the characters we encounter in this series, it is Parker who goes through the hero's journey.

There's also a mysterious radio call about an island. Too good to be true? Maybe. It certainly would not be the first time. But what if Sanctuary Island is the haven the voice on the radio claimed? What if a new life could be found there? So there are decisions that must be made. Trust or not?

They meet people along the way, some good and some not so good and it's the not so good ones that cloud their hopes of a future where they are doing more than just surviving.

For the whole book, they are well and truly living in a post-apocalyptic world. They mostly stick to the water, so they don't have many encounters with the creepers - only when they have to go to shore to scavenge for supplies are the creepers ever really a danger. And a time or two, those encounters proved tragic. But in this new world, like the old one, you can't trust everyone you meet. So just avoiding the creepers, isn't enough.

There is a small cast of secondary characters that Parker and Adam encounter during a storm. And they are really good people. Inexperienced on the water, but they are - like everyone else - trying to survive a plague. Abby and Craig were on their third date when all hell broke loose, so they rushed to get his daughter, Lily, and her son, Jacob, and made a run for it. It's actually kind of amazing that they made it as far as they did, but they got lucky.

Fight the Tide, like Adam's all but forgotten thesis documentary, is also about found families. My favorite kind. Family doesn't have to be who is blood related to you, and that is shown in spades here.

I remember the ending of Kick at the Darkness being quite vague, not only about the state of the world, but also, Adam and Parker were just so new that I couldn't call their ending an HEA. Sailing off into the sunset does not a happy ever after make! Well, their ending here is more solid. Some may still consider it an HFN, but it is solid enough that for me it is an HEA. But there is more to come, so who knows what the frak will happen!!!!

I am happy we will be getting more, because there are a ton of unanswered questions, including where this virus really came from and if a cure can be found. And lots of werewolf type questions and I'd kind of like for Jacob to find someone when he is older (he is way too young right now). Plus, I could never turn down an opportunity to have Adam and Parker set my Kindle on fire with more of their scorching hot and deeply emotional sexytimes. You can feel the love pouring off these two!

All in all, I'm putting Fight the Tide in at 4 "you are my home" stars. Recommended!

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ARC of Fight the Tide was generously provided by the author, in exchange for an honest review.