The Edible Bookshelf: Review: Blind Rage (T. Hammond)

The last year of Teresa's life has been more than the word "difficult" can even begin to cover. Blinded in a freak accident, attacked in her own home, betrayed by the man she loved... that's the end of it, right? Teresa's luck is not that good. While anticipating David's return and the close of their once strong relationship, Teresa must face new terrors, hoping that her friends can save her in time.

This is book 4 in the Team Red series, and it has been a crazy ride up to this point! Everything Teresa has faced already makes your heart break to think she's in for more danger, but it also makes it impossible to put this book down.

I had already grown to love the characters in this series, so dropping right back into their lives was no issue at all. From the first page, though, the anxiety surrounding talk of David's return grabs readers attention. He is, after all, the one who broke Teresa's heart despite seeming like the perfect guy. Teresa is a better woman than me, because she has agreed not only to David's return to her home, but also his wife (yes, wife) who is dying of cancer, and his son coming to live in her house as well. Suffice it to say, there's enough awkward tension to go around.

David's arrival, however, is not the main focus of the book, which I was a little surprised by. I thought the majority of the story would deal with both Teresa and David's reactions to being in the same house and trying to deal with Marcia's final days. It actually only comprises about the last quarter of the book. I would have liked to have seen Teresa interact with Marcia and Wes (David's son) a little more and see that dynamic, but I expect that may be something we'll see more of in book 5.

The main storyline of the book centers around the protection of Bas and David's business and Wild Horse Security's increasing involvement, and how the top secret nature of the work puts Teresa in a very terrifying situation. I don't want to give away spoilers, so I'll just sum up my comments on this storyline by saying it was well crafted, highly anxiety-ridden, and kept me turning pages as fast as I could. And Bas... it's awesome to see him in action.

Now, I can't forget the romantic side of the story. I was a Bas fan from the beginning, and I was happy to see him finally get the chance he deserved with Teresa. Bas is a very complex character and watching him and Teresa test out the waters of a relationship was just as captivating as the action scenes. Because neither Teresa nor Bas want to begin a relationship until things are settled with David (and he doesn't show up until the end of the book), their relationship doesn't venture too far into the physical realm until the end. That doesn't mean there aren't plenty of steamy conversations previous to that to keep readers interested.

Normally, I don't comment much on the more intimate scenes in a book, but I have to say that when Bas and Teresa do take their relationship to the next level, it was very well done. I don't mean that in the sense of descriptions or such. The scene is fairly descriptive, so that along with the decent amount of language means it's obviously not for younger readers, but I felt like the focus was as much or more so on the emotional connection being forged between them. They had both been through so much, been scarred in more ways than one, and hurt by others they trusted that to see them both be made vulnerable, open, and honest was actually very touching.

Overall, I still love this series, and I will be waiting eagerly for the next book.