Review: Out of Control

Reviewed by Jaimie
 

I’m always on the lookout for books by authors that I haven’t read previously, because I like a wide variety of books and every author has a unique style of writing which I enjoy. It can be hit or miss when you approach a “new to you” author but in this case I definitely found one that I will continue to read. Stephanie Feagan writes romantic suspense and historical books and she also writes young adult books under the name Trinity Feagan.

Blair Drake is an oil rig blowout specialist who comes from a wealthy family that has disowned her. After a series of deliberate oil rig explosions, Blair teams up with Nick Robichaud, an oil well fire expert, to stop a plot to cripple the world’s oil supply. Blair and Nick have red hot chemistry, but Blair has been burned in the past by her ex-husband so she has trouble trusting people, especially men. In order to survive they must learn to trust each other, but with Nick clearly hiding something and time running out, Blair is forced to take a leap of faith.

The action in this book starts pretty much right away and it doesn’t let up. While inspecting an oil rig, Blair sees a suspicious looking man who appears to be watching her. She ignores the bad feeling she has and completes her inspection but a few seconds after her helicopter takes off, the rig explodes killing everyone on board. Shortly after the helicopter pilot is murdered and Blair finds out that there have been a number of explosions at various rigs. Blair is sent to put out one of the fires along with Nick, who she is very attracted to, but thinks he’s a chauvinist. From there they discover a plot to drive up oil prices by destroying key oil rigs, and their quest to stop it takes them to Saudi Arabia.

Right off the bat I loved Blair. She is a strong female heroine and she holds her own in a field dominated by men. In a lot of stories, the heroine starts off strong but later turns into a vulnerable, let the man take the lead kind of girl, but Stephanie writes her as a kickass woman throughout. Don’t get me wrong, she has moments where she’s feeling vulnerable and she does have a softer side, but it doesn’t come at the expense of her overall character. I particularly enjoyed the parts when Nick and Blair were in Saudi Arabia and hearing her inner dialogue over the way women are treated and viewed there. I also really liked the interaction between Blair and Conaway, a female reporter in training. The two bantered back and forth in a way that you can picture your friends and you talking. I really hope this is going to be a series and that we get a book for Conaway.

The entire book is narrated from Blair’s point of view. I would have enjoyed having it from both Blair and Nick’s points of view just to switch it up a little bit, but it certainly didn’t ruin the story for me. It is very obvious Feagan did her research about the oil industry which is great, but at times it almost felt like there was too much description of the various parts of the machinery, etc. This happens early on in the story and again it is not something that would have ruined the book for me.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and I can’t wait to check out more books from Stephanie Feagan. I’m keeping my fingers crossed this turns into a series.

Rating: B+

*ARC Provided by Entangled

Click to purchase: Amazon

Out of Control

by Stephanie Feagan

Release Date: June 24, 2013

Publisher: Entangled