I Own the Dawn by M.L. Buchman (Nightstalkers #2)
Released: August 1, 2012
Military Romance
Sourcebooks

Reviewed by Mandi

Last year I read and thoroughly enjoyed M.L. Buchman’s debut book The Night is Mine. (currently $1.79) It was very over the top, but so engaging and I enjoyed both the hero and the heroine. I still enjoy his writing style in I Own the Dawn, but it didn’t quite capture me as much this time.

Kee Smith survived a very rough childhood of living on the streets and literally killing to stay alive. She ended up in the army, and now after six years has worked her way up to the very elite Night Stalkers, known as the “baddest asses on the face of the sky.” Known as SOAR (Special Operations Aviation Regiment) they fly the black hawk helicopters, providing most needed assistance to ground troops in the middle east. While SOAR has ground personnel that are female, Kee is only the second female to fly, the first, Major Beale being the heroine from book one. Kee has an attitude, and feels like she must fight for respect because she is  a woman. She lays it on thick (which really made it hard to like her at first) as she feels like she is being placed with Major Beale because she is also a female. Little does she know, Major Beale is the toughest of the tough, and she soon discovers she is not being thrown onto the ‘girlie team’ but the most experienced, tough pilots and gunners in the army.

She meets a co-pilot Lieutenant Archie Stevenson, who first notices her impressive rack (sigh). He is bashful though, and comes from money, something Kee immediately doesn’t like about him. They start going on missions together, ending up rescuing a 11 year old girl, who Kee takes temporary guardianship over. As Kee finds her place on the team, she also takes a liking to Archie, and a strong protective stance with the young girl.

As I mentioned earlier, Kee is a pretty tough heroine to like at first. She is so skeptical about how people view her as a woman, and it is hard for her to trust those around her. Her attitude, and surliness is kind of off-putting. She also doesn’t show her fellow teammates respect, automatically assuming she needs to prove something to them. As you learn more about her backstory, and the fact that no one has ever really had her back, you can understand her behavior more and I eventually learned to like her. She is super strong, and ML Buchman writes heroines that kick ass. I enjoyed the action in this one, as we stay in the middle east for most of the time. I really like military romances, and the guns, helicopters and missions in general always entertain me.

But the romance in this one lacked. For what we see of Archie, I liked. He blushes, and is not a natural charmer. The problem is that we never really get to know him that well. We briefly get his point of view throughout the book, but his scenes are very short, primarily being told in Kee’s point of view. There is a point where they have a few days break, and meet his parents in Italy, and even then I never felt like we really get to know Archie. His character just seems to float in the background, immediately falling for Kee. Kee has this huge presence in the book, and Archie seems to always be in the background.

The girl they rescue also overshadows Archie in my opinion. Her story kind of evolves through the book, taking an odd turn towards the end. Kee’s immediate protectiveness over her could have been explored more, but I did like how she was portrayed with the lack of communication.

While I was never bored while reading this one, I kept expecting more chemistry in the romance department and I don’t think we ever get it. I still enjoyed the setting and the author’s voice is a fun one. If you have yet to try this author, I recommend the first book.

Rating: C+

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