Refuge in his Arms by Lizzie Ashworth #BookReview

Crisis forces Mackenzie Kilpatrick and David Evans together under terrifying circumstances. The Big One—the long-anticipated massive earthquake in Los Angeles—sends everyone rushing into the streets. Mackenzie throws a few supplies and her dog Captain into the car to escape town. Then her car gets stuck in a traffic jam.

David is on his way to nowhere when he sees her and decides to help her get unstuck.

As they argue about what happens next and struggle against their instantaneous attraction, an even greater disaster shifts their lives. A coronal mass ejection rushes toward earth, a solar storm so immense it paralyzes vehicles and wrecks the power grid. The two are forced into an uncomfortable love-hate partnership as they try to figure out how to secure food, water, and safe shelter.

Mackenzie’s loss of her husband in Afghanistan and David’s ruined career as a rock and roll star loom between them as the two strike off on foot in search of what they need. But what they really need rests inside each of them. Will they figure that out before it’s too late?

MY REVIEW

The story starts when Mac wakes up to find the world coming to an end. A warning from her dead husband in a dream and a call from her parents, gets her into her car with the intention of getting far away from LA, hoping to get to her parents in Oklahoma.

Except that all electronic machines, including cars, stop working! She' stuck with a devastatingly handsome stranger with a devil-may-care attitude who is the opposite of the husband she lost. However, their attraction to each other cannot be denied. As they try to navigate the new undesirable place their world has become, and find somewhere they belong, survival instincts take over.

The author does well in getting reader into her characters' heads to understand where they are coming from and what motivates them; their inner struggles make then empathetic as they grow over the course of the story.

I won't lie. I'm not a huge fan of dystopian tropes, and I got a little tired of the one disaster after another, but it was also what made it easy to understand how Mac and David (and everybody else must have felt). David and Mac had great chemistry even when they were denying it. Their eventual submission to their desires was more than satisfactory!

I'd have liked to know what happened to Mac's parents. I'll leave it at this since saying more would mean dropping spoilers.

If you enjoy end-of-the-world storylines, likable character's with great chemistry, and hot sex scenes, then this one's right up your alley