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Combined Operations #3
A Perfect Day, With Explosions
Jenna Brooks is a welder, and a fashionista whenever she can afford it. AJ is a former Special Forces spacer, who finds himself completely outside his comfort zone with her. However, terrorist bombs can overcome almost any divide - the hard way.
When Jenna stumbles over a corpse wearing an important clue, she's roped into a high-stakes counterterrorism operation to uncover a counterfeit fashion ring that's funding the terrorists.
As the trail of blood money and knock-off shoes starts leading closer to home, Jenna's going to need all the help she can get to stay alive. AJ's just the man to do that - but he's after a lot more than merely her safety. It may cost her everything she's worked for... and also her heart.
When Jenna stumbles over a corpse wearing an important clue, she's roped into a high-stakes counterterrorism operation to uncover a counterfeit fashion ring that's funding the terrorists.
As the trail of blood money and knock-off shoes starts leading closer to home, Jenna's going to need all the help she can get to stay alive. AJ's just the man to do that - but he's after a lot more than merely her safety. It may cost her everything she's worked for... and also her heart.
- GenresScience Fiction
217 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 16, 2021
15 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 31, 2023
Fantastic read!
I really love these characters. Jenna fits perfectly into the group. More Twitch, Lizzes and Crane, as well as non-stop action.
Jenna is a combination of innocence and cynical wisdom. She and AJ are both trying to fit into normal, but its a work in progress for both of them.
I'm in awe at the use of a character's love of fashion to carry the intrigue and danger of the Empire - Fed cold war. Amazed at how it all comes together into a seamless story told from the viewpoints of Jenna and AJ.
A Perfect Day can be read without first reading the two previous books but the background they provide really fleshes out the overall story.
I'm going to be extra greedy and hope we get another story or two bringing down the top levels of terrorists and seeing Crane get resolution.
Grab this book or any by Dorothy Grant and get lost on another world.
cross posted amazon goodreads bookbub
I really love these characters. Jenna fits perfectly into the group. More Twitch, Lizzes and Crane, as well as non-stop action.
Jenna is a combination of innocence and cynical wisdom. She and AJ are both trying to fit into normal, but its a work in progress for both of them.
I'm in awe at the use of a character's love of fashion to carry the intrigue and danger of the Empire - Fed cold war. Amazed at how it all comes together into a seamless story told from the viewpoints of Jenna and AJ.
A Perfect Day can be read without first reading the two previous books but the background they provide really fleshes out the overall story.
I'm going to be extra greedy and hope we get another story or two bringing down the top levels of terrorists and seeing Crane get resolution.
Grab this book or any by Dorothy Grant and get lost on another world.
cross posted amazon goodreads bookbub
January 15, 2022
This book has the greatest title, but it doesn't disappoint.
Like others in the series, it's about a more-or-less ordinary person who is caught up in social turmoil, but eventually finds friendship and safety and romance where she did not expect it. The protagonist here is very different from the women of the previous two novels (a hard-boiled pilot, and a geeky geologist). Instead, she's a fashionista. On this perfect day, she's helping her friend shop for a wedding dress. It should be a joyful, fun occasion--but then there's a massive terrorist attack.
Fortunately, the friend is with her fiancee, a soldier who happens to be good in this sort of crisis, and one of his friends, who's even better. (The friend and her fiancee were introduced in the previous book, but you don't need to have read the previous book to follow this story. I hadn't when I first read it.) This fashionable young woman, while running with her friend for her life, develops friendships with the soldiers, watches their amazing competence, and winds up making critical contribution of her own to counter-terrorism.
You wouldn't expect tetrachromacy (the ability to see 4 primary colors instead of 3; some women have this) and a deep knowledge of fashionable handbags and their fake knockoffs to make the world safe from terrorism. Nor would you expect this more-or-less ordinary woman to rise to the occasion and become indispensable. Nor would you expect a relationship to blossom between this fashionable woman and the strong, silent, awkward man to blossom. It was worth reading to watch all of those.
Like others in the series, it's about a more-or-less ordinary person who is caught up in social turmoil, but eventually finds friendship and safety and romance where she did not expect it. The protagonist here is very different from the women of the previous two novels (a hard-boiled pilot, and a geeky geologist). Instead, she's a fashionista. On this perfect day, she's helping her friend shop for a wedding dress. It should be a joyful, fun occasion--but then there's a massive terrorist attack.
Fortunately, the friend is with her fiancee, a soldier who happens to be good in this sort of crisis, and one of his friends, who's even better. (The friend and her fiancee were introduced in the previous book, but you don't need to have read the previous book to follow this story. I hadn't when I first read it.) This fashionable young woman, while running with her friend for her life, develops friendships with the soldiers, watches their amazing competence, and winds up making critical contribution of her own to counter-terrorism.
You wouldn't expect tetrachromacy (the ability to see 4 primary colors instead of 3; some women have this) and a deep knowledge of fashionable handbags and their fake knockoffs to make the world safe from terrorism. Nor would you expect this more-or-less ordinary woman to rise to the occasion and become indispensable. Nor would you expect a relationship to blossom between this fashionable woman and the strong, silent, awkward man to blossom. It was worth reading to watch all of those.
April 9, 2024
Another military matchup
Alternate universe, SF military, action suspense
Intriguing milieu: two world powers and a few independent states straddling the political machinations. The Empire is like the West, while the overly bureaucratic Federation is akin to the old Soviet Union, but there are a lot more hot conflicts. This is the third book where a lonely, dedicated soldier encounters a punky woman, they fall in love, and get married.
On the whole, an engaging series, though the men are smitten almost immediately upon meeting their future bride, and the women learn, like all military wives, to lean on other wives and muddle through with their soldier man is frequently absent. There's kissing and such, but nearly all of it is fade to black. No bodice rippers here!
Only issue, and it's a serious one, is it's casually mentioned that in the fight between these two world powers, that some enemies died under interrogation. It has been proven over and over, that despite the lies told, no good Intel is obtained through torture. People will say anything to stop the pain, and those inflicting that pain all too easily let their bias affect their questions and conclusions. Those who say we must any means necessary to preserve our way life forget you can't break the law in order to preserve it; eventually, that dark path leads to other shortcuts that erode the very freedoms at stake.
I'm also still not convinced that worlds that have readily available commercial space flight would embrace fossil fuels when there are surely cleaner and more powerful energy sources, even for aircraft and machines of war? It's Grant's story and she can tell it like she wants, but those who oppose the use of fossil fuels are not necessarily idiots, dreamers, dupes, and terrorists, and I do at times feel like pursuing alternative technologies is somehow unpatriotic.
Fossil fuels are simply not sustainable. More recycling must take place.
I'm enjoying the stories of hardened and traumatized soldiers who attract strong women while doing everything they can, including a lot of violence, to defend their way of life. Those who serve deserve respect. As SF military fantasies go, it's not a bad series. Just be aware of the underlying messages. They are doozies.
Alternate universe, SF military, action suspense
Intriguing milieu: two world powers and a few independent states straddling the political machinations. The Empire is like the West, while the overly bureaucratic Federation is akin to the old Soviet Union, but there are a lot more hot conflicts. This is the third book where a lonely, dedicated soldier encounters a punky woman, they fall in love, and get married.
On the whole, an engaging series, though the men are smitten almost immediately upon meeting their future bride, and the women learn, like all military wives, to lean on other wives and muddle through with their soldier man is frequently absent. There's kissing and such, but nearly all of it is fade to black. No bodice rippers here!
Only issue, and it's a serious one, is it's casually mentioned that in the fight between these two world powers, that some enemies died under interrogation. It has been proven over and over, that despite the lies told, no good Intel is obtained through torture. People will say anything to stop the pain, and those inflicting that pain all too easily let their bias affect their questions and conclusions. Those who say we must any means necessary to preserve our way life forget you can't break the law in order to preserve it; eventually, that dark path leads to other shortcuts that erode the very freedoms at stake.
I'm also still not convinced that worlds that have readily available commercial space flight would embrace fossil fuels when there are surely cleaner and more powerful energy sources, even for aircraft and machines of war? It's Grant's story and she can tell it like she wants, but those who oppose the use of fossil fuels are not necessarily idiots, dreamers, dupes, and terrorists, and I do at times feel like pursuing alternative technologies is somehow unpatriotic.
Fossil fuels are simply not sustainable. More recycling must take place.
I'm enjoying the stories of hardened and traumatized soldiers who attract strong women while doing everything they can, including a lot of violence, to defend their way of life. Those who serve deserve respect. As SF military fantasies go, it's not a bad series. Just be aware of the underlying messages. They are doozies.
February 7, 2022
I have literally read everything Dorothy Grant has written, pretty much all in novelette length, and enjoyed it immensely.
A Perfect Day, with Explosions is the latest in her Combined Operations series, set on a planet where terrorist groups are rebelling against the Empire which controls the planet. Each story seems to consist of a heroine thrown into wild and crazy combat operations out of an ordinary life of innocence, yet somehow rising beyond who they were, thriving through trials and tribulations, and finding love with a special forces guy.
Nothing terribly deep, dark, or heavily philosophical, but just good fun and an evening or two of entertainment well worth the ebook price.
A Perfect Day, with Explosions is the latest in her Combined Operations series, set on a planet where terrorist groups are rebelling against the Empire which controls the planet. Each story seems to consist of a heroine thrown into wild and crazy combat operations out of an ordinary life of innocence, yet somehow rising beyond who they were, thriving through trials and tribulations, and finding love with a special forces guy.
Nothing terribly deep, dark, or heavily philosophical, but just good fun and an evening or two of entertainment well worth the ebook price.
October 20, 2021
Don't shop with Jenn!
I really like the author's female leads, they read as credible women in incredible situations. This book is my favorite so far although Jenn's roommates seemed more like paper cut-outs than fully fleshed characters.
I'd like the next book to give Crane some happiness, please.
I really like the author's female leads, they read as credible women in incredible situations. This book is my favorite so far although Jenn's roommates seemed more like paper cut-outs than fully fleshed characters.
I'd like the next book to give Crane some happiness, please.
October 20, 2021
Interesting series
Third book in common universe. Most of what you learn about it is by implication similar to Heinlein at his best. Characters are likable and complex enough to Survive a second and third reading. Worth buying.
Third book in common universe. Most of what you learn about it is by implication similar to Heinlein at his best. Characters are likable and complex enough to Survive a second and third reading. Worth buying.
January 10, 2022
Great read! A+++
Really enjoy her storylines! A great clean awesome book! Look forward to more books from her! Just need to do one with a guy being rescue and the girl is the Bad A**!
Really enjoy her storylines! A great clean awesome book! Look forward to more books from her! Just need to do one with a guy being rescue and the girl is the Bad A**!
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June 22, 2022Mary Stewart meet SF
Mary Stewart would take readers on an adventure to a Greek Island or a 1940s French chateau. Dorothy Grant takes us to a future world not so different from our own, albeit with space travel. The perfect blend of romance and adventure is the same.
Mary Stewart would take readers on an adventure to a Greek Island or a 1940s French chateau. Dorothy Grant takes us to a future world not so different from our own, albeit with space travel. The perfect blend of romance and adventure is the same.
October 22, 2021
Delightful Read!
What a wonderful story!
Very well written, and an easy read that was just an enjoyable read. Lots of action, but very realistic.
What a wonderful story!
Very well written, and an easy read that was just an enjoyable read. Lots of action, but very realistic.
January 18, 2022
A well-paced 'rough ride' with some smiles along the way. As usual, good stuff from Grant.
May 2, 2022
Perfect title life on terraforming world
Well written, well edited, well ebooks very subtle racy book lots of bang and action. Read rest of series, good
Well written, well edited, well ebooks very subtle racy book lots of bang and action. Read rest of series, good
October 11, 2023
Another Fine romp from Dorothy Grant!
While the story takes place in a shared universe, the story is easy mix of action and romance that is a fun and easy read!
While the story takes place in a shared universe, the story is easy mix of action and romance that is a fun and easy read!
March 25, 2024
Excellent sci fi adventure with romance
Fair warning: high body count, off-page torture, violence. I love Grant's books and couldn't believe Perfect was released so soon after Blood. This series is awesome, and Perfect featured the male character I hoped for, AJ. The world building is fantastic, albeit somewhat grim with terrorist attacks, the characters are loveable (you'll want everyone to have a HEA), and the story is a page-turning thrill ride. I highly recommend all of Grant's books. I read Perfect on KU but will definitely buy it with a Christmas giftcard, because I reread it as soon as I finished it.
Fair warning: high body count, off-page torture, violence. I love Grant's books and couldn't believe Perfect was released so soon after Blood. This series is awesome, and Perfect featured the male character I hoped for, AJ. The world building is fantastic, albeit somewhat grim with terrorist attacks, the characters are loveable (you'll want everyone to have a HEA), and the story is a page-turning thrill ride. I highly recommend all of Grant's books. I read Perfect on KU but will definitely buy it with a Christmas giftcard, because I reread it as soon as I finished it.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews