I've been avoiding books that seemed as if they were going to be particularly dark or suspenseful lately because there's already so much uncertainty and darkness in our day-to-day lives, and reading has been my escape from all of that. I was therefore a little worried about how I'd react to "Into the Blue" given its suspenseful premise. However, I couldn't resist the gorgeous cover and the promise of two people falling in love on a beautiful tropical island, so I decided to give it a shot. I'm glad I did because it wasn't an easy read, but it was very well-crafted, and I enjoyed it tremendously. I highly recommend "Into the Blue" for all romantic suspense fans and will be watching to see what Robin Huber writes next.
Even in paradise, danger lurks…
When Makayla Evans discovers that her employer — a pharmaceutical trailblazer — is dabbling in Dark Pharma, she barely has time to process the information before her conventional life is ripped away. In one breath she's standing in her New York office; in the next, she's waking up in the middle of a Central American desert. With no way to escape or call for help, she realizes a terrifying truth. She has vanished… without a trace.
For former Marine Kellan James, working private security on Costa Rica's La Isla Azul — The Blue Island — is a dream job. But his peace is disrupted when an old friend calls with a nearly impossible task: track down a woman kidnapped by a dangerous drug cartel. When Kellan finally finds Makayla, she's in bad shape, but she's alive. Now he just has to keep her that way…
Finding refuge on a remote island with a kind, handsome Marine is not how Makayla expected her nightmare to end. As the days turn to months, Makayla and Kellan develop an unbreakable bond, falling in love with the island, and with each other. But they can't hide forever. Because even in paradise, danger lurks…
"Into the Blue" by Robin Huber was an emotional, suspenseful story that grabbed my attention from the very first chapter and didn't let go until the end. The author did an excellent job of building the suspense and describing main character Makayla's sometimes terrifying circumstances without going into too much graphic detail. After she was rescued from her kidnappers and taken to La Isla Azul (the Blue Island) by her eventual love interest, Kellan, her reaction to the trauma and symptoms of PTSD seemed very real and understandable to me. An experience like that would be a lot for anyone to process, and it still wasn't over for Makayla because she couldn't go home as long as her former boss considered her to be a threat.
Kellan was very sweet and protective of Makayla from the first moment he saw her, and I appreciated how patient and understanding he was as she worked through the trauma of her ordeal. He had some emotional baggage of his own to work through, both from his childhood and from his time serving in the Marines, but he didn't let those fears rule his life. He never tried to push Makayla away, but rather shared his concerns about the future with her and made a sincere effort to make the relationship work for both of them. They got to know each other and fell in love very quickly under extreme circumstances, but I had no problem believing in the strength of their feelings because they were so good at communicating with each other.
Aside from Kellan and Makayla's relationship, I really enjoyed the adventure aspects of this story, in which the characters had the opportunity to explore the island. The author's descriptions of La Isla Azul were very vivid and I was able to picture the setting quite clearly in my mind. In this day and age when travel is so difficult, it was lovely to be able to pretend to be on a tropical island for a few hours thanks to this book!
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