Review: Riding the Storm by Sydney Croft

Posted January 4, 2015 by Melanie in Melanie, Paranormal Romance, Reviews / 43 Comments

Review: Riding the Storm by Sydney Croft
Riding the Storm by Sydney Croft
Series: ACRO #1
Published by Delta
Published on: 1/1/2007
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 327
Format: eBook
Source: Library
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A storm’s rage. A woman’s desire.

A man with the power to set them both free.

He can summon lightning at will. Emerge unscathed from the center of a tornado. Strip a woman down to her barest defenses through the sheer force of his sexuality. He’s gorgeous, dangerous, and the target of parameteorologist Haley Holmes’s latest mission. Haley has been dispatched to the Louisiana bayous to investigate the phenomenon known as Remy Begnaud–a man with a gift he never wanted: the ability to control a storm’s fury. But even a woman trained in bizarre weather phenomena has no defense against the electrifying power of the ex—Navy SEAL...a power his enemies would kill to control.

With her agency monitoring their every move, Haley’s job is to seduce Remy, gain his trust–and help him harness his extraordinary gift. But who will protect her from this voracious lover who’s introducing her to a new world of erotic thrills—a man who grows increasingly insatiable with each new weather event? Haley knows a big storm is approaching—and with it will come unexpected delights. But so, too, will the storm unleash her greatest fears: an enemy bent on destroying Remy. And her worst fear of all—falling in love with this magnificent man, then having to betray him.

 

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I started this series because I saw a more recent release from this series on That’s What I’m Talking About.  When I saw that Larissa Ione (who I love) was half of Sydney Croft, I decided that this needed to be on my list ASAP.  Reading the post on Jen’s site, but not for the first book, I really didn’t know what I was getting into.  Needless to say, I was a little shocked when I got just a few pages into the book, it was much more X-rated than I’m used to for PNR.

Remy was adopted as a child.  He doesn’t know anything about his birth parents other than he was born in the middle of a hurricane and left in a small town in the bayou.  He is fresh out of the Navy SEALs. He affects the weather, but has pretty much no control over this power.  Haley was raised by two parents who were basically hippies.  They didn’t even give her a name until she picked one at the age of four.  Haley is a parameteorologist, which is why she is chosen to bring him in.

This story is X-rated, X-Men crossed with X-Ops. (Notice the triple X, that wasn’t an accident.) You have two groups of supernaturals (think of Xavier’s and Magneto’s different teams).  They send in Haley to “recruit” Remy.  I put recruit in quotes, because he was to be brought in by any means necessary to keep him away from the bad guys.  Remy is even taught how to seduce her way in because Remy cannot control his sexual urges during storms. Problem is that the bad guys really want him too.  I mean, who doesn’t want the ability to control the weather?

There is also a side story between Creed and Annika, two other operatives for ARCO as they investigate a haunted house with an angry ghost.  Creed is a ghost hunter and Annika has some unique abilities with electricity.  Then there is Devlin, who is the blind leader of the group.  He has sex with multiple different people, including another man, which I wasn’t expecting in this book.

I was a little surprised by this book.  It is a paranormal romance by definition, but more like paranormal erotica.  The sex starts in Chapter Two and keeps going.  Sex is the main plot of the story until about 50% when the bad guys make their appearance.  Then the action picks up.  While I don’t mind sex in my books, I read erotica stories all the time, this book was a little too much for the first half of the book.  Once the action started, I really enjoyed the story much more.

I did enjoy this book, but I really hope that the next book has less sex in it (I never thought I would say that).  The writing was great and the characters were magnificent.  I want to know more about all of them and get more details about their each of their powers.  I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I hope that there is less sex.  I love good sex scenes, and these are great, but I like action too.  I think part of it was that the story took me by surprise.  I wasn’t expecting a PNR erotica story, which is what it was.

This book has some great supernatural characters with some really unique powers.  The characters are very well developed.  The world has been well established and I think the stories will only get better now that the world has been built.  I love the military/police force investigations that seem to be a part of the story. I’m itching to get to the next book.

 

ACRO Series

 

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I’m Melanie and I live in Ohio. I have two horses and a dog. I’m an animal lover, avid book reader and audiobook listener. I like to live vicariously through fictional characters. I enjoy reading and listening to mostly fictional books in the paranormal genre, including Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance and Horror. My favorite paranormal creatures are shifters, doesn’t matter the flavor.

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43 responses to “Review: Riding the Storm by Sydney Croft”

  1. Melliane  

    I didn’t know that the author had another name. But well I haven’t read any of the books by the author yet, only a novella. I’m anxious to be disappoited but I should try. Thanks for the review!

  2. Dolly  

    i was thinking about this series but now I’m not too sure. I’m more into Urban Fantasy or Fantasy than PNR especially if there is a lot of sex. There are a few exceptions of course. Great review!

  3. Bookworm Brandee  

    I’m glad you ended up enjoying the book, Melanie. It does sound like it was an interesting plot, once the action got going. I don’t mind sex in my books either – but I like a good story with it. I like the sound of the supes and their abilities. So I’ll be interested to see what you think of the next installment.
    Bookworm Brandee recently posted…**Bought, Borrowed, & Bagged ~ #48**

  6. Kelly Meding

    This is one of my all time favorite PNR series! Yes, there is lots of sex in the series, but the characters and the story arcs are so much fun. The main couples are all m/f but I love that they threw in an m/m subplot too. Stick with it! 🙂

    • Jen Twimom  

      I agree Kelly – I just love the characters. And Dev… OMG… Dev’s story is so… UGH… I can’t say without spoilers. BUT Book 3 is a powerful one. Creed and Annika are one of my all time favorite couples. The emotional bond over multiple books is superb.

      yes… Lots and lots of sex. Some m/m and book 4 (I think) has some pretty intense BDSM – and not the “billionaire boyfriend tie me up” kind.
      Jen Twimom recently posted…Two Reviews from the Hot SEALs series by Cat Johnson

  8. Celine

    I don’t mind sex in books, but I do prefer if the sex comes after the action instead of before. I’ll wait for your opinion of the next book before diving into the series 😀
    Celine recently posted…The Sunday Post #11

  12. Lexxie from (un)Conventional Bookviews  

    I have this on my TBR, and have for quite a while, actually. And I had no idea Larissa Ione was part of Sydney Croft!
    Even if there was a little too much sex in the first part of the book, I think I’ll pick it up one of these days. I don’t know if I could listen to it on audio, though, I just finished listening to Ugly Love, and it actually made me blush in places.
    Great review, Melanie!
    Lexxie recently posted…Review: A Sexy Journey – Jasinda Wilder

  15. Lupdilup  

    This has a couple thing going against it for me, first there’s a lot book already out in the series (I don’t really want to commit to long series for a while) and too much sex?!…I finding myself pretty bored with some of the sex scenes I’m listening to 🙁 but I’ll wait for your thoughts of the next book and see what happens. I was excited when I saw the cover (I was hopping for a really good romantic suspense), and your 3.5 rating is my 4.0..lol … So will see 🙂
    Thanks Melanie.
    Lupdilup recently posted…Best Audiobooks of 2014 (Melanie’s Picks)

  18. Lorna  

    I’m a big PNR fan but there has to be a build up to the sex scenes-unless it’s a mate bond thing, and then I am okay with it. I only occasionally like erotica, and there has to be a good story to go along with it. Sounds like there is a good story once the action starts though. I like the cover a lot, but I think I will wait to see how you like the second one before I try this. Great Review!