Review: Contact

Title: Contact
Author: Susan Grant
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Jordan Cady is a young widow who is also a single mom. She's worked very hard to get to where she is. Which is why she's is currently sitting in the co-pilot's seat of United Airlines Flight 58 bound for San Francisco from Honolulu. What started out as a normal flight turns out to be anything but normal for the passengers and crew. A thunderstorm that should have been easy to fly around becomes something completely different. What Jordan doesn't know is that her world is about to change ~ literally. That change comes in the form of Kào Vantaar-Moray, former lieutenant in the Alliance Space Force and now a member of the Perimeter Patrol. An alien.

This is my first foray into Susan Grant's writing and I am so glad I took the jump. The story of Jordan and Kào is a wonderful blend of romance with some sci-fi and suspense added to the mix. Ms. Grant is a pilot so there was a very real sense of what happens on an airplane during a crisis and what happens in the aftermath. How the crew is trained to do more than simple serve drinks and peanuts. It was interesting to read the dynamics of how the crew pulls together along with the passengers in the bizarre situation.

Even though Jordan and her crew are not considered prisoners but guests the tension is still there and the crew and passengers don't trust their hosts. Jordan is put in the position of leader by default and has to rise to the challenge. While she usually does manage to meet most of the challenges self doubts do plague her. New friends and old help boost her self esteem. Jordan is a well developed heroine with a strong sense of responsibility to her crew and her passengers. She doesn't want to fall for Kào but is drawn to him.

Kào is definitely a tortured hero. He was a prisoner of war and is still recovering, both physically and mentally. The nightmares of his imprisonment are still with him and he blames himself for many deaths. He is slowly sinking further into depression when he is assigned as the liaison for the crew and passengers. This assignment puts him into contact with Jordan. As he gets to know Jordan he realizes he actually enjoys spending time with her. Soon he becomes conflicted with his sense of duty to his father, the commander, and with his developing relationship with Jordan. Kào's trust is tested and he has to make hard decisions.

The love story between Jordan and Kào is well paced, the development is not rushed but takes into account the extremely stressful and difficult situation they find themselves in. When they do become intimate their passion comes from not only their physical needs but their emotional needs too.

The secondary characters of the crew of both the airliner and the space craft are developed enough to give the reader insight into the workings of both groups. And the tension of the life aboard the ship is felt and shown by both crews. Overall Grant does a good job portraying the different and similar values of both groups of people.

Susan Grant is the author of eleven books and four novellas with more books due for publication in 2009. You can find out more about her at her website.

Rating: A-