Customer Reviews

Wade

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

All good things have to come to an end, and Jennifer Blake's Louisiana Gentlemen series concludes with the fascinating story of brother Wade.
This series has featured the Benedict family of Turn-Coupe, a strongly connected family whose history dates back to the earliest days of the southern state of Louisiana. This clan is tight-knit, with the brothers and cousins coming to the aid of their kinfolk when needed, and in Wade's case, help is needed big-time.
Wade Benedict sets out on a mission to fulfill a dying wish of his friend, a mission that will ultimately alter his life forever. Traveling to the Middle East to rescue the daughter of his friend, Wade is surprised to find that the intended rescuee, Chloe Madison, is reluctant to be rescued at all.
Chloe Madison has lived in the country of Hazaristan for many years and lives in fear of her stepbrother's tyrantical rule over the family. After her mother's death, Chloe always dreamed of returning to America, to live with her father, but that dream seemed just that, only a fantasy. That is, until she literally runs into a tall, dark American who seems intent on taking her away from the primitive culture she has come to know. As much as Chloe longs to take the Wade Benedict's offer to help her leave, she knows that these actions will bring on the rage of her stepbrother, and the possible torture of her family. But after learning that she was to be sold in marriage, Chloe discovers that she must leave now, or face dire consequences.
Taking Wade up on his offer, the two soon find themselves running for their lives as they flee to America. But even on home shores, they soon find that the evil has followed them to the heart of Wade's family. Would their closeness and blossoming love survive the events to follow?
Taking a page from current events, Jennifer Blake concludes her Benedict family series on a dazzling note. Bringing the entire family together to finish out the story is brilliant and gives a great sense of closure for her fans.
Blake describes the agony she went through trying to decide how to finish this series, which she was in the process of writing during the time of the attacks on America. She has done a very admirable job of capturing the desperate feelings and dire circumstances of women caught in the primitive culture of the Middle East. This is wonderful conclusion to her series, and a fascinating look at current events combined with a heartbreaking love story.

I never thought Jennifer Blake could create a character that I felt more deeply about than LUKE, another in the Louisiana Gentlemen seires,but she's done it with WADE. The heroine, Chloe Madison, finds herself is such a typical female quandry - torn between duty and her true desires - that this book reaches you on a level far above the fascinating storyline. A must read! Then get your hands on KANE, ROAN, LUKE AND CLAY to see what else you've missed. No one can make you long to meet a Southern Gentlemen better than Blake!

This was a very different and interesting plot than the usual fare. This is about the Taliban and how one woman becomes trapped in a country exactly like Afghanistan and how one man tries to get her out.
So different from what we normally see in romance, this was brilliant. Written right before the terrorist attacks, the book almost never was released. I am glad it was. Ms Blake takes us into a frightening world where everything is black and white and there is no room for error. Where women are second class citizens and treated worse than rodents.
This is a tale about an American woman trapped inside with no hope of escape and about her father's last dying wish to get her out.
Wade is that man. Former military with the Special forces, he sneaks into the war torn country and tries to convince the woman to leave with him. Afraid and without hope, she shrinks away from the bold American risking his neck to fulfill a last wish.
With the Taliban onto him, Wade must make a decision, leave the frightened woman behind and save himself, or drag her out against her will and risk being caught.
Heart-pounding and action-packed, this is a must-read. I stopped short of 5 stars because of the unrealistic ending. Without revealing anything, it wasn't up to par with the rest of the amazing book.
A well worth read!

Tracy Talley~@

I was very impressed with Jennifer Blake's story of Chloe and Wade. Although this book does stray from Blake's usual tale of rural Louisiana life, it is well written and reflects the political climate of our time. The references made to the RAWA movement and the harships women suffer under the Taliban rule had a huge impact on me. I truly enjoyed this book and it will be saved on my "Books to keep shelf". Additionally if you enjoy Suzanne Brockmann, I think you will like this book.

Wade Benedict, fulfilling his friend's final wish that his daughter be rescued from the Arabian land where she moved with her mother. Unfortunately, despite the harsh conditions, or rather, because of them, the lady in question, does not want to be rescued, preferring to stay, fighting for freedom. Wade, however, will go to any length to get her out, though when Chloe realizes she can continue her work back home in Louisiana, and that her cruel stepbrother's plans for her marriage to gain her money will place her life into a literal hell, she agrees.

The battle to get out of the country is bloody, but they manage to survive, only to find that it has followed them home, and is not a Jihad, a holy war, that pulls in the entire clan into even more fights, barely escaping with their lives. Perhaps of equal importance are the battles of the heart Chloe and Wade face as they must decide what to do with the relationship they have found themselves suddenly to be in, each with their own issues to face before they can claim the love that awaits them, if they survive.

***** In the most exciting novel of the series, WADE concludes Ms Blake's Bayou Brothers line, making me sorry I have missed all but one of the others, if they are all this fine.

Readers get to catch up with characters who have surely become their friends in past books, and to meet a dynamic new couple. Heart pounding excitement never lets up, though romantic interludes amidst it all light up the pages with passion instead of gunfire. Every character is vibrantly drawn, and the storyline is one that could be ripped from current life as the Taliban and their world seem to haunt our everyday lives. Brava, Ms. Blake. Perhaps she can find another Benedict cousin hiding in the swamplands, if we are lucky.

Wade Benedict reluctantly agreed to carry out the dying man's last wish that he rescues his daughter from the oppressive Taliban imitated reign in Hazaristan. Leaving the comfort of his Turn-Coupe, Louisiana home, Wade travels to Asia to bring Chloe Madison back to the United States. Chloe was born in America, but moved as a child with her family here when her stepfather relocated to his homeland following the Soviet pullout.

Wade is shocked when he fails to persuade Chloe Madison to leave with him. Chloe believes her work to help women obtain basic rights is important. However, soon she has no choice, but to flee with the American, as Taliban-like justice calls on her. As Wade and Chloe trek through the mountains, they fall in love. The terror follows them to the serenity of Louisiana.

Wade is a typical Benedict hero and Chloe is a strong woman trying to do the right thing, but the key to this novel is the descriptive plight of females in this part of the world. The story line starts at an incredible pace as readers learn swiftly how justice works. Though the book switches locale to the Bayou too quickly, as Jennifer Blake is a victim of her own Middle East portrait, the audience will appreciate this powerful romantic intrigue.

Harriet Klausner

This isn't the first Jennifer Blake novel I've read, and my recollection is that her other books were much better than this one. I know it's the last in a long series of novels about the Benedicts and their cousins; perhaps she ran out of steam. This book's concept was promising, and I found the first half of the book very interesting. I was fascinated by Chloe's transformation from precoscious American teen into an outwardly submissive yet internally rebellious Muslim woman. I felt I really understood how women in those countries must feel. Chloe's and Wade's escape from Hazaristan was thrilling. But when they arrived in America, the story started to drag, drag, drag. And the dialogue became stilted and inane. I know that Ms. Blake hails from Louisiana, but I thought all the "aw, shucks," good ole boy dialogue among the Benedict clan was just too much. I also thought Ahmad's character became so overblown as to be a caricature. Because he was the author's sole plot device, his conduct became more and more bizarre and incredible, in order to keep the plot going. I mean, come on, he slits his own sister's throat because she tried to help Chloe escape? Then, in spite of the fact that he is apparently very occupied helping al Qaida with their terrorist efforts (and really, was the al Qaida tie-in really necessary?), he takes time out to follow Chloe to America so he can kill not only her, but the entire Benedict clan? Because of all this distraction, the first love scene between Wade and Chloe was anticlimactic and flat. I don't know about any other love scenes, because I put the book down after that and never picked it up again. In my humble opinion, don't bother with this one. Jennifer Blake can write and has written much better books.