When engineer Avery McAndrews is offered a last-minute assignment to the rough and tumble border town of Zapata, Texas, she doesn’t think twice. Used to pushing past stereotypes, she’s sure this project will earn the long-awaited promotion. Instead, she’s thrown in the crossfire between warring drug cartels and soon discovers that her captor, Javier Ramos, is more than just a power hungry drug … hungry drug lord. He’s crazy.
As lead attorney for the cartel, it’s Alejandro DeLeon’s job to manage Javier. But this time, Javier’s cruelty reaches epic proportions, and Alejandro finds himself wanting to risk everything to save Avery.
Running for their lives with Mexico’s underworld at their heels, Avery and Alejandro discover unintended and intensifying emotions, feelings neither sought and neither seem prepared to control…
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Avery is red-headed, outspoken, beautiful and a smart, workaholic oil and gas engineer hoping that taking this job in Zapata, TX will earn her a promotion at her firm. While investigating a supposed oil lead, she mouths off the son of a Mexican drug lord. Three days later she wakes up and finds herself hidden away in a brothel in Mexico.
Alejandro is the drug lord’s right-hand man with secrets that drive a thirst for vengeance. He’s also intelligent, caring, broad shouldered and has a wicked sense of humour.
The two are brought together by violence but as they seek to evade the drug cartel, they find an attraction that Harper McDavid handles brilliantly. A physical attraction exists (and is denied) from the beginning. It is only as they spend time with each other and learn to trust that emotional warmth leads to physical intimacy. The romance is believable and earned. No obsessing about pecs as bullets fly, no falling into bed before they learn each other’s names, no throbbing on every other page. Most importantly — no space cadets who keep making stupid choices that leave the reader cringing just so the alpha male can rescue her.
This is true romantic suspense where the challenges they encounter drives pacing, and the romance drives motivation and you stay hooked the whole book.
Harper McDavid tackles some weighty subjects, drugs, violence, sex trafficking with a deft touch and plenty of research. The locale’s in Mexico, and the countryside plays a major role in the story. Using realistic, specific details, the author avoids turning Mexico into a stereotype.
Looking forward to the next in the series.
I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for a voluntary and honest review. And I pre-ordered a second hardcopy to give away!
A high action book, full of excitement and a romance that is both heart thumping and tasteful.
Zapata is a thrilling and suspenseful romance that will keep you on your toes from the very beginning of the book. You are taken into the dangerous world of the drug cartel, and you are immersed into a perilous love story about two people who have all odds stacked against them. The main characters, Avery and Alejandro, are compelling and complex, and you are left rooting for them to be together throughout the book. McDavid paints beautiful and scenic descriptions that transport you into the story. You are sucked into each scene, and the excitement on every page keeps you anxiously waiting with bated breath for the next scene. McDavid’s knowledge about the cartel is impressive, and you are submerged into all the little details and nuances about the secret way of life of the cartel. She has a keen sense for understanding human behaviors and motivations, and her characters are executed beautifully. This is an exciting and suspense love story, and it’s highly recommended!
Favorite Quotes:
Gaudy was the second thing that came to mind. First was no way. No way was she spending a night in this room. Her skin itched just looking at it. She shot Alejandro a dirty look in the mirror headboard designed to resemble a Mayan temple. The base of the temple was a collection of greasy imprints from the heads of previous guests. The mattress slumped woefully in the middle. Any more sag and the thing could be mistaken for a canoe.
… she’d been rejected. She hated it. Rejection was agonizing hell. It made legends out of poets and filled psychology textbooks.
My Review:
I’m always astounded when a debut author produces a polished and well-honed tale; color me flabbergasted, as this is one of those times. The storylines were uniquely intriguing, highly eventful, and advanced at an intermittent pace with rather unexpected bursts of activity, gunfire, daring and narrow escapes, cringe-worthy threats, brutal violence, kidnapping, betrayals, a blossoming romance with no future, and considerable subterfuge and duplicity on every level.
I was quickly sucked into Avery’s perilous vortex and was right there with her in the heat and grit, taut with tension. No one seemed at all trustworthy while those who should have been, weren’t; which only left the naïve yet feisty main character of Avery with the desperate and risky choice of depending on someone who shouldn’t have been, and waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The adrenalin and activity levels were often high with a large cast of compelling yet slippery and tersely spoken characters who were edgy and tightly wound, which kept ratcheting up that ever-present sense of jeopardy and danger lurking around every corner. The plot was complex, multi-layered, and loaded with intriguing and unusual situations as well as confounding and disheartening obstacles such as language barriers, corruption at every level, a large bounty, unstable yet powerful and well-connected criminals, significant injuries, and Avery’s conflicted feelings and perplexity over the role and motivation of the person helping her and her bewildering feelings toward him – was he her savior or another level of captor. I wasn’t sure about him myself and seemed unable to put my Kindle down until I knew for sure.
Zapata is a thrilling and raw romantic suspense that keeps you on your toes and stuns with a realistic depiction of the Mexican cartel. I am amazed that this is Harper McDavid’s debut novel because it was written so well. I loved her brutally honest writing, character development, and pace.
Zapata centers around Avery who is an engineer. She is given an assignment in Zapata which is known for its violence and drug cartels. Avery puts this knowledge in the back burner trying to only focus on getting her job done.
Things become suspenseful when Avery is kidnapped. She starts to see how intense and violent Zapata really is.
I appreciate how Harper McDavid detailed the violence because that is how the cartel life is. She didn’t hold back and respected the truth of the situation. It was because of the violence and torture that led Alejandro and Avery to forge a bond. Alejandro is the cartel’s attorney and can’t handle seeing Avery taken advantage of anymore.
This is a wild ride the whole way through.
I give Zapata 4 stars. It stood out because of the detailed writing and fierce characters. I loved that even in these destructive situations Harper McDavid balanced it with a romance between Avery and Alejandro. I’m eager to read more from this author in the future!
I had the honor and privilege of meeting the author and her book Zapata is as wonderful as she is! The main characters demonstrate strength, defeat, hope, humility and even evil to the fundamental core. A rare and perfect mixture of mystery, suspense and romance will leave the reader waiting for the next book in this must-read series.
This book certainly had its doses of thriller throughout the book along with a slow burn romance which I appreciated. Everything seemed realistic and it was fun watching Avery pick up Spanish. If you enjoy thrillers and slow burn romance then consider this book.
As a fan of romantic suspense, this book drew me in from the very beginning. Both the action and the love story started right away, which made me happy. Avery is a smart and sassy heroine who learns that she is stronger than she ever thought possible after being kidnapped by the crazy son of
a powerful drug lord. Alejandro is mysterious and sexy…and the only one to show Avery any kindness during her captivity. Their story will charm and thrill you from beginning to end.
The technical details and descriptions of the landscapes were amazing, and, along with the rich and dynamic supporting characters, brought the story together in such a satisfying way.
I can’t wait for the next release in the Border Series!