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    The Woman Left Behind: A Novel
    The Woman Left Behind: A Novel
    The Woman Left Behind: A Novel
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Woman Left Behind: A Novel

    Written by Linda Howard

    Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Jina Modell works in Communications for a paramilitary organization, and she really likes it. She likes the money, she likes the coolness factor—and it was very cool, even for Washington, DC. She liked being able to kick terrorist butts without ever leaving the climate-controlled comfort of the control room.

    But when Jina displays a really high aptitude for spatial awareness and action, she’s reassigned to work as an on-site drone operator in the field with one of the GO-teams, an elite paramilitary unit. The only problem is she isn’t particularly athletic, to put it mildly, and in order to be fit for the field, she has to learn how to run and swim for miles, jump out of a plane, shoot a gun...or else be out of a job.

    Team leader Levi, call sign Ace, doesn’t have much confidence in Jina--who he dubbed Babe as soon as he heard her raspy, sexy voice--making it through the rigors of training. The last thing he needs is some tech geek holding them back from completing a dangerous, covert operation. In the following months, however, no one is more surprised than he when Babe, who hates to sweat, begins to thrive in her new environment, displaying a grit and courage that wins her the admiration of her hardened, battle-worn teammates. What’s even more surprising is that the usually very disciplined GO-team leader can’t stop thinking about kissing her smart, stubborn mouth…or the building chemistry and tension between them.

    Meanwhile, a powerful Congresswoman is working behind the scenes to destroy the GO-teams, and a trap is set to ambush Levi’s squad in Syria. While the rest of the operatives set off on their mission, Jina remains at the base to control the surveillance drone, when the base is suddenly attacked with explosives. Thought dead by her comrades, Jina escapes to the desert where, brutally tested beyond measure, she has to figure out how to stay undetected by the enemy and make it to her crew in time before they’re exfiltrated out of the country.

    But Levi never leaves a soldier behind, especially the brave woman he’s fallen for. He’s bringing back the woman they left behind, dead or alive.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMar 6, 2018
    ISBN9780062695062
    The Woman Left Behind: A Novel
    Author

    Linda Howard

    Linda Howard is the award-winning author of many New York Times bestsellers, including Up Close and Dangerous, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Cover of Night, Killing Time, To Die For, Kiss Me While I Sleep, Cry No More, and Dying to Please. She lives in Alabama with her husband and a golden retriever.

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    Reviews for The Woman Left Behind

    4.5/5

    366 ratings24 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      One of the best romance/action books I’ve read in a long time. Linda Howard has made my top 3 romance/suspense authors of all time just by this book alone. It hits so close to home and makes me feel all the feels from the adrenaline rush to the push and pull attraction between the MMC and FMC. It checks all the boxes on my most favorite lost in time reads. Thank you Linda for painting such an exquisite feel good story.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful book about the strength, both moral and physical, of a woman! The rest is good romantic suspense, but the woman’s brutal trek is awesome!
    • 5/5
      Linda Howard does not disappoint! This was my second audio version of one of her books and I’m hooked! I love the plot twists and her laugh out loud humor.
    • 5/5
      I couldn’t put it down. Very intense story from the interpersonal relationships & friendships which is my favorite part of stories, to the grueling physical experiences. It is now one of my favorites.
    • 4/5
      Pure brilliance. Intriguing plot, brilliant characters, and great story. If you have some great stories like this one, you can publish it on Novel Star, just submit your story to hardy@novelstar.top or joye@novelstar.top
    • 5/5
      Kept me listening to the end. Didn’t want to stop for sleep umpire was finished. Love Linda Howard’s novels.
    • 5/5
      Spoiler: Great book but the last action scene would have been better if all the good guys had lived. It is make believe after all.
    • 5/5
      Kept me wanting more! Hope there will be a series with the rest of the team! Great author, great narration!
    • 4/5
      I liked this book. It was good. The heroine was smart, tenacious, and brave. She was a little rougher than I like, but still very relatable. The hero was a jerk at first, always yelling and criticizing. He viciously fought his attraction for her. At first I was mad, I don’t like enemies to lovers, but then I realized her was treating her appropriately, just like a drill Sargent would treat a new recruit. Overall it was interesting and action packed.
    • 5/5
      Excellent read. Very exciting. Enjoyed it very much. Excellently read!!!
    • 5/5
      I love happy endings. The book was easy listening. The story line kept my attention.
    • 4/5
      One of my favorite authors, book was good when it finally picked up the action. Good story.
    • 3/5
      With all the details spent with other areas in the book, the ending came and went so fast that I didn't have time to enjoy the climax
    • 2/5
      Spoilers below...
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      This story started out very strong and then started a downward spiral for me with the continuous self doubt and extreme angst of both MCs.

      What dropped in from a solid 3 Star read for me was the battle scene towards the end.

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      1. The h's strength using her drone was not even considered; and
      2. The incredibly smart leader made a completely stupid decision to go in with only one agent into a losing situation fully knowing that it was an ambush AND
      3. How does the true mastermind villain lift her arm to shoot the incredibly smart leader AFTER she was shot through the heart AND the h does not shoot her again until after her boss is shot in the head? It cannot happen this way. Even if she can life her arm to shoot after her heart is torn apart by the bullet, the h would have had plenty of time to empty her clip.

      Ugh!
    • 4/5
      I liked this book. It was more of a story about the heroine’s perseverance and courage than romance or suspense. By the time the author got to the conclusion of the bad guy I had forgotten all about that part. It was a compelling story with out the suspense or mystery. The hero was a complete jerk to her from the beginning and I usually don’t like that kind of thing, but once I realize it wasn’t about him being a jerk, but about him acting as her training drill Sargent (or at least how the media portrays drill Sargents, I don’t know how real ones act) I felt better. Then later he worked to treat her as he would any members of the team. It was hard for the characters not to act on their attraction. Overall a good story.
    • 5/5
      Another great Linda Howard book. Wonderful characters and a thrilling storyline.
    • 4/5
      Re-listened to this a second time. Excellent book. I recommend it. Surprise ending. Good character development. Believable plot.
    • 5/5
      Excellent narration, easy listen. The characters are well developed and the storyline flows easily. A very enjoyable read.
    • 5/5
      Very good narrator. Great story line, I enjoyed listening to it.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      First book I have read by Linda Howard. I Don’t usually write reviews but I enjoyed this book enough that I did want to make sure I acknowledge. It kept my attention and was very enjoyable I recommend and I will be looking forward to reading her other books

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Really enjoyed this book. Look forward to the next one.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Jina Modell is a support member of Axel MacNamara's Go-Team unit until MacNamara decides to put selected members of his support staff out in the field with his teams to operate drones that will provide more on the spot intel about their surroundings. Jina becomes the only woman placed on a team. Ace's team is one of the best, and Jina is determined not to give up as she faces challenge after challenge in order to become field-ready. Howard enhances the story with a very vivid description of Jina's struggles with parachute jumping. Things become even more difficult as Jina, known as Babe by her team, and Ace, whose real name is Levi, develop an almost insurmountable attraction to one another.
      The Woman Left Behind is truly vintage Linda Howard. The struggle the two main characters had in keeping their attraction hidden was only a small part of what made this an engrossing novel. Jina's desire to prove herself felt very real as did her fear of many of the situations in which she was placed. My only complaint about the book was that the ending felt both too short and too long. So much of the underlying story about MacNamara and Congresswoman Joan Kingsley had to be explained and resolved that it took away from the main story, but otherwise this was a terrific book, one of Linda Howard's best in recent years.
    • 4/5
      The blurb made it seem that she would spend a goodly chunk of the book getting herself back to the team or civilisation or whatever but actually it's only a few chapters in a story, though it is a pivotal point in the story for the heroines growth.Levi Butcher leads a paramilitary unit of macho men and into this mix his boss puts a geek, and a female geek at that. She, Jina Modell, and the other geeks assigned to other teams, are unfit and would not be able to keep up with the team so they set about fixing that, trying to break her, but she refuses to break and becomes part of the team. After a few missions she ends up left behind and has to get to safety, ignoring pain and the fear of being trapped behind enemy lines.It's interesting and the characters are well drawn, even if Levi Butcher comes across as being a bit of an ass sometimes while he tries to convince himself that the only feelings he has for Jina is that of a co-worker. I also had some issues with the resolution as it was a bit pat and easy. Still an interesting read with characters I was rooting for.
    • 3/5
      Jina liked her job in Communications for the anti-terrorism GO-teams. She is not happy that her high scores in a company videogame have her reassigned to join one of the teams in the field, although the drone she gets to fly in support is very cool. But Jina is not a quitter--it isn't in her--so she guts through the training. It doesn't help that the head of the team is a very sexy guy--who makes it very plain that there will be no relationships between teammates. Luke would be happy to see her wash out of training so that he can make a move on her, but he has too much integrity to undermine her and make her fail. Then a mission goes very wrong....There is a lot of lust here, and eventually some very hot sex, but not really any romance. Mostly it's the story of a self-proclaimed nerd reaching deep within herself to learn what she can do.