Her Alaskan Hero
by Rebecca Thomas
Series: Alaskan Hero, #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: August 25, 2015
Thanks for being here today, Rebecca...so, what made you choose Alaska for the setting of your novel?
Choosing the perfect setting for a story
When I was on a family trip near Coldfoot, Alaska sleeping in tents and panning for gold, I thought how wonderful it would be to have a lodge nearby with all the amenities I didn’t have. Like a real bathroom! North of the Arctic Circle is a place not many people in this world are able to visit. The remoteness and the vastness of the area is overwhelming. The Brooks Range is incredible, and that means something coming from an Alaskan girl. So the idea for a town, a lodge, an interesting family with sexy brothers, and the town’s quirky characters began to take root in my mind.
I’ve also always been intrigued with the idea of being left at the altar and what would you do? How would you act? What would you think? So I combined my Alaskan setting with a runaway bride.
Zak is a bit of a workaholic and Sabrina is pretty much his exact opposite. Therefore she is just what he needs to add some spontaneity to his rustic existence. So what happens when a runaway bride meets an Alaska hottie? You’ll have to read the book to find out!
After being left at the altar, California girl Sabrina Tate needs to make a fast getaway. With her famous overbearing parents and the paparazzi hot on her heels, where else is a jilted bride to go to lick her wounds but Alaska? With only her tropical honeymoon clothes in tow, she makes her escape. For two weeks, she’ll live on her own and prove to herself—and her family—that she can make it without a husband.
Zak Forrester is a man on a mission. He’s turned his rugged yet luxurious Alaskan lodge into a hotspot for hunters, all in the hope to make up for a painful event in his past. But when Sabrina—one of the rare women to enter his rugged realm—stumbles into his world, he can’t get rid of her fast enough. He has no time for her yoga, vegetarian meal requests, or Scrabble.
Soon, neither can resist the other, and two hearts collide. With time ticking away, they have to decide where they belong. Is a life in a different world better than being a world apart?
Opposites attract is such a fun trope and when the California girl meets the rugged Alaskan guy under less than perfect circumstances the stage is set for a great story. This was a fun, quick read that didn’t have a lot of drama or angst, but was well written and had a great cast of quirky characters. Throw in some competitive scrabble, yoga classes, and a cute puppy named bunny, and there was a lot to love in this book!
I just loved Zak. He was everything you want in your rugged, Alaskan hero. A bit gruff on the outside, a bit wounded and scarred on the inside, but an all-around solid guy that you would love to bring home to mom. He’s always been the responsible brother, the one driven to make the lodge succeed, and after being hurt in his past he’s turned all of his focus on just that. He also carries a bit of guilt around from his past which also keeps him driven and focused on making sure his family is taken care of.
Sabrina wasn’t my favorite heroine, but she did grow on me as the story went on. Fleeing to Alaska after being jilted at the altar may not have been her most shining moment, but I loved the fact that this was the catalyst she needed to really take a look at her life and decide who she was living it for, and then take the steps she needed to make sure she didn’t give up her own dreams. Other than her shamelessly throwing herself at Zak – several times – she really was doing things she needed to find herself. And once she cuts through all the rebound strings and sees that maybe there is something more between her and Zak I really like the person she became.
Sabrina and Zak together had that great “opposites attract” tension you would expect. They totally exasperated each other at times, but their attraction to each other was undeniable. They were so much fun together, and when they finally give in to that attraction they were just so right together. Of course the issues from their past threaten to keep them apart, and both have to decide what they want from life and what is important to themselves before they can find happiness with each other.
My favorite part of the book was the colorful, quirky characters that make up the town of Gold Creek and the Forrester family. They really added a nice depth to the book and helped set the stage for Sabrina and Zak’s love story. Zak’s family is so important to him and you could feel the love and support they had for one another – something I always love in my books. The residents of the town all had little quirks, but they were loyal to one another and protected each other, making this a great small town story.
I’m looking forward to reading about the rest of the Forrester brothers and spending more time in Gold Creek – the Forrester Lodge is definitely a destination for any romance lover!
A reluctant reader as a child, she didn’t become interested in books until her teen years when she discovered historical romance. Now she loves all sub-genres of romance and can’t decide which one is her favorite.
Rebecca earned a bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Alaska and was employed in the airline industry for several years before working in her current position as a program manager in higher education.
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