Surviving Passion by Maia Underwood

4 Stars
I put another book that I was reading on hold so I could read this one, and I am glad I did it.

After the fall of civilization know as The Crash, people are struggling to survive. With no government, and no one to uphold laws, surviving the elements is not the only thing that you have to worry about. Selena has been on the run alone for 4 years, since the death of her father. She has not even talked to another person in all those years. Being a woman in this new and uncivilized world is scary. When a bunch of horny men get together, and women are slim pickins, a certain group mentality takes over. They will take what they want, when they want, and no one will stop them.

Selena narrowly escapes being captured by her worst nightmare, a group of men so savage that the kill people simply for the fun of it. During her escape she is grabbed by another man Dan, who in all aspects kidnaps her to take her back to his 'camp'. Dan is a good guy though, and is only trying to protect her. However while I was reading these parts I wanted to punch Dan for this manhandling of Selena. Yeah he was doing what was in her best interest, but jeez he basically kidnapped her.

Anyway, after 4 years of being on her own she does not easily fit in with those at 'camp'. While most are giving off genuinely good people vibes there are a couple that have her worried. Clint is one of many of bad guys in this book. In an attempt to prevent an attact from the band of scavengers, the group decides to attact first rather than waiting for them to catch them unawares. Selena teaches some of her slills to the other women in the group and everyone goes into battle.

Selena is slowly falling for Dan and she does not know how to process these feelings. She is intimidated by him. Everything she is feeling is so foreign to her she cant handle it anymore and decides to leave the group. THis decision is made after a horrible encounter with Clint. She tries to sneak away but Dan sees her and follows. Out in the woods all alone he catches up to her and.....

Returning to camp, Selenas emotions are a whirlwind. She confides in Bear and Blaire about Clint's attempts against her, and they agree to speak to him in private. Selena does not want the others to know, she does not want to feel like the victim. Unbeknownst to everyone Clint's treachery runs much deeper and nobody is safe when he decides to take action.

Kidnapping, betrayal, murder, and a gang beatdown are soon to follow. Will everyone make it out alive? Or will some be damaged beyond repair?

This book was great. I loved it. I understood to a point what Selena was feeling, and I was definately lusting after deep, silent, deadly Dan. Considering there isnt an ounce of paranormal in this book, it is definatly not something I normally read, but I am very happy I did. I will be starting the next book in the series Surviving Seduction very soon. The writing was good, maybe not as much dialogue as I prefer, but enough that I was always intrigued and it kept me reading. Definately an author to watch. I look forward to reading more of her work.