Beyond the Limit

The Navy SEAL action-romance gets a makeover in Dees’s refreshing Valkyrie Ops series launch, which opens with three strong, capable women training for a chance to enter BUD/S, the intense physical training that weeds out average sailors from potential SEALs. Lt. Sherri Tate benefited from beauty pageant scholarships, but she’s much more than a pretty face. The aspiring Olympic heptathlete is ready to serve her country and prove that women can integrate the SEALs, despite the attitude of the team that’s sent to train her and the other female BUD/S candidates, including troop commander Griffin Caldwell. Unsurprisingly, Griffin doesn’t believe that women can make a SEAL team or that they belong there. But he can’t help but be impressed by Sherri’s determination, grit, and impressive fitness, and gradually he realizes that Sherri and the other women deserve a legitimate shot. A mission gone awry brings Griffin and Sherri into closer quarters, and as a romantic connection builds, they must carefully navigate their relationship and keep it separate from Sherri’s training. Dees’s readers will delight in the double pleasure of smart, tough women succeeding in their field and pretty, witty heroines winning the hearts of military men. Agent: Nicole Resciniti, Seymour Agency. (July)