Under the Northern Lights

S.C. Stephens

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Release Date April 30, 2019

From the number one New York Times bestselling author of the Thoughtless series comes a sweet, thoughtful romance set high in the Alaskan wilderness.

Mallory Reynolds is a driven woman fueled by her passion for photographing wild animals in remote locations. Every year she makes a trek deep into Alaska, but this time the unthinkable happens: she crash-lands after her plane stalls out in a storm. Injured, vulnerable, and threatened by the very creatures she loves, Mallory fears the worst—until she’s rescued by Michael Bradley, a mysterious mountain man living in self-imposed exile.

Mallory is grateful for Michael’s help but desperate to return home to let her family know she’s alive. Unfortunately, neither of them can leave Michael’s secluded cabin until spring. Mallory’s stuck with a stranger for months.

As Mallory recovers, a deep bond begins to form between the pair. Mallory is convinced that fate brought them together, but Michael is buried in his past, unable to move forward. Undaunted, Mallory tends to Michael’s heart as tenderly as he cared for her wounds—but will her love be enough to heal him?

This combines a suspenseful winter survival story and a slow burn romance. Mallory never expected her Alaska  wildlife photography trip would end in disaster and that she would need rescuing. Though she is tenacious, stubborn, and smart, she was very lucky that help did find her.

Michael Bradley is a man who has left society and isolated himself after a tragedy in his life. He likes living alone and handles the extreme conditions and basic lifestyle very well. He is broody, secretive, and full of unresolved emotions. It was luck that he found Mallory and was able to help her, but now she will be with him for awhile due to the weather and transportation issues.

As time goes on they find a rhythm and fill the void of each other's loneliness. But there is also sexual tension growing between them. Michael is determined he has no heart to give and cannot get involved physically. Mallory can't seem to stop herself from pushing him though. It is a super slow burn friendship to limited intimacy romance. And the closer they get, the harder it is to think about her leaving.

This shows the difference between how people cope. One in a hopeless situation can choose faith and the other can completely lose faith. I usually have an issue when books get too religious or faith based, but in this story it was a fundamental difference between the characters and part of the character and story development, so it did not bother me too much.

I was really into the beginning and the survivalist parts, and liked the end, but somewhere in the middle it did start to drag for me. Their relationship gradually built and more was revealed. Michael's back story is the reason for most of his resistance and I could see why he coped the way he did. There was so much back and forth between them. She was pushing him and he was resisting or pulling back in regards to faith, a relationship, intimacy, and future plans. It got frustrating at times and some parts actually felt awkward as she made him uncomfortable. While other times they seemed in synch.

Can Michael find enough hope to be willing to take a risk on something new? Will they be able to find a way to merge two totally different lives?

It was sweet, suspenseful, angsty, and emotional. I liked the idea of destiny, fate, and saving each other. They definitely had challenges and found each other at the right time to possibly make a difference. But they also live in different worlds and have different outlooks on life making it seem like an impossible situation.