Winter Igniting by Rebecca Zanetti

Winter Igniting finally gave me two characters to love completely. April Snyder is just the kind of woman I'd want to meet in a post-apocalypse world. She is smart, compassionate, and a true survivor. Somehow, April managed to find purpose in a dark world. She felt like she had nothing left to live for, yet she still continued to get up each day and take care of the orphans who've survived Scorpius.

Damon Winter might be the greatest of all the Vanguard Mercenaries.

Before Damon Winter, my favorite Scorpius surviving male was his best friend Greyson. I liked how each of them treated their love matches. Damon is quite smitten with April but it doesn't cloud his judgement where she's concerned. When he had issues with her defying his orders, it wasn't because of that alpha-male "I'm in charge" crap. It was practical. They had a mission and she defied orders twice. I was relieved that he wasn't the control freak in the relationship.

Over the development of this series we have all grown suspicious of The Pure. Having a new amiable leader for The Pure Church was a good start to establishing trust with The Vanguard, but why are they still hiding the pregnant women and children? It's easy to believe that their hiding in The Pure Church is forced. Before Winter Igniting, I was hell bent on Vanguard forcing their way inside. Clearly I'm not well suited for planning a mission. In this book we finally get to see the inside of The Pure building. I was equally suspicious as April and Damon were. I agree that there is some validity to protect people who haven't been infected, but there's still something to discover in that building.

Will Scorpius survivors be able to carry their babies to term?

When April speaks with the pregnant women in The Pure, I realized I could appreciate their fear of outsiders. If I was pregnant I wouldn't be willing to risk contracting Scorpius either. It's possible they're the only ones who can procreate. We know of a few pregnant Scorpius survivors but it's too soon to know if the moms and babies will survive. We're getting closer to finding out. They've discovered the importance of vitamin B, they've found secret bunkers with research, I think in the next book we will discover how to save the human race.

New readers of the Scorpius Syndrome series, even if you're not into romances there is still something in these books for you to enjoy. The consistent story line of humans pulling together despite the overwhelming odds against them is inspiring. I envy you if you've never imagined what it would be like to survive some kind of nuclear disaster with only a small fraction of humanity. I myself know that I'll go raid my local Walmart right away for supplies.