Lynn Viehl - Frostfire

"As one of the genetically enhanced Kyndred, Lilah can read and control the minds of animals... After being drugged and abducted, Lilah winds up handcuffed to a half-dead man... Walker, a soldier critically wounded in Afghanistan, is brought back to life by Lilah's warmth and determination... as the two struggle to escape their grim fate, they stumble upon a remote town hiding a dark secret..." Lynn Viehl should be named the Queen of the Kickass Heroine. Lilah is tougher than she seems, and when she finally gets down to business, there isn't anything that's going to stop her. And don't even get me started on Viehl's ability to write tortured, yet not wimpy, heroes. Walker has some dark things hiding in his past, but it's who is he despite those flaws that make him a hero worth rooting for.