Tag Archive | military romance

Synopsis
John is an ex-Marine who is now wheelchair bound due to an injury. He now works at an investigative agency with other veterans.

Shannon is the office manager for the same company. When a stalker begins terrorizing her, John moves in to watch the house and her feel safer.

Opinion
This was cute in the sense that John and Shannon both had crushes on the other person. Shannon tried to be nice to John, but he was so surly all the time. She lusted after him from afar.

“The man was sex on wheels, literally, and it was all she could do not to jump into his lap.”

“The man was too sexy for her peace of mind.”

John was a total grump because he wanted Shannon but thought that she deserved better. He would rebuff her niceties but still put out the vibe to all the other guys in the office that she was his. In a way, it was good that she had a stalker terrorizing her, because it gave John something else to do than feel sorry for himself. The conflict allowed his alpha-male to manifest itself. While he maybe have been in a wheelchair, it did not prevent him from fully taking care of business.

The villain in this book was off the charts crazy. When it is revealed who all is involved, I was surprised that I did not figure it out sooner. There were a few red herrings that the author threw in along the way.

Should you buy? I think this is a good book to buy if you like suspense romance. The suspense is not too intense or gory but I think you will still be entertained. If you can figure out the villain before they are revealed, let me know in the comments. There is explicit language (should be a given considering John is ex-Marine).

Book details from Goodreads
Kindle Edition, 262 pages
Published December 13th 2013 by J.M. Madden (first published February 1st 2013)
series Lost and Found #1

A military romance that needs proofreading

Oct9

Ben (Semper Fi) – Jambrea Jones ♥♥

Synopsis

Maribeth (Mari) is determined to get her man (who is also her twin brother’s best friend). She has had a crush on him for years but it seems he does not feel the same way. Her main objective is to get him to see her as a woman and not just his friend’s sister.

Ben has noticed Mari for a while and feeling guilty that his thoughts are nowhere near being pure. He does not want to make a move in case it does not work out. In his mind, he would have lost two of his best friends.

Meanwhile, there is another side plot involving an attack on Mari’s life.

Opinion

Before I can get to the review, I must say there were an annoying amount of misspelled words in the Kindle version of this book

Location 293 – defenceless

Location 1391 – kurb

Location 1430 – licence

There were more but I am not getting paid to edit and proofread. Jambrea Jones, fix those errors!

K-E-R-B?!?!? Really? Autocorrect was probably like, “Ummm I got nothing”

~~~~~Okay back to the review~~~~~~

Romance part of this book in a nutshell:

Ben: Must stay away from best friend’s sister.

Mari: I’m gonna get my man.

Ben: My big brain says “Must resist.” My little brain says “Lets bone.”

Mari: I got my man.

The end

Nothing new to see here.

Mari was pragmatic about their relationship and ready to get physical. “We’ve already wasted a few years, let’s not waste anymore.”

Cliché love story aside, there were several plot details about this story that annoyed me-

— Mari was foolish. She has someone break into her house and later beat her up, but she still goes into another situation without any caution and it nearly cost her life. Also, getting rid of the evidence that the people trying to kill want was not a smart move either.

— Fin (Mari’s brother) was not more upset with the circumstances surrounding Mari getting beaten within an inch of her life. Considering that she could have had a concussion, I would have thought he would have made her go to the doctor. Instead he takes her to her boyfriend’s house and there is the implication that she would be getting physical later. His sister gets beat up and he is not out for blood immediately?

— Ben’s injury was serious enough that he is home on leave but obviously not that bad that seeing how active as he was. How many times was Mari going to accidentally hit/knock his leg? It seemed all that abuse must have improved the healing process considering his bedroom acrobatics.

— Mari was too ditzy to put the puzzle pieces together as to the reason why her life was in danger. I do not believe for a second that she would have been able to solve why bad people were after her. We already established that she had no common sense. And she had been recently kicked in the head while face down in the gravel. Her words, “I’m sure I have a concussion or something.”

Side note: Mari’s busted up face would not have been sexy. She was trying to engage in foreplay with a black and blue, swollen face, which I imagine, looked more contorted than alluring. Ben’s thought process was “Even all beat up, she was gorgeous.” He should have been thinking “I need to get her to a hospital.” No. Let’s not be too sensible. Sleeping off a head injury after some between the sheets action is the best way to deal with that.

At first, I thought Ben (Semper Fi) was a 3 ♥♥♥ but the more I think about it, I have to give it a 2 ♥♥.

The plot foundation was an okay start: Marine romance with best friend’s sister. In an effort to make the story line different, the author added elements that did not fit together well. The villain was weak. Characters Ben and Mari did not connect with me. Some of the way that they behaved did not make sense while they were supposed to be reasonably intelligent individuals. He was a Marine colonel and she was a librarian. The story should have been better. Even the cover was mediocre to me.

Sometimes, the girl makes the first move

Dec25

I put three of the SEALS On Fire team Arapaho stories together because the plot composition followed the same format.

In Dagger’s Edge, Jagger’s Moves, and Touching Ghost, the women have crushed on the guys for a long time and make the first move because they are tired of wondering “what if”.

Dagger’s Edge ♥♥♥
Synopsis
SEAL Dean (team name Dagger) promised his best friend Brice he would check on his sister Mia while in Key West on vacation leave. Dean has had a crush on Mia for years, but never made a move because she was his best friend’s little sister.

Mia has wanted Dean for close to 20 years but could not get him to pay her any attention. She is trying to seduce him before she gives up. She has obsessed over him for so long, that she wants to get him out of her system so that she can move on.

Dean tries to put of a fight but the temptation of what Mia is offering is too much to resist.

Jagger’s Moves ♥♥♥
Synopsis
Tyler (team name Jagger) and Alexa were childhood friends who reconnect after many years. Tyler is picking Alexa up from the airport because she is attending a work conference in Key West. Tyler sees this sexy woman get off the plane and is shocked to know that is his childhood buddy. She bloomed and filled out in all the right places.

Alexa is determined to hook up with Tyler and get him out of her system. She had a crush on him ages ago and she is going to make a move since he will not. She figures that the worse that could happen is that he turns her down.

When they finally come up for air, Tyler decides that he has more permanent plans for their relationship if Alexa will have him.

Touching Ghost ♥♥♥
Synopsis
Ren (team name Ghost) meets up with his longtime friend Sadie to catch up for old time’s sake. While Ren does not think that he is worthy of Sadie’s affection, she has other plans. After a trip down memory lane over dinner, Ren escorts Sadie to her room. Using all the courage she had, Sadie asks Ren to kiss her.

That was as combustible as a lit match at a gas station.

Opinions

In Jagger’s Moves, I did like the airport scene. Hilarious. Jagger did not know whether to be territorial or what.

While Dean (team name Dagger) is worried about what his friend is going to say, I think that Brice would probably say it was about time. The story does mainly focus on Dean’s commitment phobia. Being a military man like his father, he does not want to turn out like his father who abandoned his wife and son. These are valid thoughts that he has to mull over before making a life changing decision.

I think of the three, I liked Ren and Sadie’s story in Touching Ghost the most. Ren was very vulnerable emotionally and tried to cover over his true feelings. It was only when Sadie called him out that he admitted the truth. The way she did it made me smile.

Overall, these are fun short stories about people who loved each other forever and are finally hooking up. Although these are Alpha men, it is interesting that they did not think they were worthy to start a relationship with the girl. Each girl did not hook up with the intention of it being long term, but wanted something physical for one night. Since the relationship foundation was already there, the romance did not need much to blossom. I like romances between friends since I married my best friend. I know firsthand that it CAN happen. I did not make the first move like these girls, but sometimes men need an overt sign to let them know they will not be shot down if they try.

As with the rest of the books in this series, these novellas are HOT with plenty of steamy (graphic) love scenes. Once the main characters meet, it is one love scene after another. These mature adult stories are not for anyone with delicate sensibilities.

Love can be complicated

Dec20

SEALS On Fire – Melting Ice ♥♥♥

Synopsis
If Syndra and Team Arapaho SEAL team name Ice were to describe their relationship it would be “It’s complicated”. They have been together for almost 10 years and Syn is tired of the unable-to-define relationship. She feels that she has been at Ice’s beck and call when he is on leave for so long that there is no stability in her life. She wants more (like marriage and family) and knows that Ice cannot give it to her. Plus, when they started years ago, it was with the understanding that there would be no commitments placed on each other.

Ice has been with Syn long enough to know that something is up. Not being a real boyfriend means there are boundaries he cannot cross in the relationship. He surprises himself by admitting that he is not satisfied with the status quo any longer.

While Syn has decided Key West is the last hookup before she breaks it off, Ice is trying to keep her body and mind distracted long enough to avoid that inevitable conversation. He wants to have all his ducks in a row so that he can offer Syn the life that he knows she wants.

Opinion
I think this is my favorite of all the books. Ice and Syn were really in tune with each other. Of course, Ice should have been more forthcoming to what plans he was trying to make so that Syn would have had a better sense of stability. It seemed only when he was faced with the possibility that she might dump him, did he realize that he needed to man up and admit he wanted the relationship to go to the next level too. I also like that Syn was ready to walk away. Sometimes in a relationship, love is not enough and a person has to be strong enough to leave with their dignity since their heart is probably already broken.

SPOILER – Ice proposes. But what I will not say is how he does it. I laughed out loud. I reread the last chapter a couple of times because that was my favorite part of the book.

As with the rest of the SEALS On Fire books in this series, these novellas are HOT with plenty of steamy (graphic) love scenes. Once the main characters meet, it is one love scene after another. These mature adult stories are not for anyone with delicate sensibilities.

I could not find Melting Ice on Amazon, so the links are to the book collection.

Jonesin for action, looking for a good time

Dec15

Jonesin’ For Action ♥♥♥

Synopsis
Aiden is a Navy SEAL who lost his leg while deployed on a mission in the Middle East. Now stateside, he is trying to get his confidence back and see if he can still get a woman or will she be turned off by his prosthesis. But then again, he does not want her to sleep with him out of pity either.

Marissa is a bartender in Key West who is so glad that Aiden walked into her bar. After some light banter, she is convinced that she needs to make a move on him before he leaves with some other chick.

The resulting interaction persuades both of them to think “long term relationship” instead of a “vacation fling one-night-stand”.

Opinion
My heart went out to Aiden. He sees his injury as a loss of his manhood. Once proud of his body in top prime form, he is embarrassed of his scars. He forces himself to wear shorts to get used to the stares and whispers of having a prosthetic leg.

While Aiden was concentrating on the part of the leg he did not have, Marissa was intent on showing her appreciation for the rest of his fine, muscular, toned body. She was a good strong female character that was able to deal with his lack of self-confidence. I liked how she would flip his comments to make it seem as if he offended her. That threw him off enough to break through his defenses.

Overall, the book had a good storyline, but the ending left me wanting an epilogue.