military

Just One Kiss by Susan Mallery

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Just One Kiss (Fool's Gold, #11)
Grade-B
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-None
Series-Fool’s Gold #11
Reviewed by Kay

I was so excited to get this book and start reading it. I was just about bouncing in my chair, as I am a huge Susan Mallery fan and have been for years. This chapter in the Fool’s Gold saga is about Patience McGraw, a hometown girl who was in love with a neighbor boy back in high school. When said boy disappeared without a trace she was heartbroken as only a fourteen year old girl can be. She moved on with her life and ended up pregnant out of wedlock and then married to her baby daddy. That marriage soon fell apart and she she ended up raising her daughter alone after the father waived his parental rights. Then the unthinkable happens….Justice comes home.

Justice Garrett always regretted leaving the way he did. He missed Patience and thought about her for years. His decision to move back home after his career in the military was based on Patience and his need to reconnect with her. He is going to open a business with another hometown boy, Ford Hendrix and a man named Angel. Watching he and Patience rekindle their friendship was precious. These two characters really cared about each other.

This did drag a little in the middle for me which is shocking because I LOVE this series. I want to move there and never leave, except to maybe vacation in Lucky Harbor or Virgin River. Once this book got back on track for, it was full steam ahead. You need to read this latest installment and if you have never read this series, get started because it is fantastic. My only other complaint is that she has turned down the heat in the last two books. Not a fan of the heat getting turned down at all.

Chasing Mrs. Right by Katee Robert

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

Chasing Mrs. Right (Come Undone, #2)
Grade-C+
Hotness Level-Blaze
Kink Level-None
Series-Come Undone #2
Reviewed by Kay

Let me start by saying that I did not read the first book in the series, so I don’t know if that would have made any difference. I felt that the book was okay as a stand alone novel.

Ian Wasler is a soldier recently discharged from the Army. He had seen a lot of very unpleasant things in his tours and wants to get back to normal. The problem is he can’t figure out how to do that. He can’t sleep well or relate to his family. His PTSD is stifling to him. His sister throws him a welcome home party and he can’t take the crowd so he runs out the side door and plows into a beautiful brunette.

Roxanne Stokes is said beautiful brunette and was going to attend her best friend’s brother’s welcome home party. Instead she’s on top of some guy who came barreling out the door she was going to enter. As a party planner she has to deal with a great many different types of people and she can see this guy has issues. These two people have an instant attraction and there you have it. She fights the attraction for various reasons, the least of which is that she figures out who he is after their tryst.

I liked this read a lot. The characters were good people with really crappy pasts. Each had family issues that were difficult and caused problems for them both. The push and pull between these two was fun and exciting to read about. It was a little slow in the middle, maybe, but still enjoyable. Let’s not forget the love scenes, they were nice as well.

A Prior Engagement by Karina Bliss

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

A Prior Engagement
Grade: B+
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: ContemporarySeries: Special Forces #4
Reviewed by Anne

I have decided that Karina Bliss is an author I do not read enough of.  I need to read more of her books.  I started this one during the RT Convention and stayed up waaaaay too late reading it.  In that wonderful way that really good books have, it just pulled me in and I didn’t want to put it down!
 
Lee, an SAS (Australian Special Forces) soldier who was thought to be killed in battle has been found alive.  His return home is more challenging than he expected.  Everyone has moved on with their lives, except his ex-girlfriend.  Even though she turned down his proposal on the eve of his deployment, she now appears to be one of his family.  They think she was his fiancee.  He wonders what is going on and why she would deceive his friends and loved ones.  
 
Jules knows that Lee will be furious with her for lying to his SAS buddies and family who have now become *her* friends and family.  She figures they may hate her, too, once they hear what she did.  And all of this is made even more complicated because Lee appears to have amnesia and claims he can’t remember what happened between them before he deployed.
 
This isn’t a set up that would normally pull me in, but I’m SO glad I read this book.  I don’t like big misunderstandings or lies between the main characters, but this really worked for me.  Jules is pressured by medical and psychiatric experts to take it easy on Lee.  She is determined to tell him the truth and explain her motives behind the lies, even though she doesn’t expect him to forgive her.  She just wants him to find his footing in his life before her revelations do further damage.  
 
Concentrating on getting even with Jules gives Lee something to focus on in a world that seems so different to him.  Interestingly, because he wants Jules to pay for lying to his friends and family, he’s willing to let her take care of him.  He thinks he’s unworthy of her and he thinks if they really loved each other he’d hit the road rather than have her seem him struggle to recover from his captivity.  But because he’s upset with her deception, he’s willing to impose on her in ways he wouldn’t if they were being honest.  That is very interesting!
 
I think the PTSD and recovery from Lee’s captivity is very realistically portrayed.  We’re in Lee’s head a lot, so we see how mixed up he feels, but we also see his actions, which could be confusing to outsiders.  Jules and the rest of Lee’s friends work very hard to anticipate Lee’s needs, and this drives Lee crazy when he realizes what’s going on.  
 
In the middle of this very real feeling personal conflict, Karina Bliss writes some believable humor and friendships.   The guys especially are funny together.  

“Ross took a casual swig of his tea, then dug in his jacket and produced a protein bar, which he held out. ‘You haven’t eaten in what… five hours?’
‘What are you, my babysitter?’ Hemmed between his friends, he felt like he was being observed, watched.  Notwithstanding their benevolent motives, Lee had to keep reminding himself they were on his side.  His nerves only recognized that they were elite soldiers.
Ross waved the bar in front of his nose. ‘Take it.’
‘You’re being anal.’ Reluctantly Lee accepted. ‘How the hell did you get a free spirit like Viv to say yes anyway?’
‘I’m loose in bed.’ ” (A Prior Engagement, p 164-5)

 
The whole book is really well done.  A little slow moving at times, but that doesn’t bother me.  This is the fourth in this series of books.  I read the first one and enjoyed it (despite it’s over the top ending) but I haven’t read the second or third.  This fourth one stood alone pretty well.  There is a large circle of friends, along with both names and nicknames that got confusing at times, but I kept up pretty easily.  I do want to read the two books I missed now, though!  If you’re looking for realistic drama with a dose of humor, Karina Bliss is the way to go!