Review: A CUTE FUN READ WITH SOME LOL MOMENTS
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 19, 2014
This is the first book I’ve read by author Tawna Fenske and Marine for Hire was a good time. It’s listed at 245 pages but seemed like a shorter read. The entire story line takes place in less than a two week time span. Obviously, because of that, things develop quite quickly but I thought the pacing worked well for the type of story this was. There is a very tiny sliver of suspense at the end but Marine for Hire really focuses on Sam's role as the "manny" and the instantaneous attraction Sam and Sheri have.There are a few things I really liked about the book and they all have to do with the humor. I didn't expect the book to be funny but it was!I really enjoyed the friendship between Sheri and Kelli. Although Kelli doesn’t have a major role in the story line she did provide plenty of best friend support. Their conversations and teasing seemed very familiar and could have been pulled from the pages of some of my real life friends.“I love you, Sher,” Kelli said, touching the back of her hand. “And I’ll gladly hold your hair back if you need to puke in a barroom toilet on girls’ night. But there’s no way I’m helping you wash diapers.”Sheri laughed and swallowed the last of her tea. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she said as she set her mug down. “God, I’ve missed you.”“I’ve missed you, too,” Kelli said, squeezing her hand. “And I’m especially glad your ____________ ex is gone.” She frowned. “Was that too insensitive?”“Please. I spent three years married to Captain Insensitive. At this point you could tell me to go ____  myself and I’d feel giddy someone’s talking dirty to me.”Not only were Sheri and Kelli a lot of fun together but Sam had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion. When Sam was trying to act like he knew how to put on a cloth diaper but kept getting the steps mixed up with disassembling a M16 rifle was really cute. Sam using his Titans shirt as a make shift diaper when there was a diaper emergency was hysterical.“I’ve got this situation under control,” he added, giving the babies a reassuring smile. Jackson smiled back and farted. At least,Sam thought that’s all it was. Then he saw the telltale seepage leaking through the onesie and realized he’d made a terrible miscalculation.“Oh, ____ .”Literally.Jackson started laughing, but it quickly turned to howls of distress. Jeffrey joined in, wailing with an urgency that made the peacocks scatter.Frantic, Sam patted himself down, looking for something to make the noise stop. “I forgot the diaper bag. ______.” He scanned the gardens, hoping to see some other parent strolling nearby with the necessary provisions.There was no one.Sam was on his own in this bizarre, foreign jungle with two comrades equally unprepared for this mission. He scooped up the baby, glancing around for a faucet or someplace he could clean the little guy.Jackson howled louder.“Don’t worry,” he panted. “I’ve got your back, buddy. Semper fi.”The diaper crisis went on for a few pages and I was cracking up the whole time.There were a few things I didn’t like…The entire storyline was pretty unbelievable and far-fetched. Everything from Sam being able to handle twins when he didn't have much experience with babies to Sheri not catching on to the blaring inconsistencies in Sam's story and experience. I wish that Sam would have confessed the truth about who he was and why he was there much sooner in the story. He had plenty of opportunities to come clean but he didn’t. Another problem I had was there was a lot of talk about how Sheri looked. It seemed to be a major focus and kind of was a turn off for me. She’s hot. Nice boobs. I got it. Let’s move on already... The talk of looks and her body got a little redundant and made me roll my eyes more than once, especially since she had just given birth to twins months earlier…All of that aside, Marine for Hire was well written, had an average steam level for a Brazen title, and was a cute, fun read. Overall, I give this a solid 3.5 STARS but am rounding up to 4 STARS because of all the laughs. The story wasn't really believable but it was enjoyable(less) [edit