Review: Loved it despite some major flaws.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 11, 2014
I've actually enjoyed this whole series. Staking His Claim is probably my favorite one though. It's off the charts hot. Lucy's struggles to fit in and be seen as more than just a pain in the butt to her family actually made me a little misty-eyed. The author really nails that emotion.I loved that the author did not drag out the mistaken identity issue longer than necessary. The timing was perfect. I also liked that Matt knew he was dominant in the bedroom and was always aware not to squash Lucy's zest for life. I also liked that although he knew himself and his needs he didn't feel compelled to call himself by special titles or use certain protocols. That's starting to get boring in every book lately. He was alpha without being a jerk which I also liked.What worked for me was that with the whole "older brother's best friend" trope, the author did not manufacture some artificial reason why Brent didn't want Lucy and Matt together. It's all (or mostly) in Matt's head that he is worried about disrespecting his friend, because he likes rough sex. But since Brent (hopefully) doesn't know that, who cares? I find it really creepy in this particular trope where the author has the brother know about his friend's kink so he doesn't want his friend and sister together because he doesn't want to imagine that scenario. The author did not employ that here and I really respected her for that.I would have liked maybe a little more explanation for why Matt had this big "I'm no good for anyone" complex. There is a vague story about a girlfriend being disgusted by his sexual needs, cheating, and another best friend getting blown up but it's not really explained well. Also we barely get a hint of what his deal is with his family.*Some spoilers below*My peeves with Stalking his Claim:  I had to wonder why Matt not only stood by and let innocent tourists and civilians be assaulted with water balloons and instead of oh, I don't know, arresting these people, he joins in. That was weird to me. There are a lot of times Matt was on the taxpayers dime stalking Lucy while in uniform. While it was kinda hot, it was also kinda creepy. My last issue was the ending. I'm sorry I hated it. I thought it was totally bizarre and over-the-top cheese whiz to have her entire family pop out of the woods for the proposal. That level of schmaltz definitely brought this from 5 stars to 4 for me.