Review: Military with a 'touch' of BDSM
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 18, 2013
Wow, and wow again. I enjoyed this book best of all the author's previous stories. It is more of a 4.5 because of some of the things I will list below, but over all, a great read, especially for, what to me, was a fairly short book.I didn't think it would happen, but this book made me a bit more excited about the series again.It was not as formulaic as the previous books, at least not to me, and that is what I think this series needed. The author has gotten smoother with the way she builds the relationships, and the military/special ops/CIA bent is still there, but this book seemed to deal more with the complexity of how to take an injured (mentally/spritually/or physically) human being and how to make it so they can be imperfect with others, but still feel worthy of love.The characters' shared experiences (mostly PTSD as well as two having similar upbringing, and then the other two having other shared experiences) help to actually twine them together so that you could see a relationship eventually work with them, even though it definitely does not look possible in the beginning, no matter the timing, strength and vulnerability of the MCs. But, I will say the way the ending panned out, it allowed the MCs all to feel stronger in their various roles, and gives a believabilty that they have something they can be proud of and offer to the other two partners. This is the way a menage should work in my mind, if people will do 'the work', so to speak.I will say that the mention of the military relationship with the former love was unrealistic to me, havng been a former Marine myself, in that they would up front call each other by their first names. That just isn't the way we were known to each other: it was either by our rank, or our last name, so that did give it a touch of 'un-realism' that was a bit hard for me to get past. I did eventually forget about that as I was pulled further in to the story.The other part that bothered me was knowing that the new MC had been in the military for 6 years (or there-abouts) and received a 'dishonorable' but was called a 'PFC' by the Marine..didn't work for me. He may have been busted a rank, but it would not have been to PFC..Either 'private' all the way to the bottom of the rank structure, or one rank, to like a 'corporal', or a 'specialist'. This is just semantics, but does bug someone like me who has been in the military.The action scenes were not overly 'active' but did break up the sequence of events so the characters could get to know each other on a one-to-one basis, with the supposed blessing of the other partner. But even that brought up some questions that needed addressed, and the author allowed th characters to do it in their own awkward ways,to some degree.The touch of BDSM does seem believeable with the out of control dreams and flashbacks that they all needed 'snapped out of'. I found myself pleasantly surprised when the new addition was able to be what was needed, and I found myself satisfied with the ending, and looking forward to the introduction of a story for some other characters that were introduced during various 'missions'.This book can be read on its own without having to read the previous stories, and you will feel satisifed, but if read in addition to the others, the pattern of the author's 'world-building' will start to surface, and you will enjoy the other characters, as well.