Review: Very enjoyable "intermission" from the first book.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 3, 2013
Coming off of the action-filled first book, this was a nice "breather" to take things down a notch. Although the suspense in this book served more as a catalyst for our hero and heroine to reconnect and spend time together, the plot focused more on the emotional tug of war between Georgeanne and Sam.The story started off with a glimpse into their past, shortly before Sam enlisted in the Army. Georgeanne put herself out there only to be met with Sam's iron will to not give in to his attraction. She thought he couldn't see past the teenage girl who had followed him around and mooned over him since she was thirteen years old, but there were more reasons than she could have fathomed that had made her off limits to Sam. I found Sam to be a wonderfully fleshed out character. His childhood was anything but loving and safe, but Georgeanne, her brother Rick, and the rest of their family had taken him in and treated him like one of their own. The Hayes were rich where Sam was poor. His gratitude towards them, the fact that Rick was his best friend and Sam's insecurities with his social status were the driving force behind staying away from her. He thought he had nothing to offer her, certainly not the life her parents wanted for her, and being deployed all the time wouldn't have allowed him to give her the life he thought she deserved. Sam was incredibly self-sacrificing, loyal, honorable, but at the same time my heart broke for him that he felt so alone and undeserving of love.Georgeanne was a feisty character, quite contrary to the image Sam had built up in his mind. It was a nice change to see the heroine doing the pursuing, trying to break down the emotional barriers between them. There were a few times I wanted to shake her because I felt she was a little too pushy, and that she wasn't really listening to Sam. Any arguments that he threw at her, she tried to poke holes in it and bat them away as if he were making a mountain out of a molehill. My favorite part of this story was a scene where they laid everything on the table, and Georgie finally realized that she'd been so focused on getting him to give them a chance that she hadn't given the future any thought at all. She had her selfish moments throughout the story, but then again rose-colored glasses can cloud anyone's judgment. Their dialogues, the spilling of their feelings, the constant push and pull between them kept me engaged and full invested in them. Their maturity in trying to navigate the emotional landmines of their relationship and learn to accept they weren't the same people from twelve years ago was something that really appealed to me. The love scenes matched the chemistry between them - hot and tender, frantic and sweet.The suspense portion of the story had a rather abrupt resolution that took me a little by surprise, but our hero and heroine had a lot of work to do to get their happy ending. Any more drama would probably have overwhelmed the story. I'm already looking forward to the second book in the series where I'm sure the author will give us action, a hot romance and danger.Disclaimer: I received an ARC via NetGalley for the purpose of an honest review.