Review: Delightful!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 12, 2014
Reviewed by Angie Just Read...for TheRomanceReviews.comWith a pathetic history of failed relationships with a series of cheaters and liars, she made a vow to avoid men for an entire year, yet she still managed to make a heartfelt connection via email with a soldier who had served with her injured brother in Afghanistan. Since he saved her brother's life, that soldier is a changed man, but sadly, a well-earned reputation by any other name is still a definite obstacle to love.Ballet teacher Eleanor Bell is rapidly nearing the end of her year-long period of self-imposed exile from the company of single men, yet Ellie secretly longs to meet Charlie Johansson, the caring soldier who exchanged emails with her when her brother Sam was badly injured in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the handsome soldier Sam introduces Ellie to during lunch at the Warrior Station's deli is named Hunter and not Charlie. Ellie's heard all about Sam's army buddy Hunter and his love 'em and leave 'em tendencies and Ellie wants no part of him, even though Hunter's yummy to look at and has certainly mastered the art of charming a woman.Army Staff Sergeant Charlie Johansson, nicknamed Hunter or "Big Game Hunter" for his prowess with the ladies, can't take his eyes off of the beautiful, red-headed Ellie Bell. Her emails helped ground him after the ambush he and Sam survived in Afghanistan, but he ended the communications because he was developing a dangerous fixation that broke the soldier's unwritten code that says sisters of fellow soldiers are strictly off limits. Then, to make matters worse, Sam introduced Charlie to his sister Ellie as Hunter and not as Charlie Johansson, and it's apparent that Ellie views womanizing Hunter as a pariah and the unknown Charlie as a crush-worthy man to be placed on a pedestal.The more Charlie gets to know Ellie, the more he realizes she's "the one." He feels compelled to reveal the truth about the man he was and the one he's become since the ambush, but Ellie's brother Sam is adamant about the soldier's code of honor with regards to his sister. As for Ellie, she's slowly seeing that Hunter is a giving, caring man with a good heart who's committed to help her keep her vow to remain man-less during the few remaining weeks of her self-imposed exile. And, each day she spends time with him, Hunter seems more and more like a keeper. But secrets seldom remain secrets and risk doesn't always come with a reward.Entangled author Ophelia London gave me much enjoyment and warm fuzzies with this imaginative plot based on first impressions, an alias, and a secret that creates impediments, drama, and conflicted emotions. Charlie and Ellie are mature characters whose life experiences have wrought needed change in their lives, yet both are still restlessly searching for something that still eludes them. As these two come to know one another, Charlie struggles with the lie he's been forced to live, while Ellie wrestles with reconciling disillusionment, changing ideals, and merging two personas of one soldier into a whole lot of perfect.My verdict: great chemistry and sigh-worthy scenes make FALLING FOR HER SOLDIER a most delightful read.