Review: Flirty and Romantic
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 30, 2014
Everybody loves military men right? I know I do! How could you not love a strong, powerful man who fights for something so amazing as the freedom of an entire nation? Falling For Her Soldier was absolutely sweet, romantic, predictable and totally cheesy but you know what? It really WORKED for me!Ellie Bell has a pen pal. After her brother was injured overseas she began an email relationship with his commanding officer Charlie Johansson following up on his progress. The two corresponded over a few months until Charlie cut off all contact and stopped responding. Ellie was hurt by his lack of communication until she met the infamous Hunter. The guy well known around the base as "The Big Game Hunter". There's no way she would fall for this guy right? With his amazing smile, fantastic body and extremely lame pickup lines it doesn't take long to fall under his spell.Ellie's character wasn't hard for me to like. Being a ballet dancer was just one of her charms that I enjoyed reading about but it was her penchant for falling for the wrong type of guy that I could relate to. After a career ending knee injury she's resigned herself to running her mother's dance studio where she teaches. Those that can't do, teach. Right? I could really feel her emotional loss of not being able to dance professionally because of her knee. I always wanted to be a ballerina but my body isn't right for it. My love of the art is what drew me into Ellie's story and reminded me of the movie Center Stage which I love! Even though she had been hurt by her previous boyfriend Drew she didn't let that stop her from getting on with her life and moving non. I admired that she made a vow to herself not to date at all for one year. I think we as women who get stuck in a rut of dating certain guys and need to take a breather once in a while. Mine lasted for almost six years so I could identify with Ellie in that department. She wasn't the type of woman to fall for a man's crap and the way she put her brother Sam in his place when he tried to tell her what to do was adorable.Charlie Johansson A.K.A "Hunter" was an instant lovable guy for me. I knew from the very first words uttered by him that he would become a favorite for me."How You Doin'?" he said. What the hell? Since when did he channel Joey Tribbiani?That was the moment I fell hard for this guy. The two sides he's displaying both internally and externally with Ellie are what kept me on my toes. He's been a bad boy in the past and has gained a solid rep from it by all his buddies on base but I knew he wasn't a complete bastard. Yeah he was a bit of a slut but after his near death experience in the war overseas he's had a change of heart and wants something real. Something he started with Ellie in their emails. I love that she flustered him at times. He was so caught up in her personality and beauty he would unintentionally slip back into his "Hunter" personna. I started feeling bad for him after a while though because he was really beating himself up about his past and I hated seeing him upset. I did loved that while he was trying to escape his reputation and show Ellie he was a different man now, he didn't blow off his previous behavior. He owned it and never made excuses and that to me showed the growth that he had been striving for since he returned home. I love a man who owns his mistakes and Charlie was the ultimate man in my eyes.I have a thing for military men and have done the whole pen pal/relationship thing once before so this story just worked for me because it was so similar to my own experience. And while mine didn't work out in the long run the story between Ellie and Charlie was great and I enjoyed the way things went for them. I loved how Charlie respected the goals Ellie set for herself and she in turn opened herself up to giving him a chance despite his past. Both Charlie and Ellie had a wonderful character growth I was pleased with and that they both learned from each other and themselves. The supporting characters made me laugh and had me curious to how the other stories in the series panned out for them. Charlie's sister Tess was so sweet to Ellie and sympathetic because she knew her brother. Sam, Ellie's brother who was injured intrigued me to know his story and see how things will work out for him too.Falling For Her Soldier is what I personally like to call "Redemption Romance". After reading something dirty and so called "sinful" this is the kind of book to wash away your sins. It was clean and romantic and utterly cheesy but so good. I always enjoy a dual POV story going back and forth between both characters. It really helps me understand both people and where they are coming from. For some unknown reason I always end up jumping into a series two or three books in but I found myself following the story and it's previous characters just fine. You could absolutely pick this up as a stand alone and follow it and I recommend you do because this was a good book. The romance, the mild drama and the sexy ARMY man didn't hurt the story at all. This one was very tame and while I like my romance a little bit steamier it wasn't a problem to just enjoy it for what it was.