Review: Who knew a Sweetheart and a Rugged Man would be so good together?!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 20, 2014
"And I will stumble and fall.I'm still learning to love.Just starting to crawl.Say something, I'm giving up on you......And I will swallow my pride.You're the one that I love and I'm saying goodbye.Say something, I'm giving up on you."Let me say that Tessa has done it again!! This book...it's just...amazing!!When we first meet Knox Wellington he is tough soldier that's still trying to move on from a broken heart he experienced 11 years prior. While overseas he is front and center when an explosion happens."I can feel myself drifting off, and instead of flashes of my life and loved ones running through my mind, I see nothing. I'm alone and I'm going to die this way in this godforsaken country. Shattered. Broken. And completely alone."Charlotte "Charlie" Davenport is trying to get over a heart break of her own when she learns of a new patient she is about to start helping. As a volunteer, she helps injured soldiers go through rehabilitation. She doesn't want to get involved with a solider, especially one she is trying to help. Her best friend, Lucy, says that maybe what she needs is a fling to help her get over her ex. Charlie surprises herself when she actually considers this."I've had a nagging feeling wondering what this new guy will look like. I hate the thought and try to push it away, but I can't stop thinking that a convenient, casual hookup with a hot soldier may just be what I need."Knox hates the idea of someone being his "babysitter" as he's healing, but he knows that there's no way around it. With his younger brother,Cohen, leaving to go back to school he had no choice but to have help. When he opened his door, he was amazed to see the most beautiful girl with whiskey colored eyes staring back at him."...she's the first and last person I want to see right now and I have no idea why I feel this way..."Between Knox's cockiness and Charlie's stubbornness, their first day did not go very well. Neither did the few days after that. Everything Knox tried to pull on her, she pushed it right back. Love that girl!!! She's a spitfire!! The one thing that was happening was the amount of attraction they were experiencing from each other."I start to back out of the bathroom because if I see anymore of his naked skin I'm going to go all Katniss on him and start screaming "I volunteer!" when he decides he needs his back washed.""I knew right then a there that I was in trouble, because those few moments of her hands on me made me want her more than I've wanted anyone in the longest time.""Sweet Jesus. If Knox was a Disney character, he'd be Flynn Ryder because he's definitely has the smoulder down!"As they spend more time together, the feelings they have for each other can no longer be denied. I loved the struggle they both had to go through. That sounds bad, but its true. It was beautiful to read the way they slowly moved into more. More than patient/healer. More than friends. More than not so enemies."And I swore to myself that I'd never let anyone back in again who could make me feel that way. It's been easy, too. Until now. Until Charlie.""Why do you always call me sweetheart?""I have no idea, sweetheart. I just works."This is not just a book about love. It's a book about forgiveness in things you never thought you could forgive. It's about moving on with your life when you never thought you could. It's about opening your heart to possibilities that scare the crap out you. It's a story of a "Sweetheart" and a "Rugged Man" and their journey.I laughed, I got angry, I cried and I swooned. I loved badass Charlie and smartass Knox!! Also, who couldn't love a man that played the guitar and sang to you?! Honestly?!I loved visiting with Jace and Lexi again and meeting Lucy, Kale and Cohen. I loved this book and I can't wait for the next book in the Explosive Series!!