Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

Becca Merritt doesn’t know where to turn when her last living relative, her brother, Charlie, goes missing.  She knew he was paranoid in the last weeks before his disappearance and he left a cryptic message about finding one of her father’s former soldiers, Rixey.  So Becca sets out to do exactly that, only to be turned away rather abruptly when she does find him.  So she will have to find Charlie all on her own.

Nick Rixey loved working in the army in the special forces.  It gave his life meaning and he loved his fellow soldiers and commanding officer Frank Merritt.  But he and his fellow soldiers were blindsided to the fact their colonel was dirty.  Their oversight cost them their careers and even their honor.  So as soon as Nick realized the pretty girl asking for his help was none other than Frank Merritt’s daughter, he turned her down flat, only to be racked with guilt later on.  He decides to check on her to assure she’s safe.  But what he discovers makes his blood run cold; she’s in danger and its Nick’s new mission to keep her safe!

I was looking to start a new series and with this book’s smokey hot cover, it definitely fit the bill.  I also thought some sexy ex-military men could make for an interesting couple of days of reading!

I thought this was a decent book, but I really struggled with the lead couple, Nick and Becca.  There was something about them that I just didn’t like.  I found Becca to be pretty weak, despite Nick’s thoughts always talking about how strong and hot she is.  She always seems to be the ill-fated damsel in distress.  Nick had to save her from the intruder in her house and, then from the man trying to kidnap her … twice.  I’m all for a good shining knight riding to the rescue, but the constant need to be saved gets old, really quick.

I also had a hard time liking Nick.  He’s a bit too rough around the edges for me; always demanding and bossy and nothing he ever did or said seemed all that sweat.  I just didn’t find him swoon-worthy.

So not liking the main couple in a romance makes liking the book extremely hard.  I definitely felt like I was in an uphill battle.  But I still walked away enjoying the story.  The writing is good, once you get past some of the clichéd sayings used in the book (e.g.  like white on rice).  And the secondary characters were phenomenal.  I personally loved Jeremy and Shane especially!  I see that the next book in the series is about Shane and I’m excited to read it.  I imagine each of the surviving soldiers will have their own book, but I hope that Jeremy will eventually get one as well.  He’s quirky and fun and I love his sense of humor and his t-shirt collection.

This was a good start to a new series; one that I hope only gets better.  And, if you’re not like me and you actually like the lead couple, then you will enjoy this book even more!