Why I read it: After MinnChica tweeted about this book a couple of weeks ago, I had to pick it up. The hook? This is a m/f erotic romance in a series featuring Navy SEAL’s who apparently all like threesomes – in this one, because the f in the equation thinks it’s hot, the 2 straight m’s get busy. Oh. My. *fans self*. So, I pre-ordered and downloaded and scheduled it in immediately after the new KA Mitchell (hey, I can’t read 2 books at once and I’ve been hanging out for Dylan’s story!).
What it’s about: The story starts when Navy SEAL Cash McCoy (he has a really great story about how he got his name) is home feeling frustrated. After being deployed for 6 months (he has a strict no sex when deployed overseas rule), he’s horny and it’s not helping that his buddy, his buddy’s girlfriend and another male friend are going at it loudly in a nearby bedroom. After considering –
As it was, he was distracted as hell, and kinda wondering if he ought to knock on the door and ask to join in.
Naah. Probably inappropriate.
– and rejecting Plan A, he decides to go out to a club and get himself laid. He’s not doing so well – in fact, he’s running away from a Navy groupie when he finds himself hiding in the same storage room as a beautiful sexy blonde woman and after some sexy conversation, they find themselves making out.
When his SEAL Lt “orders” him to babysit his younger sister who has a stalker ex-boyfriend, Cash isn’t too bothered by the “hands off or I’ll drown you” threat – until he comes face to face with the beautiful storage room girl. Okay, the set up is a bit unbelievable, but the writing was so much fun I was happy to go along with it.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): Right from page one I was smiling and enjoying this book and for the most part, that continued right the way through. The set up was cute and I liked how Cash and Jen sorted out any misunderstandings frankly and early. The chemistry between the couple is off the charts and it was fun watching Cash squirm with desire – he’s made a promise to his Lt and he’s trying desperately to keep it, but Jen is NOT HELPING. He doesn’t last long :D.
“Have you ever been in a threesome? I haven’t,” she said matter-of-factly.
Cash briefly closed his eyes. Would it be rude if he excused himself and spent the rest of the night jacking off in the shower?
Probably.
Cash thinks he’s not good at relationships because he finds it hard to talk to women except for to get them into bed and during sex (he’s very good at that). He’s blunt and doesn’t understand the female games about “does my butt look big in this dress?” But Jen appreciates his frankness and they find themselves getting along very well very quickly.
Jen, having a military father and brother, knows first hand how hard the military life can be on relationships and has vowed not to date any military men. But, Cash is so hot, she decides a fling can’t hurt – they’re going to be living together for 3 weeks – surely they’ll get it out of their systems by then? (Riiight). Actually Jen’s concerns were very realistic and this was one part of the book which was a little weak for me. In the end (it should be no surprise given it’s a romance) Jen decides Cash is worth the effort and heartache of being with an active-duty SEAL but I would have liked to have seen a little more of the journey from point A to point B. The story has a subplot involving trouble in the marriage of her brother Carson and his wife Holly (MC’s from a previous story) which serves to illustrate just how hard it can be to keep a relationship healthy when one partner is off for months risking his life and unable to contact the other for long stretches and pretty much unable to talk about his work. It did such a good job I began to have extra sympathy for Jen’s position. I thought, in the end, there was almost but not quite enough to satisfy me regarding Jen’s turnaround. I mean, I knew she would – I wanted her to change her mind after all, but I would have liked more about the how of it – it was such a dearly held belief after all. And it was never an option for Cash to leave the teams. Cash himself says “the military is my life”.
That said, I appreciated that in amongst the fantasy of hot Navy SEALS all being sex gods who put their lady’s pleasure before anything else and who regularly have threesomes (please tell me that’s not real or I may have to cry), there is realism as regards the challenges facing the wives and girlfriends of the SEALS.
The suspense plot is integrated well into the story – it doesn’t take it over and I actually liked the way it ended up being resolved – Jen’s a pretty tough cookie all on her own.
Another thing I liked was how Cash turns out to be Jen’s No. 1 supporter. She’s used to being treated like the family screw-up – changing jobs all the time and not settled in any way, taking her “silly pictures” as a hobby. Cash recognised in Jen’s photographs true talent and passion and encourages her to go for it. For the first time, in Cash, Jen has someone who will stand up for her – even against her Lt brother if necessary.
Cash himself is pretty straight forward, likeable and hot. Oh my. Add to that his sexy SEAL friends and we have a winner. Ding Ding. His friend Dylan is also sex on a stick (I want to read his story. Oh, yes I do!). When he visits for football night, the subject of threesomes comes up and before anyone knows it, there he is, giving Cash a sexy BJ. *fans self again*. This author can certainly write the hot sexy scene.
The way it read, to me, both men were so confident in their heterosexuality they didn’t have a big problem with “taking a walk on the wild side” – Cash spent a little time worrying that it would screw up their friendship but it wasn’t explored further than that. Which, in the context of this book, was okay – that’s not really what the book was about. But, oh, man – I’ve totally bookmarked that scene for re-reads. I expect I will read the book again.
There were a couple of small continuity errors I picked up – [parts of] Jen’s clothes seem to go mysteriously missing sometimes, but otherwise I didn’t notice any problems with the grammar or editing – at least none that bothered me.
I loved the way the guys were together – their banter and their bond. I loved that a lot of the book was from Cash’s POV – hero points of view are always a win for me. I also liked the obvious camaraderie the WAGS had for each other and it makes sense, given how much they rely on one another when their men are away. I was also pretty tickled by CO Becker who’s gone cuckoo over his baby daughter – the stuff about the approved list of birthday gifts was funny – “no lead paint”. I see he has his own book too…
What else? I enjoyed this one so much, I immediately went and downloaded the 6 earlier books and I can see from her website that the author has another in the series coming out later this year (Seth’s book). Yay!
This was a real winner for me. If you like fun super-sexy contemporaries with military heroes and perhaps a dash of suspense, this could be a winner for you too..
Grade: B+
