I must admit that TL Swan is a new to me author, so I was unsure as to what I should expect. What I got was a truly possessive alpha male, a secret love affair and mystery like you wouldn’t believe.

Before going into the characters, I must say that there were quite a few, but they were described well that if you hadn’t read anything prior you could still follow along. With that said, Ben Statham is a bodyguard to Bridget Marx’s brother-in-law. Ben and Bridget, along with Natasha and Joshua were often coupled off as Tash is Bridget’s sister. They have a secret romance that is brewing during this time, until one day, Ben breaks it off and leaves. He doesn’t want his past catching up to him and affecting Bridget.

Fast forward to five years later, Ben has returned to Australia to claim his love. Unfortunately, she has a boyfriend, Eric. The whole Marx clan and friends are at a wedding when Ben approaches Bridget claiming he wants a second chance. Things become complicated from this point on as individuals begin to analyze their own feelings as well as explore emerging feelings towards coupledom.

‘I had to come back and give myself a chance at happiness.’

The chemistry and heat between Ben and Bridget is off the charts. They definitely know only one speed/type of sex😉. They have a lot of drama and angst that surround them.

‘I will love him to infinity and beyond’… ‘Her love is my lifeline’

Here are some things that I liked about the story:
• Ben. I don’t need to say more, but I will, because holy torpedoes is he a man!! He is alpha to the extreme and knows what he wants. He is willing to do whatever he needs to get it. Ben is also sex on a stick, aka. a walking corn dog. Ben is also much deeper than what is portrayed on the outside. He has gone through A LOT, yet nobody seems to know the true Ben deep inside.
‘It’s crazy. He is so experienced sexually, but emotionally he’s so green.’
• I flipping loved the cover. Man, 🔥😈🔥, you may need some water to cool yourself off or a towel to wipe yourself down, because he was a good representation of what ‘Ben’ should be.
• I loved the ending. Let me just say, that emotions were running high, due to all the feels that were written. It was good.
• The descriptive writing was very good. I could picture exactly where these characters were and what their surroundings looked like.

Here are some of the things I didn’t like:
• I felt like I was reading two different stories at times. One that’s a romance and the second a military mystery. I didn’t really feel the flow or intertwining of the stories.
• Bridget…🤔!? I liked her. I didn’t completely hate her, but I didn’t love her either. She just seemed as part of the story, rather than being the story. Towards the end, she appeared to get her head on straight and became the heroine that she should be.
• This leads me to Ben and Bridget as a couple. Yes, they were hot. Yes, they had amazing chemistry. Yes, they had love. What they didn’t have was…. FREAKING COMMUNICATION!! There was a lot of back and forth that was dizzying at times. They both were I love you, I hate you, I miss you, go away. It was infuriating, because I just wanted to yell, ‘grow up’. Bridget also had a lot of guilt over being with Ben, yet hurting Eric. Too much emotion not clearly defined.
• Lastly, is Eric. I was shocked and disappointed at his brief appearance in this book. There was a time, where I thought his storyline would develop further, but nope he was in and out in the blink of an eye. I felt like he was placed just to create a storyline for Ben and Bridget. It was weird.

Despite all this, I was pulled into the story and read it from beginning to end. I didn’t feel compelled enough at any time to not finish. I really hope that we get to see more of some of the side characters, as their interaction with the leads made the whole book.

‘We can do anything as long as we have each other.’