Tag Archive | military

Interpreter (Commandeer in Briefs series #4) by Kristy Marie

Dec5

Interpreter is part of Kristy’s, Commandeer in Briefs series, about Timaeus Lambros. I didn’t fully understand how addicting, emotional, love bubble absorbing, and fulfilling Tim’s story was going to be.

Kristy writes with such force that you are emotionally driven while reading. These emotions can range from all out comedy, drowning in tears or an overall feeling of satisfaction. It is hot, spicy, and heartwarming. Interpreter hits on all these points and then some.

When reading any book from the CIB series, you just get this feeling like you are returning home. The boys and girls are written so that you feel that you are part of this wonderfully inclusive club, where no one is biologically related, but every single one of these characters is your brother or sister. Tim is no exception.

Timaeus is one of the Marine veterans that Anniston had picked up in Commandeer in Briefs. He has always been somewhat reserved and in Interpreter, we find out why. When Tim is going through an upheaval in every aspect of his life, his ‘family’ is there for him, including Aspen (who is ABSOLUTELY adorable throughout this book). Aspen is the one thing to help Tim begin to accept what is going on in his life. With the rest of his family, he begins to step out into the real world again and it is through this that he meets Milah.

Milah is a delight. She is feisty, driven, adorable, quirky, and in a bind. She is completely lovable with all her idiosyncrasies. Milah is family oriented, has a certain affinity to a little boy named Oliver, and a deeper appreciation for the hearing impaired and ASL speaking community. Through all her Costa Rican feistiness, she is truly a teddy bear inside, albeit a feisty teddy bear.

I’ve already alluded to some secondary characters in this book but haven’t touched on all of them. Milah’s best friend, Felipe, is a character. He is there to help her, whether that be with fashion tips, men, or reality checks. I think everyone should have a friend like Felipe! The boys of the foundation, along with there significant others are hysterical. They bring so much comedy, it’s nice to revisit with them and their usual banter.

Kristy brought her all when she wrote Interpreter. Interpreter is without a doubt, hands down my favorite book. I still love Cade and his story, Gorgeous, but Tim is magical. She has totally hit it out of the park with Interpreter. I fully believe that this is her best book yet. You will be in for a treat!!

Drifter by Kristy Marie–Review

Jan26

For those of you who haven’t hopped on the Commandeer in Brief series yet, don’t worry, Drifter is a great place to start (and then go back and catch Commander in Briefs and Gorgeous). Once again, we find ourselves back in the wonderful little town of Madison at the McCallister Jameson Foundation that was started by Anniston McCallister for Marines. Now that we have the formal stuff out of the way, let me bring your attention to two words. Connor…Hayes! Drifter is about Connor and Bianca.

Connor is not only the hero of Drifter, but also one of the most enigmatic characters in Kristy Marie’s newest release. Connor oozes charm from every pore, darlin. He is the quintessential playboy who also resembles that ‘boy next door’ with dimples, rocking body and full of humor.

Mason: ‘Hayes, I swear if you pull your dick out in my car, I am going to beat your a@@.’

Hayes: ‘Don’t say beat and dick in the same sentence, that’s just teasing me at this point.’

I was pulled in immediately from the opening scene with not only ‘what is going to happen’, but with a boatload humor. Kristy wrote with such passion and vision that I was right along for the ride. I challenge you to read the prologue without laughing. It can’t be done.

Hayes: ‘Dude, I just came in my pants.’

When reading a book, you immediately start to gravitate to one character or the other. Sometimes, it can be both characters. In my personal experience, I am mostly drawn to the hero. Regarding the heroine, it is easy to get behind the heroine that is downtrodden, suffering emotionally, being bullied or is the underdog. However, there are times that there is such a strong, kick butt heroine that I am all about, ‘you go girl’. Now, is it difficult if said heroine also happens to be a criminal? That is what we are faced when reading about Bianca.

On paper from the beginning, it’s easy to typecast Bianca as a thief, a criminal, a person with no feelings or disregard to what she is doing and how that affects other people. Well, Bianca meet Hayes. Let’s see if you feel the same afterwards girl. Bianca has so many layers to her story, that I was full-on on the Bianca bandwagon along with being a staunch Connor Hayes supporter. Bianca was forced to make decisions for two reasons. 1) She was in an extremely disastrous relationship where she felt cornered with no way out. 2) One simple word, her mother. Bianca’s mom is huge driving force in her life and at times, heartbreaking to read about. Despite this, they have a beautiful relationship, which is only more fulfilling to read about when Hayes becomes involved. She portrays herself as a woman with a tough exterior, a true ‘tough nut to crack’, yet in reality, she’s all layers of ooey gooey-ness. What she didn’t realize is that she just needed the one person that will stand by you, make you stronger and build you up. Someone who is proud.

‘A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim.’

-Maya Angelou

Drifter is a book about second chances, redeeming yourself from the past, growing and evolving into who you want to be and deserve to be. In reading Drifter, I experienced all four polar opposite emotions; joy-sadness, anger-fear, trust-distrust and surprise-anticipation (you’ll have to read Drifter to how these all fit in). Kristy Marie did an outstanding job with not only her primary characters, Hayes and Bianca, but all the secondary characters as well. Thank you, Kristy, for expanding this wickedly delightful Marine family and bringing them into my life. One last nugget from Drifter…Theo and Aspen are flipping adorable. I want one…of Theo and Aspen in my life, so I can laugh and swoon at this touching relationship.

Readers, do yourselves a favor and pick up this exquisite book. There is no losing when reading about a houseful of Marines, the women that attempt to tame them and a deliciously adorable baby.

5 stars

Heartbreak Warfare by Heather M. Orgeron and Kate Stewart–Review

Nov12

‘Trauma creates change you don’t choose. Healing is about creating change you do choose.‘ –Michelle Rosenthal

Holy macaroni! I honestly don’t know where to start, so I’m going to start with the authors. Heather and Kate are FLIPPING geniuses! I love a good emotional read, but, honestly, I don’t actively go looking for it. Heartbreak Warfare is one that has ALL the feels and then some. I don’t know what rock (or boulder) I’ve been under where I haven’t heard of this dynamic duo, but I think it’s safe to say, they found themselves another permanent reader!!

Despair, elation, fear, love, hate, anger, sadness, joy and anticipation. Those are a lot of emotions placed between the front and back cover. I laughed, I cried, I was enraged and I was hopeful. Heather and Kate were able to pull out of me all these emotions, but I truly felt like I was with Katy and Briggs as they experienced war and the trauma that follows, both internally, externally and emotionally. I was filleted open, rubbed raw and left to try and stitch myself back together! I cannot emphasize enough not only how amazing Heartbreak Warfare is, but how engaging and sucked in you become. I was taken aback the first time I started crying.

Staff Sergeant Katy Scott is married to a Captain in the US Army with a six-year-old boy. Needless to say, deployments haven’t been easy on this family. Katy works in the clinic on base as a nurse/medic with her best friend, Corporal Mullins. The only thing Sergeant Briggs has known is the military. Katy and Mullins volunteer to go on a humanitarian mission along with Briggs and his buddies. Feeling excitement on getting off base and cooped up all the time, the only thing that made Katy uncomfortable was Briggs. Keep in mind, Katy says she is happily married, but there is something about Briggs, that she can’t ignore and sucks her in. While out on this mission, they are ambushed. What ensues is, gut-wrenching, heartbreaking and chaotic. Heather and Kate do a phenomenal job with what follows, not only along the storyline, but at making you feel as though you were one with the book. I’m still in awe.

Heartbreak Warfare was about more than Katy and Briggs, it also included Gavin, Katy’s husband. This guy deserves sainthood. What he went through when Katy came home is, unfortunately, something many families go through. He tried desperately to bring Katy back, but unfortunately, there was only one person that would understand what she’s been through and he’s fighting his own battle. Each character was written so well, that it was hard to have a favorite. You know in some books, you are pulling for one character or another? Well this one, I felt like everybody deserved a win at happiness!

I am in awe of Heather, Kate and their glorious book, Heartbreak Warfare. If you are like me and want angst, but usually avoid super emotional reads, don’t pass this book up. You will not be disappointed. In fact, there are many great wonderful lessons throughout. It gave me a greater appreciation for people in the military, past and present, for our freedom. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

5 stars

Five ‘Superhero’ Stars PLUS Five ‘Awe-inspiring’ Stars

Marx Girl by TL Swan–Review

Feb2

Cover

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.’