In the Line of Duty

by Ami Weaver

A risk worth taking?

Ever since Callie Marshall's husband died in the line of duty, leaving her and their sons behind, the boys have become her absolute priority. She's doing her best to minimize any risk to their carefully ordered world….

Ex-soldier Matt Bowden's middle name is "risk." Struggling to cope with his return to civilian life, he channels his energies into his adventure company. Callie has always been able to knock the air from his lungs, but she was his friend's wife and he's used to burying his feelings.

Now everything's changed, and Callie needs someone to step up…. Is Matt the risk she's been holding out for?

Genres: Romance

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Two-time Golden Heart Finalist Ami Weaver has always been a writer, but once she started penning 'romances' in middle school she never looked back. She's come a long way since then--and learned what romance really is. Now she is an award-winning author of warm contemporary romances for Harlequin Romance and Harlequin Special Edition. Ami's manuscripts have won the Maggie, the Marlene, and been finalists in Harlequin's SYTYCW and Mills and Boon's New Voices contests, among others. Ami lives in Michigan and balances writing around four great kids, three crazy cats, and one very supportive husband. You can visit her on the web at www.amiweaver.com or find her on Twitter at @writerlygirl.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. Callie has managed to put her life back together after the death of her firefighter husband. Her sons are the most important things in her life and she is doing everything she can to make sure they are safe. When her husband's best friend moves in across the street, things begin to change. Being around him begins to wake feelings in her that she never expected to feel again, and she's not comfortable with that. Plus he runs a high adventure company which puts him in a high risk category she has sworn to avoid. For the most part I really liked Callie. She's pulled herself together and is slowly getting on with her life. Her reactions to Matt scare her and she pushes him away as hard as she can. But that doesn't hold up as she finds him getting involved with her sons and coming to her rescue during a storm. She worries about what will happen if the boys get close to him and then he leaves. She has gone a bit overboard in trying to protect her boys from risk and gets defensive when she gets called on it by Matt and others. Her growing love for Matt is something she doesn't want to admit to herself especially with her blind spot concerning his work. Watching her work through everything was satisfying and felt very realistic.

I loved Matt. He was surprised to find that he had moved in across from Callie. She'd always appealed to him but as his best friend's wife he had buried those feelings deep. Now Jason's no longer there, but even thinking about Callie that way makes him feel very guilty. I love the way that he has so much fun with Callie's kids. It shows that he has the potential to be a great father even though he doesn't think that's possible for him. I loved the way he had Callie and the kids stay at his house when hers was storm damaged. It was great seeing the way that having them there changed his life so much. I also liked the way that he saw Callie's issues and tried so hard to show her what she was missing. I loved the story behind his dog Aldo and how it contributed to the man that Matt is.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best friend's widow trope: when our hero finishes his tour in Afghanistan he ends up living across the street from his best friend's widow and her two young sons. Because her husband died fighting a fire, she has become very risk averse while our hero's new job is running a adventure company. Circumstances throw them together and sparks ensue.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good Lord, this could have been half he length and still too long. I'm not sure how many chapters need to be devoted to the same fear-based emotional inner monologues over and over with only slight vocab variations. I liked Matt and read his POV sections while I barely skimmed Callie's from probably chapter three on. The friends were good too, but despite their important contributions, every single one said the same damn things to Callie. Uh, you'd think she'd take the hint. So yeah, this book is rounded up from a 1.5 star rating from me. A waste of time, wish I could stomach not finishing a book.

[Myra Wardhana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love it but could use more intensity and passion, but generally good second book from the same writer.