Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley.
I generally enjoy military-style romances. The heroes are always sexy hunks and the heroines are strong females. In some ways, this book has a lot of the elements that I like about romances and about military romances in particular. But on the other hand, I felt like it was lacking something.
I liked Olivia, the heroine, right away. Ever since high school (?) she knew she wanted to be a doctor and she worked hard and achieved her goal. Once she became a doctor, she wanted to set up a network of free clinics in and around the area where she lived and grew up. She's working on that goal now and is close to opening up a first location. So I loved that she was a go-getter and that she knew what she wanted, career-wise. But I felt like she was wishy-washy about the hero, Will. I mean, she wants him, loves him but she sort of plays this push-pull game with him. I mean, she wasn't playing games on purpose or anything though. She just really couldn't seem to make up her mind as to whether or not she was all-in with him. Of course, I could totally understand why - she needs to guard her heart. He broke it once before and he could certainly do so again. And when she's with him, she can't help but let her heart get involved. When she's away from him, she wants to do the smart thing and not fall back in love with him. So I really DO get it, I just didn't like it.
I also liked Will but he seemed a little bitter at first. Again, he has good reason: he was pretty much blown up in Afghanistan and he's still trying to recover all of his faculties. I'm just saying that it made it difficult to warm up to him. I really liked him for his honor and his dedication. He wanted to enlist in the military because his dad and grandfather were both in the service and they had both seen war. Plus, he wanted his dad to be proud of him. I just could't be mad at him for that since his dad died a few years before Will enlisted so it was sort of like he was doing it for his dad but also so that he could feel closer to his dad? I just thought it was really sweet and noble. Now, Will's hesitance on getting back together with Olivia made a lot of sense to me. He feels like he can't trust his own emotions. Does he really care for her still or is it just his hormones and loneliness talking? Does he really want to stay at home or does he want to return to the military and the job that he's good at and the brothers-in-arms that he has there? I think that Will's journey was a lot more interesting and made him more fun to read.
Of course, Will and Olivia have history together so they made a great couple. I wanted to yell at them and say, "Of course you belong together! Figure it out already!" But that would have totally ruined the story! Both Olivia and Will have some issues that they need to work through before they would be good for each other. Will wants to go back to the military and be deployed again once he's all healed and cleared for duty. She wants him to stay home and be with her, where it's safe. And neither of them want to budge on their careers. It makes for great drama but it also made them both less likable at times. There were several Sexy Time scenes and they were pretty hot. But something was missing from this book or from their relationship and I'm still not sure what it was.
I'm actually on the fence about whether or not to recommend this book. It has all the elements that make a great military romance: a strong, flawed, wounded hero who has serious doubts about himself; a strong, self-sufficient woman who helps him get back to shape; a hometown rooting for the hero to stay and for them to be a couple... I could go on. But I have to say that I felt a little bored with the story. Sometimes, Olivia seemed like a selfish brat. And Will occasionally seemed like a hard-headed idiot. Not a lot happens except for Will trying to get 100% function back so that he can return to his unit and Olivia fretting about whether or not he'll leave. But there's absolutely nothing actually wrong with this book. There's also not a lot about it that's fun, unique or exciting. I'm going to have to leave this one up to you, dear readers, to decide on whether to read or not to read this one.