3.5 stars
This was my first read by this author and I liked it. Declan (H) is former military and operating a boxing gym with some of his former team members. Michele (h), a friend of one of those team members and the BFF of one of the other's girlfriends, has her own meal delivery service and has caught Declan's eye. The interest is returned, but Michele is dealing with a date who's turned scary and some other concerns. There's also a serial killer threatening the surrounding area and an angry, teenage employee of Michele's in need. There are references to the events of book 1 and this book does jump right in with these characters, but this book does standalone well and provides enough background to not be confused. Written in third person, dual POV. No ow/om drama and neither are virgins (it's mentioned h is not H's usual type but I don't recall any other history; h had disappointing partners who'd never gotten her "there" before).
I found this book to be very predictable, but in a comforting way. I think because some of my more recent reads took darkish turns I wasn't expecting as much, figuring out where this one was going kept my interest chugging along and my anxiety low, even when suspense was high. I loved how protective and caring Declan was and how he also had a couple of jealousy scenes. He was competent, but not perfect. Michele was a relatable character with a deep love of books, compassionate, and likable. Plus, she has a Great Dane she rescued and dog people are my people. I especially liked these two together with how easy their interest flowed into the start of a relationship as Declan took an active role in protecting her from the stalkerish former date. The steaminess was well written between these two and the emotional side of their relationship felt believable. Both of them were also only focused on each other romantically.
The setup of this series includes a big friend group and bits of breadcrumbs for who some of the members may be paired with. Also, hints of backstories of the other former military members to help differentiate them. The teenaged employee of Michele's that she and Declan take under their wing was a sympathetic character, who I'm also curious if he'll grow through the series. Other members of their small town pop up too, along with Michele's uncle.
The plot of this book does have quite a bit of suspense and some violence. Run-ins with bad guys were high tension and there are multiple points of danger involved (super vague, I know). Both Michele and Declan are injured at various points. The main characters end up involved with the FBI because of the overall search for the serial killer and some of the scenes involving the FBI were less believable for me personally. The way that Michele responds to the danger of the situations she finds herself in also felt contrived at times. She's lost family members before and her uncle has a heart condition so there is a point where she pulls back to avoid suffering more loss. While it doesn't last long, the set-up for that plot point didn't work as well for me. Some of Declan's ability to swoop in to protect her was also sometimes too easy, I had trouble imagining the town being so close together.
Michele and Declan do survive the dangers thrown at them and the book ends on a HFN, with a lead-in to the next book. Book 1's H and h were active throughout this book as side characters so I anticipate the same thing will happen throughout the series. Hopefully by the end of the series there'll be a more extended HEA for all of the couples. I'm curious about checking out more of this author's books.