Hero: William “Crash” Hawken
Heroine: Nell Burns
Grade: 4.75 out of 5

Government agent Crash Hawken awakens in a Washington, D.C., hospital to learn that he is the prime suspect in the assassination attempt of a commanding officer. Charged with treason, conspiracy and murder, he is alone — except for Nell Burns.

Nell and Crash have a history — as friends, as lovers. And she knows he could not have committed these crimes. Soon they are on the run, determined to uncover what really happened the night of the attempted assassination. But first they have to survive another day.

Another book down and another one to add to the books that I enjoyed from beginning to end. I was really interested in Crash’s story after having heard about him in Cowboy’s book and then meeting him in Harvard’s book. Those mysterious heroes never fail to make me melt and Crash was no exception.

The story starts off with Crash being taken to jail for the murder of the only father he’s ever cared about…Jake Robinson. Before we can find out what has happened, we’re taken back in time a year earlier when Crash’s troubles all started. We’re taken back to when his mother’s cousin, Daisy Owen, the person who stepped in and showed Crash that he was worth loving and we get to know the family Crash has come to love. Daisy’s boyfriend, Jake Robinson was a Navy SEAL and is now an Admiral want to give this young boy who just lost his mother a family and they do exactly that.

Crash falls in love with his cousin and her boyfriend. They become the only family he ever had and he treasures them but because he doesn’t like getting hurt, he holds his feelings close to him and he doesn’t let anyone get close to him. If he doesn’t feel anything for anyone, he can’t get hurt. Only he feels something very much for the heroine in this story, Nell Burns. Nell is his cousin, Daisy’s personal assistant and she has since moved in with Daisy to help take care of her in her dying days.

It is Nell who delivers the news about Daisy’s cancer to Crash and it is Nell that helps melt the walls around Crash’s heart.

This story was a sad story. It engaged my tear ducts and it engaged all those girly feelings that guys detest in women. I oohed and I ahhed over this book and got lots of grief of it from my brothers roommate, Kurt. He caught me tearing up at some parts and was moaning and groaning at how much of a wimp I am.

Oh well.

I hella loved this book. I loved getting to know Crash (love him!) and I loved seeing Nell make him realize that he should be treasuring the memories they make together instead of wasting time pushing her away. I loved when he finally gave in and let himself love Nell, when he finally realizes that he doesn’t have to die and how he very much wants that future (bleak as it might be) with Nell, it makes all of his boneheaded mistakes and decisions fall to the wayside.

I really enjoyed Nell’s character. I loved how she gave her love a shot and when it didn’t work, she didn’t give up on life, she tried her very best to move on but when she knew it was futile to try to get over the one person she loved most in the world, I loved the way she embraced helping Crash clear his name even if he didn’t want her help.

This is another keeper for me, I really enjoyed the plot, the characters (LOVE JAKE) and I just really really love the world that Suz Brockmann has created for these wonderful, wonderful SEALs. If you haven’t read this series, you seriously need to hurry up and rectify that because Suz knows how to rock your world with world saving heroes like her SEALs.

WOO HOO!

This book is available from Mira Books. You can buy it here.

Hero: Daryl “Harvard” Becker
Heroine: PJ Richards
Grade: 4.75 out of 5

For eight weeks FInCOM agent P.J. Richards is being given access to the absolutely-no-women-allowed world of the U.S. Navy SEALs, and she isn’t about to let anyone tell her she can’t hack it. P.J. can’t afford to be distracted by anything . . .or anyone. And that includes Senior Chief “Harvard” Becker. Harvard believes that there is no room for women in a combat zone. It’s too dangerous, too tough . . .and with P.J. involved, too distracting. He might respect her sharp intellect and her shooting abilities, but he still doesn’t want the responsibility of making sure she stays alive. But P.J. isn’t a woman who backs down easily, and to her mind, Harvard has a lot to learn. She just doesn’t expect him to be so eager to instruct her on other subjects . . .like trust, desire and maybe even love.

Harvard Becker never really made it to my radar in the other books so I didn’t know what I was expecting when I got to his book. After the hot mess that was Melody Evans, I was really wary about trying another TEAM 10 book, hoping against hope that I didn’t encounter another secret baby plot because I seriously detest those plots and I was able to sigh with relief when I started this book because this was a story where the couple were friends before they became anything more than that and I absolutely ate this story up.

This book captured every single emotion in me and rung me out that by the time I finished this book, I was emotionally drained. I was caught up in every little thing from Harvard and PJ’s budding relationship to the training stuff, PJ’s fears, Harvard’s adjustment of losing his childhood home to the snafu where I thought we were going to lose one of my favorite SEALs (which if I’m honest, every single SEAL that I’ve read in this series is one of my favorites, LOL), there was so much packed into this book but instead of feeling overwhelmed with stories, characters and what not, everything had a place and served a purpose and every single thing added to the story. I wouldn’t have changed anything in this book because it was an amazingly well written story.

Harvard was one of the best kinds of heroes. He was a very stand up kind of guy and very serious but super intense. I had a huge ginormous crush on him right from the very beginning and that surprised me because he went from being just one of the SEAL guys that I never thought about to be the one SEAL that I couldn’t stop reading about. Even now, a few days after I’ve finished the book, I still kick myself that I’m done with Harvards book already because it was that entertaining of a read.

I loved the way Harvard was with PJ. I loved that he knew he had issues about her being a woman and training to do the job that he didn’t think she was qualified for. That was a big issue between them and the way Suz brought that issue to a head made me love this book that much more.

I loved that Harvard had to prove to himself and to PJ that he loved her enough and he trusted her enough to actually be apart of his team…and to see his reasons for not wanting her on the mission, not that he didn’t trust her but because he didn’t want to risk her life was just so effing sweet. The way he showed PJ that he meant what he told his family was just too cute. I was so in love with Harvard that I had to call Izzy to ooh and ahh over this book because I loved it that much.

I’m so relieved to announce that PJ was not a stupid ass heroine. She was one of those tough as nails women who could do any job better or just as good as any man. She didn’t want anyone handing her the easy way of things, she was there to work and to prove to them that she could hang. Her attitude when she first meets Harvard is understandable even if it rankled a bit because, I seriously wanted her to hang up her billy bad ass attitude and just unwind like the rest of them, the way she had to be on complete guard each and every moment of the day was a bit draining but it was necessary to build up her character. I didn’t hate her at all throughout this book. I admired her, I enjoyed getting to know her and I thought she was the perfect heroine for Harvard.

One of my favorite scenes was when Harvard asks PJ to come with him to visit his parents new home in Arizona on their off days. She agrees and they have to board a plane to get there. She’s deathly afraid of heights and to see Harvard supporting her and being there for her was just absolutely sweet. He says, “I won’t let you fall,” to her and it was such a simple phrase, one that I’ve seen plenty of times in romance but the way that Harvard said it made me all gooey inside with all things great for him. Seeing Harvard being there for PJ all those many times and then having PJ come to his rescue at the end was just fantastically written and I ate this book up.

Should you read it? Heck to the yes, this book is really good and I fell just a little bit more in love with the Alpha Squad because the loyalty these boys have for one another, the respect and the love they have for one another really makes for great characters and I seriously, seriously love them.

Suz scared the crap out of me with this book but man that only added to my love of this series. It’s action packed with that romantic twist that will have many a women falling in love with these guys. I’m serious in saying that if you guys haven’t read this series, you seriously need to. There’s a different SEAL for all of our different wants and Suz doesn’t disappoint.

READ THIS BOOK!

This book is available from Mira Books. You can buy it here or here in e-format.