Infatuation by Melissa Schroeder

Title: Infatuation
Author:  Melissa Schroeder
Series: A Little Harmless Military Romance #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance/Erotica
Release Date: November 14, 2011
Format:  E-Book from personal library

Rating:  Break the Bank!

Synopsis:

To prove her love and save her man, she has to go above and beyond the call of duty.

Infatuation: A Little Military Harmless Romance

Francis McKade is a man in lust. He’s had a crush on his best friend’s little sister for years but he has never acted on it. Besides that fact that she’s Malachi’s sister, he’s a Seal and he learned his lesson with his ex-fiancé. Women do not like being left alone for long months at a time. Still, at a wedding in Hawaii anything can happen—and does. Unfortunately, after the best night of his life, he and Mal are called away to one of their most dangerous missions.

Shannon is blown over by Kade. She’s always had a crush on him and after their night together, it starts to feel a little like love. But, after the mission, Kade never calls or writes and she starts to wonder if it was all a dream. Until one night, her brother Mal drags him into her bar and grill and Shannon gets the shock of her life.

Kade isn’t the man Shannon knew in Hawaii, or even the last few years. Losing a friend and being injured changes a man, especially one who had never felt so vulnerable. He still can’t shake the terror that keeps him up at night. Worse, he is realizing that the career he loves just might be over.

Shannon is still mad, but she can’t help but hurt for the man she loves. He is darker, a bit more dangerous, but beneath that, he is the Kade she's known for so many years. When he pushes her to her limits in the bedroom, Shannon refuses to back down. One way or another, this military man is going to learn there is no walking away from love—not while she still has breath in her body.

Warning: This book contains two infatuated lovers, some drunken dancing, a hard-headed military man, a determined woman, some old friends, and a little taste of New Orleans. As always, ice water is suggested while reading. It might be the first military Harmless book, but the only thing that has changed is how hot our hero looks in his uniform—not to mention out of it.

Review:

This is the first book that I've read by this author and I will DEFINITELY will continue with not only this series but her other books as well.   I broke my book buying ban just for this book.  I'd read so much about it and have had people tell me that I must read it so I did.  I was BEYOND happy.  I'll admit it...I'm a sucker for a HOT man in uniform.

Kade has always had feelings for his best friends little sister and at a family wedding in Hawaii he finally gets a small taste of Paradise...Shannon Dupree.  Kade is a Seal and a man of few words but he definitely knows his way around a woman's body that's for sure.  After their night together Kade is called away on a mission.  When he returns he's different.  A shell of himself.

Shannon comes from a VERY male family.  She's fiercely independent and isn't afraid to speak her mind.  She's had feelings for Kade for just as long as he has had feelings for him but didn't act on them until her brother's wedding.  Once Kade comes back from his latest mission a shell of himself Shannon wants answers but realizes that she can't just demand them.  She has to wait on Kade.  But she isn't going to wait forever.

I found that this story flowed quiet nicely and once I started I absolutely could not stop reading.  There are "adult" situations in this book including slight BDSM, just throwing that out there.  The characters I connected with instantly.  They are a close knit group who care about each other very deeply. The scene that I use as an example of this is the scene between Kade and Shannon's mom.

I do believe that this author has made it onto my "Auto buy" list!  I can hardly wait to read more titles by this author.

Mini Review ~ Fatal Heat by Lisa Marie Rice

Title: Fatal Heat
Author: Lisa Marie Rice
Series: N/A
Genre: Contemporary Romance/Romantic Suspense
Release Date: October 4, 2011
Format: E-Book from personal library

Rating: Borrow

Synopsis:

Former Navy SEAL Max Wright is out of the SEAL Teams forever after being almost killed by an Afghani RPG. He retreats to his former XO's beach house to lick his wounds. He wants to snarl at the world but finds it hard to snarl at his new neighbor, his XO's beautiful goddaughter, Paige Waring, who also comes with a ridiculously likable, totally undisciplined dog.

As a plant geneticist, Paige has always been focused on her work, but when she and her dog run into Max, she recognizes the lonely, shattered man behind the rugged exterior. To her mind, sexiness always comes with a white lab coat, not with acres of tanned muscle and a tough mind-set.

When Paige's work becomes the target of criminals and she’s abducted, Max springs into action. Though still terribly wounded, this tough as nails SEAL goes on his last mission—stopping at nothing to save the woman he loves.

Review:

This was a pretty suspenseful novella written about another one of my favorite "subjects" Men in Uniform.  Paige Waring is a plant geneticist who is working on a project that ends up going VERY array.  Like bad things happen to good people array.  She lives in the apartment next to her Uncle Mel with her love able "obedience school dropout" k-9 Max, who provides a fair amount of humorous K-9 antics to the story.  Then she meets human Max, former Navy SEAL, who is temporarily living in her Uncle's place to rehab.  The two meet up and the attraction is combustible.

Overall, this was a pretty good read.  It was short (94 pages) but there was a lot of action, suspense and romance packed into those pages.  I guess the only thing I didn't really care for was the borderline Insta-Love.  Things progressed a little faster than I thought they would in that department and it was a slight turn off.