From goodreads: “I didn’t want the line to get blurry, and I sure as hell didn’t want you to cross it.”
Ronnie Clark, an edgy tattoo artist with hopes of high tailing it out of the forsaken Military town she followed her now ex-fiancé to, is counting down the days until Valentine’s Day is over. Ronnie doesn’t do romance. She doesn’t do flowers or dates, and she sure as hell doesn’t do love—not anymore. After her fiancé slept with a female solider while deployed, she has vowed never to fall in love again, especially with a soldier.
Sergeant First Class Kale Emerson is home on his mid-tour leave from Iraq, but he only has one thing on his mind—returning to his deployment to finish leading his soldiers on their mission. The last thing he wants is a relationship, but casual sex, that’s a different story. And when he meets the renowned tattoo artist Ronnie Clark, a snarky, blunt, takes no prisoners kind of woman, that seems to be all he can think about.
But when Kale realizes he has met his match with a bombshell woman who is hell-bent against love, will just sex be enough? And if it’s not, will he be able to convince Ronnie that the proverbial hearts and flowers aren’t so bad after all, even if he is a soldier?
“You changed something inside me, something I didn’t ever think I would want, or feel—but you did, and now I can’t go back”
This book contains explicit sex scenes and is recommended for readers 18+.
*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*
I read the debut novella, The Valentine’s Arrangement and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ronnie is a heroine that you absolutely fall in love with because she’s not a damsel in distress. She knows what she wants and she knows how to handle her issues but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel the betrayal of what life can bring. And then there’s Kale. What’s not to love about a man in uniform who looks like Captain America?? I will take Captain America any day of the week!!!
I think the concern I had with this book is that it was too short and I suppose that’s what a novella is…it’s a short story. For me, everything moved too quickly and the core issues of the plot could have been explored a bit more. This book deals with the challenges of being the girlfriend of someone in the military and I wanted to learn more about those complexities. However, the story still moved at a good pace, there was a pinch of angst and the attraction between Ronnie and Kale was perfect. Kelsie’s ability to write a fluid story is solid despite my concerns about it being too short or rushed. Make no mistake, this is an enjoyable read.
My final two cents: this is a fabulous debut novella by Kelsie Leverich and I look forward to reading more of her books!!
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