Special Operator Declan Smith was a dedicated U.S. Navy SEAL, a known player, and daredevil who loved pushing the limits. But on his last mission, an IED leaves him injured and angry as hell—and it changes everything. When a loud crash disturbs his neighbor, Maura Maxwell, she assumes the sailor next door is up to his usual bad behavior. But the man she finds covered in glass is far from the cocky ladies' man she'd grown to tolerate. Lying before her is a man fighting to rediscover his place in the world—and he can't do it alone.
MY REVIEW:
Sometimes the universe just brings all the
stars into alignment so that two hearts that are meant to be together will
be. As is the case for Maura Maxwell and
Declan Swifton. They are fairly new
neighbors who share a balcony. They
share pleasantries, maybe lust, by saying hello and exchanging names.
From day one Declan had peaked Maura’s
interest but she had seen the revolving door of beautiful women each night who
tended to take to hiding out in her apartment and watching him when he was out
on their shared balcony. She was totally
taken by him and his physical ability as a Navy SEAL yet she still had a
problem with all the women.
She and Dec did have the love of the
outdoors, the ocean, and life in common even though she hadn’t really talked
about it. Yet she knew his zest for life
was there in everything he did he was continually an act of motion. But what stole her heart was one day she
watched him on the beach teaching some young boys to fly their kites and then
for two hours proceeded to teach them fun new tricks.
One day soon after Dec got home Maura
decided she was going to go out for a night of paddling. She had just bought a new board, at least to
her, and a few nights ago she stood on the board under the stars finding it
extremely relaxing. She knew it was a
great and serious workout for her core and it really was exercise she just didn’t
care it was so worth it. She grabbed her
paddleboard and paddle board and took off.
It had taken a full day on calm glass ocean to master the art of
centering her weight and using muscles she had to help balance. Which you wouldn’t think would be hard for a
gymnastics and parkour instructor.
Once at the water she didn’t even stop she
got right in, got on, and pushed off.
She climbed on, she centered, and paddled out thinking maybe the water
might be calmer a little further out.
Not true she kept rolling off the board trying to fight the
current. At this rate she would never
get up on her board. What she didn’t
know and Dec had seen on his swim back from the base was that a storm was
moving in quick. On her next attempt to
stand it lasted a few seconds before she realized she was in a current change
that moved quickly, then there was the first lightning strike above, and then
the sky opened up.
Maura at this point was holding on to her
board for dear life as water splashed into her mouth and causing her to choke
and sputter. She tried to head to shore
but a wave caught her knocking her over which cost her the new paddle which was
halfway to Mexico by now. She found her
board got back on. The thing was it was
raining so hard she couldn’t figure out which way it was to shore. She was filled with panic now.
The rain and the waves were growing
larger. It was way too hard for her to
get her bearings. She could feel hot
tears falling from her eyes but she still had a death grip on her board she
couldn’t let go. She didn’t know what to
do. At that moment she promised herself,
“If I survive this, from here on out, I will be bolder and smarter.” At that moment she and her board smacked into
a buoy anchored two miles off shore of Imperial Beach. Her hands grabbed on, got on but lost her
board.
Meanwhile, Dec had just finished his
shower before his date. He went out to the
balcony to look at the storm when his trained eye saw something unusual out at
sea. He got his binoculars and hurried
back to the balcony to check it out. He
realized it was his shy new neighbor Maura Maxwell as her board was heading to
Japan. She was holding a buoy not meant
as a flotation device. Pulling on trunks
with record speed he takes off to do what he had trained his whole life to do,
swim, and rescue. He knew she would be
afraid he just hoped she would follow his instructions so he wouldn’t have to
knock her out. She did, now it was time
to get her warmed. He fireman carried
her to her apartment stripped her and put her into a warm bath. When they looked into each other’s eyes the attraction
was unbelievable.
The next thing they knew they were kissing
several times but they were so good and so intense it scared him. He took her out of the bath dried her off and
got her into her bedroom. Then he left…
What an amazingly emotionally filled yet
joyfully empowering book. These
characters were who I want to grow-up to be.
They pushed themselves to be better, pushed through fears, and reached
out for love and life. This is a book on
heartache, loyalty, love, friendship, tradition, and perseverance. So well worth the read. 5++++ stars.
Provided by netgalley.com. Follow
us at: www.1rad-readerreviews.com.
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