Romance - novel
TBR Reviewer: Shyla
TBR Reviewer: Shyla
Review
While I commend Ms. Bowels for tackling something difficult, and not talked enough about, like PTSD, this hit a little too close to home and rang wrong in certain ways to me. My husband is a Marine just like the heroine Ella’s was, ( oooh Rah &Semper Fidelis) and just like him he’ s on tour in Afghan. Now Ella’s husband came back with a bad case of PTSD he never got help for. In turn, she blamed the military. I know this is just a story but I have to speak up and say they preach about getting help with PTSD non stop, and even show the wives what signs to look for when the husband comes back. They do have to go through a period of reintroduction to society when they return.
So, her flippant attitude towards him not getting the help he needed struck a cord. I’m concerned that people reading this with no real knowledge of the military lifestyle will think the situations written in the story are common place and realistic, and they are certainly not. I found the clichés used throughout the story to be tired, offensive, and uncreative. That being said, let me step down off my high horse and get down to the nitty gritty.
The hero Max was scrumptious, seriously I wanted to eat him up. His alpha male, dominant attitude oozed over the pages and had my toesa-curling. Ms. Bowles walked the fine line of just enough possession and sexual prowess, without being over kill. Best friend to Ella’s deceased husband Max, mistakenly blames Ella for Kirk’s abrupt suicide because he believed she was cheating. When the truth comes out that his friend was very ill, and caused his wife harm his world shifts, and the two find themselves turning to one another for comfort.
I know both Ella and Max both distressed by Kirk’s death, but their relationship went from zero to sixty, and I had a hard time swallowing it. Ella went from seeing her dead husband everywhere to sleeping with Max and agreeing to be his slave. Even though she and her husband were headed for a divorce before he committed suicide the quick jump into things with Max before she sought out any counseling smacked of unhealthiness and a bit of co-dependency. (After one night of sex, she was hoping he’d ask her to move in with him) It was that unappealing mix that held me back from really enjoying this couple’s journey
together.
The sexual experiences between Ella, and Max, blazed off the page, and I enjoyed viewing her immersion into the BDSM lifestyle, but at the end of the day the cliché’s were just too many and to be honest too insulting. I’d like to go more into detail about that, but it would give away some major plot twists so I’ll wrap it up by saying if you’re a military wife you should steer clear of this read. I know it’s just a story but the author should have done more research.
So, her flippant attitude towards him not getting the help he needed struck a cord. I’m concerned that people reading this with no real knowledge of the military lifestyle will think the situations written in the story are common place and realistic, and they are certainly not. I found the clichés used throughout the story to be tired, offensive, and uncreative. That being said, let me step down off my high horse and get down to the nitty gritty.
The hero Max was scrumptious, seriously I wanted to eat him up. His alpha male, dominant attitude oozed over the pages and had my toesa-curling. Ms. Bowles walked the fine line of just enough possession and sexual prowess, without being over kill. Best friend to Ella’s deceased husband Max, mistakenly blames Ella for Kirk’s abrupt suicide because he believed she was cheating. When the truth comes out that his friend was very ill, and caused his wife harm his world shifts, and the two find themselves turning to one another for comfort.
I know both Ella and Max both distressed by Kirk’s death, but their relationship went from zero to sixty, and I had a hard time swallowing it. Ella went from seeing her dead husband everywhere to sleeping with Max and agreeing to be his slave. Even though she and her husband were headed for a divorce before he committed suicide the quick jump into things with Max before she sought out any counseling smacked of unhealthiness and a bit of co-dependency. (After one night of sex, she was hoping he’d ask her to move in with him) It was that unappealing mix that held me back from really enjoying this couple’s journey
together.
The sexual experiences between Ella, and Max, blazed off the page, and I enjoyed viewing her immersion into the BDSM lifestyle, but at the end of the day the cliché’s were just too many and to be honest too insulting. I’d like to go more into detail about that, but it would give away some major plot twists so I’ll wrap it up by saying if you’re a military wife you should steer clear of this read. I know it’s just a story but the author should have done more research.
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