Title: Stitched Up Heart (Combat Hearts #1)
Author: Tarina Deaton
Genre: Military Romance / Romantic Suspense
Release Date: September 18th
Blaming himself for his best friend’s suicide, former Army Ranger Jase Larken, retreated from life. To honor his best friend’s memory and assuage his guilt, he started an outdoor adventure company to help veterans with PTSD. Bree had better things to do than catch her cheating fiancé in bed with another woman. Jase is something better - for a night at least. For the first time in years, Jase wanted more. When he finds her again, he doesn’t give her another chance to run. Jase’s possessiveness grates on Bree’s independent nature. She’s dealt with her fair share of alpha-male, door kickers and doesn’t need one telling her what to do now. But as a new danger emerges, Bree and Jase must face their pasts, before someone's obsession with Bree destroys any chance they have of a future.
“No.” She felt Jase release a breath as if he had been holding it, waiting for her answer. “I had no intention of hooking up with anyone on Friday. I just didn’t want to sit around my house drinking and whining about what an asshat Chad was. I can’t even remember the last time I had a one-night stand.”
“Then why’d you leave? You didn’t even give it a chance.”
“You don’t exactly seem like the kind of guy who’s lacking for female companionship. I didn’t want it to be awkward with you pretending like you’d call and me pretending like I believed you were going to. It was just easier to leave and not deal with the whole thing.”
“I haven’t been a monk.” He wrapped his other arm around her, shifting them so they were face to face. “But I haven’t taken a girl home with me in longer than I can remember. I woke up with your perfume in my nose and the taste of you in my mouth,” he said as he ran his nose up the side of Bree’s neck. “I was pissed when I woke up and you were gone.”
He moved a hand under the hem of her shirt. The warm night air caressed her stomach as he exposed her skin on his slow path up to her breasts.
Bree’s breath caught in her throat. His words, combined with his touch, fueled the slow burn of her desire.
“I want another taste, Bree.” Jase’s tongue traced her bottom lip before taking advantage of Bree’s gasp, diving in and tangling his tongue with hers. His hand traveled back down her side, over her hip, and grabbed her thigh. He pulled her leg over his waist, nestling his rigid length against her core. With no one to interrupt them, their hands roamed freely, lifting shirts, unbuttoning buttons, and skimming goose-pimpled flesh.
Jase tried to roll Bree under him, forgetting they were in a hammock, and nearly toppled them out of it. He put an arm out to break their fall, but his momentum propelled him out of the hammock and onto the wooden deck of the porch.
Wide-eyed, Bree stared down at Jase. “Are you okay?”
I'm usually a sucker for a good Military Romance so when the opportunity came in to give Stitched Up Hearts a try, I was eager to see what this author would have in store.
Bree is no stranger to military, or war. She's come face to face the damage as an Air Force Medic and Cultural Support Team member. Now she spends her days as a PT, helping returning Vets recover. But her compassion doesn't end there.
Jase is an Army Ranger who lost his best friend to a battle with PTSD. He hides himself from the public with the exception of his hearts work, an outdoor adventure company he founded to honor his best friend.
These two hook up after a night at the bar. Bree's convinced it's just a one night stand. Jase is pissed when he wakes up and finds her gone. With a little friendly intervention Jase seems to pop in the right time and the right place to rescue Bree from her asshole ex and takes her her personal security as his priority after a break in at her home. But the drama doesn't stop there.
Things go from zero to sixty with Bree and Jase pretty quickly, but it works with this story. It was certainly much more then a love story too. If you like a little mystery with your romance, one click this bad boy today! Four and a half stars from me on this one!
Bree is a former Air Force medic (I love the fact another branch of the military was used since we seem to get a lot of Army and Marines, but not a lot of AF), and is battling her demons from her last mission. Now a physical therapist, she tries to help vets hear from their physical wounds and move forward in life. Things seem great, but nightmares haunt her, and there is the little fact that she caught her fiance in bed with another woman...her own bed. Now she just wants to forget, and she met the right guy (or so she thinks) at the bar.
Jase feels guilty for the death of his best friend, and to try and overcome the feelings, he starts an adventure company. When he met Bree, he realized he wanted more for one of the first times in his life and is not happy when he finds her gone in the morning. When he finds her again, what will he do? Can he protect her from the craziness and danger that she suddenly finds herself in?
The story flows through the pages, and while it did take me a couple chapters to really get into the book, once I was hooked I didn't want to put it down. I kept wanting to turn the page to see what would happen next. And now that i was pulled into this one, I want the next one in the series. I loved all of the characters, and it kept me on the edge of my seat. Well done! 4.5 stars.
Having never lived in one place for more than four years, her roots aren't deep, but the friendships she's formed over the years are. Verbal contact is not recommended before her first cup of coffee in the morning, but feel free to stalk her: Facebook, FB Author Page, Twitter, Email. Sign up for her newsletter to receive all the latest news, sneak peaks, and find out how she's coping in the hot, hot desert.
