Each book in the series has dealt with some really hard issues veterans face when they return from deployment, this one is no different and is written with the same respect and tribute to the men and women who make up our military.

Our love story is between Ben, a new commander, and Olivia, the lawyer for the battalion. Both have scars, physical and emotional. He has been tapped to lead a unit who's old leader is being brought up on charges. With all his self recriminations he doesn't believe he is fit to command and worries he will lose himself to the politics of the job and forget to take care of his men....something he believes he has already done.

Olivia is a go by the book get rid of those unworthy to wear the uniform. She has a history of physical abuse and finding her father after he died of alcohol and drugs. Her greatest fault, not being able to save a family from their abusive father all because he was a good and honored soldier. She won't let that happen again. And right there we have the basis of why they fight one another from the beginning. She can't understand his unwavering and unconditional support of certain men that need to be processed by law and thrown out of the military.

Here we get more drug addiction, of soldiers and women they care about, and a new area...Traumatic Brain Injury. What it can do to a person and is there anything that can be done for them. It's heartbreaking how that storyline unfolds and even more so when you stop and think there are folks out there suffering from TBI and yet we don't hear of them and the treatment available. Is it just a combat thing, no this type of injury can happen anywhere it's just when in the middle of a combat zone you might have a greater chance at getting one.

I loved this series. Family has a history of military service and there are a few who suffered when they came back so to see these obstacles addressed as the normal for the families makes what we went through feel not so isolating. There is help. There is people who care. And there is love.

Our focus is supposed to be on the two scarred and scared people finding each other and falling in love. Finding a new strength and reason to go on, fight the good fight and look out for those around them. ( )

I enjoyed this fast paced romance. I received this for free and I voluntarily chose to review it. I've given it a 4.5* rating. This is not for the under 18 readers. There is a bit of sex and violence in this. This author takes us to the backside of what happens sometimes to our military men and women and the price they pay on protecting us. Sometime their bodies can't handle what they are exposed to. Although we can't always see it, it's there none-the-less. This hits close to home, in that I have a brother who was in Dessert Storm and a whole platoon was affected by chemicals they were exposed to. His condition continues to worsen with symptons close to Lou Garrett Disease. Thank you Jessica Scott for showing the world some of what our loved ones go through. ( )

Jessica Scott is getting better and better and I can't wait for the next book.

Ben Teague and Olivia Hale are strong characters, loveable and credible. The fact that they are plagued with bad things, the fact that they are different and believing in different things, makes the tension they feel something that we can feel too.
Love it and want more. ( )

Found that I had the hardest time getting interested in this book and staying interested. While I love military romance books I was having a hard time with this one cause I have never been in the military and found some of the workings confusing for some reason. Maybe it was my fault for not reading the books prior to this one, I don't know. The romance between the two, Ben and Olivia, was very emotional and you could tell they desperately needed each other. Not sure if I plan on trying to read the other books in this series or not, but hope everybody else will at least try it out and maybe enjoy it more then I did.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. ( )