Loving
You is Easy
By: Wendy S. Marcus
By: Wendy S. Marcus
Releasing December 9th, 2014
Loveswept
She’s a survivor of the front lines of politics. He’s a
wounded soldier returning home from the battlefield. Can they place their trust
in the power of love?
Nobody plays the role of perfect politician’s daughter
better than quiet, respectable math teacher Brooke Ellstein. But she won’t be
caught swimming with the sharks again, not after the son of a wealthy donor
sinks his teeth into her and gets away with it. Still, political connections
have their perks, such as heading up the governor’s “Support Our Troops”
pen-pal initiative—and getting first dibs on the smoking-hot sergeant whose
picture shakes her right down to her goody-two-shoes.
When corresponding with sweet, classy Brooke, Shane
Develen instinctively hides his commando tattoos and blue-collar roots—and he
can tell that she’s hiding something, too. But Shane knows he’s gained her
trust when Brooke gives him a blisteringly sexy photo. Then he’s injured in an
ambush and a fellow soldier posts the snapshot online. Overnight, Brooke’s
reputation turns to ashes. Even though he’s totally wrong for her, Shane shows
up on Brooke’s doorstep, determined to set things right—and discovers that
right or wrong has nothing on the chemistry they share.
4 Stars
This book was fairly
captivating. It actually turned out to be a lot more intense than I expected.
First of all, one of the main plot points of this book is
incredibly poignant. It bring into the light the true dangers of social media
and how it can ruin someone’s life in a split second.
Brooke and Shane start out as pen pals while he is serving
another tour of duty. She quickly falls for him despite his adamant stance
against having a girlfriend. However, he doesn’t help the situation by
badgering her for sexy pictures and telling her about fantasies of her. While
on leave, they are finally able to meet and the sparks are real. Again, Shane
expects more from her and I was pretty surprised that he thought he could talk
her into no-strings sex. She stays true to her conviction that she won’t sleep
with him unless he is her boyfriend. However, she does surprise him with some
tasteful boudoir pictures.
Shortly after Shane returns to duty he is injured and
medivacked to a hospital. When his stuff is packed up, the pictures end up in
the wrong hands and one of them gets posted on Facebook. As the daughter of a
politician, she is under far more scrutiny. Not to mention the fact that her
mother is the bride of Satan! But, she is also a middle school a middle school
teacher. Through a chain of Facebook “friends” one of her students comes across
the picture. In either a miscommunication or the bragging of a boy trying to be
cooler, a student states that Brooke slept with his 15 year old brother.
This is where life spirals out of control. As I said, it
brings the dangers of social media into the spot light. One comment ignites a
wild fire and a life is destroyed. She is suspended from the school, and under
police investigation. The teachers and parent assume the worst despite her
stellar reputation. The press hounds her and she is caught up in hell.
Shane has been severely wounded and like so many injured
vets. He refuses to admit that he has PTSD and has let his limitations define
him. Especially when it comes to Brooke. He completely gives up and has no
intention of ever contacting her again until he learns what has happened. In a
move that shows he hasn’t gone too far over the deep end, he shows up to help
her, determined to fix the situation. To keep her out of the limelight, he
takes her home to stay with his family. However despite the good thing right in
front of him, he lets his insecurities and obscured ideas of what she needs
keep him from admitting that they belong together.
Brooke is a very strong heroine. My favorite part about her
is that she doesn’t take the bait when Shane lashes out at her. He doesn’t expect
her to stay calm and not be insulted by the things he says. She tries to help
everyone around her without much thought to herself. Unfortunately, Shane sees
her caring as pity and coddling. He’s a real jacka$$ for a lot of the story.
His denial about his PTSD and his relationship with Brooke gets old eventually.
I would have for the book to have had a few more breaks
from the intensity of the story. There were times when I almost put it down to
get a rest from the angst. All in all though, it’s a great read. I give props
to the author for writing about topics that can be very touchy, and doing an
excellent job. The ending was great, I finished the last page with a smile. You
should look forward to the moment when Brook and Shane visit her parent’s house.
But, that’s all I’ll leave it at that.
I highly recommend the book. Enjoy!
An ARC was provided to me
for a fair and honest review
Thank you for hosting today Lori and for the great review!
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting today!
ReplyDelete