When Greyson Archer tosses a twenty on the stage of a strip club, the last thing he expects to see are the haunted
green eyes staring back at him. Finley should be home raising her infant daughter and baking cookies, not tucking singles into her G-string and giving lap dances.
Greyson can't deny that he'd like his own private show, but there's not a chance in hell of that happening. The last time the former Navy SEAL saw her she was dressed in black, holding a folded flag and sobbing that it was all his fault... and he agreed with every single word. He couldn't do anything to help her then, but he can now.
Finley deserves better than this dingy club, and when an obsessed customer crosses the line, Greyson leads the rescue and will do whatever it takes to make amends for their broken past.
He never expected to want to settle down, but with Finley, everything is different. For the first time ever, he can breathe. But Greyson will have to fight for what he wants in order to keep the woman with the green eyes he's dreamed about so often.
Slow & Steady is book 2 in the Alphas Undone series, but can be read as a standalone novel, as it features a new couple.
iBooks
REVIEW
3 ½ Stars!!!
Slow and Steady by Kendall Ryan is just ask the title
suggests- slow and steady. I have enjoyed everything that I have read by
Kendall Ryan up to date. With that being said, I didn’t connect with this book
as I had the others. I do think I will be in the minority with my thoughts
though. It’s a perfect case of “it’s not
you, it’s me.” I didn’t love this one, but I think that others will.
The story begins with Greyson, an ex-Navy Seal who is weary
with life, stopping by a strip club. A particular dancer catches his eye and
when he gets a good look at her he realizes that it is his best friend Marcus’s
widow, Finley. Finley, who he hadn’t seen since the funeral two years prior and
who should be at home with Mable, her toddler daughter and not working a pole.
He decides then and there that it is his duty to his friend’s memory to get her
out of the club and look after them.
Finley wants nothing to do with Greyson as she blames him
for her husband’s death. She is icy and argumentative towards him, but Greyson
is not intimidated and keeps coming around. An undeniable sexual tension
results between the two, but they don’t act on it. Finley because she hates him
even if she wants to jump him, and Greyson because of the guilt of lusting
after his best friend’s widow.
When Finley is danger by an obsessive customer, Greyson moves
heaven and earth to make sure that she and her daughter are safe. They get
passed their hang ups and all the reasons why they think they can’t act on
their feelings and embark on a relationship. Greyson falls hard for both Finley
and Mable. They are his family now and he has everything that he never realized
he was missing.
While I did enjoy the story, there were aspects that
exasperated me. Why hadn’t Greyson been around for the two years prior? Even if
he knew Finley blamed him for Marcus’s death, why had he had zero contact?
Wouldn’t he, as the best friend, keep an eye out at the very lease? I felt the
same exasperation with Finley’s indecision to start something with Greyson.
They would be kissing and then she would push him away. Give it a few days and
they would be right back at it… and then she would push him away. I understand
the guilt and hesitation, but her yo yoing back and forth was exhausting to
read.
Besides those things, the story was reflective of the title.
Greyson and Finley’s relationship had to evolve slowly and steadily so that
they could both come to terms with their past. I think that Kendall Ryan wrote
a great story that many readers will fall in love with. Although I didn’t
connect with it as I have with her other books, I think that those who read
Slow and Steady will be happy that they did and I look forward to Ms. Ryan’s
future books.
Review by Sydney H.
EXCERPT
It was nine o’clock on a Saturday night and I was totally
out of my fucking element. A bottle of red wine tucked under one arm. A bouquet
of wild flowers in the other. A condom tucked into my wallet, just in case. I
was in foreign territory, and my entire body knew it – tense shoulders, my
heart beating like a drum, and arousal barely contained beneath the surface.
Finley was standing at the doorway, watching me with a
confused expression.
She looked gorgeous, makeup free, pink-painted toes, hair mussed
and loose. Little cotton pajama shorts and a tank top that hugged her lush
breasts.
“Maple’s not here.” She said the words, but she knew as well
as I did I wasn’t here for Maple.
“I know that.” My voice was sure and confident.
“Then why are you … oh.” Finley shifted her weight, her eyes
dropping from mine as she saw the wine and flowers. She could read it all,
plain as day. I knew she could see my intentions, my uncertainty, and
underneath it all, my desire. Maybe it was the desire to fix everything I’d
broken, or maybe it was just my desire for her as a man desires a woman.
Normally when I felt that primal urge for sex, I headed to
West’s bar. I’d pick out a woman for the night. Share a few drinks with her, a
few laughs. Later, we’d head back to my place and fuck until dawn. And that was
it. I’d be set for a few months.
This … with the courting and the nerves … it was nothing
like my standard operating procedure.
I’d never felt so stripped bare and vulnerable. Never put
myself out there so completely with a woman before. But then again, Finley was
unlike any woman I'd ever met.
And she was still just standing there. “Can I come inside?”
I asked, heart in my throat.
She didn't say anything. But she opened the door wider.
With Nolan’s words ringing in my ears, I stepped over the
threshold, sure that whatever happened tonight had the power to heal us both.
Kendall Ryan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance novels, including Hard to Love, Unravel Me, Resisting Her and When I Break.
She's a sassy, yet polite Midwestern girl with a deep love of books, and a slight addiction to lipgloss. She lives in Minneapolis with her adorable husband and two baby sons, and enjoys hiking, being active, and reading.
Visit her at: www.kendallryanbooks.com for the latest book news, and fun extras
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