Review: HOT SEAL Bride (HOT SEAL Team #4)

HOT SEAL Bride (HOT SEAL Team #4)

by Lynn Raye Harris 

Blurb:

Sold to the highest bidder…

For the past fourteen years, Princess Antonella Rossi has been a virtual prisoner. She has no friends, no fun, and she’s not allowed to leave her aunt and uncle’s Virginia compound without an escort.

But today is her wedding day. A rich sheikh has bought her virginity, and with it her freedom. Any hope of independence Ella’s ever cherished will disappear the instant she faces him across the altar. With time running out and the wedding party gathering, Ella seizes the opportunity to run as far and fast as she can.

Navy SEAL Cash “Money” McQuaid isn’t looking for trouble, but trouble always seems to find him. This time trouble is five foot four and wearing a wedding dress. Rescuing a runaway princess has consequences though, and with his face plastered on the evening news and his career on the line, he realizes there’s only one way out of this mess—he has to marry her!

It’s a marriage in name only, just until he can clear his name and win Ella the freedom she seeks. But shacking up with a gorgeous virgin isn’t as easy as it seems, especially when the sparks snapping between them are hotter and more dangerous than anything Cash has ever experienced. By the time he realizes it’s too late to resist his virgin bride, an unseen enemy is intent on taking her away from him.

Cash is gonna need all his skills—and his friends on the Hostile Operations Team—in order to rescue his princess bride and give her the happily-ever-after she deserves.

Themes:  Contemporary, Military Suspense

Rating: 4.5 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

 Another fun adventure ensues for the HOT team and it is finally time for Karma to kick Cash McQuiad in the ass for all the times he has laughed at his boys as they found the loves of their lives. I have enjoyed this series from the very beginning and the longer it runs the more I wonder how Ms. Harris finds the material for not only the plots of each unique story but the inspiration for the interesting and amazing characters she creates.  This series revolves around the rather interesting concept of a special and deep cover group of individuals working to keep the world safe from the worst of the worst that would seek to basically enslave everyone that doesn’t kiss their asses.  HOT has grown exponentially over the years as each new squad has been added and as the men of the squads have found their mates (or the women) and they have truly become a family.  Ms. Harris has the amazing ability to take us right into the heart of the most outrageous plots and let us live the action right alongside her operators, using weapons, exacting revenge and rescuing loved ones like the majority of us would never be able to do in our real lives.  While I will say that the majority of these novels move very quickly in real time, the emotional connections and physical heat between the characters is no less believable or in any way lacking for the speed in which they fall in love.  I am always looking forward to whatever comes next, but OMG after the Epilogue she slipped in on us this time I can honestly say I am sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for what comes next and will be stalking her social media accounts for every hint of when and what will happen next.  Damn Lynn you’ve ruined me for any other military suspense writer. ;)

Cash “Money” McQuiad is a ladies man to the core, not because he disrespects women, but because he learned from an early age not to believe that true love exists, even as he has watched all his friends and coworkers fall under its spell.  He wants nothing to do with commitment or love but he has never been one to turn down a sexy woman…unless she happens to be a virgin.  That’s a line he just won’t cross. When he takes a solo trip into the woods for some R & R he never imagines his world would forever change in a single instant.  Ella has finally decided that her life is her own and made a run for it, but her plan goes awry leaving her badly in need of a knight in shining armor… just in time for a badass special operator to rescue her instead.  Ella has lived her life in a gilded cage but now that she is free she will do whatever it takes to stay that way, including begging for Cash’s help. Soon Cash and his boys are on the job, but the more time he spends around the alluring Princess the more he begins to questions his hard and fast rules and soon there is no stopping him from taking her to his bed.  But when the op is over and she no longer needs his protection, can he convince her she needs him for an altogether different reason, or will it be too late for him to show his wife that he has lost everything to her—including his heart and soul?

Cash is the kind of brash and naughty little boy that hides in the sexy body of a lot of alpha guys, going through women as fast as he does underwear, but not willing to look deeper into why he feels the need to do so.  I enjoyed getting to see him stripped down to the soul and coming to terms with what he really needs in his life, even as I cried for him when he thought he’d truly lost Ella forever.  It was awesome to see him falling for Ella, helping her blossom and find her footing in a world she has been so isolated from.   There were so many moments where the two of them truly connected, even if he tried to deny it, and it was obvious to reader in those moments that they were made for one another.  Cash has so many issues to work through before he could give his heart away and while I knew it was going to be a rough journey for him it still hurt to watch him dealing with everything. Princess Antonella, Ella to those she loves, was a woman that had to find herself in a world that many of us still struggle in when we’ve been in the thick of it our whole lives.  She has no one she can lean on, except Cash and his friends, as she learns how to function for herself, doing the simplest of things like cooking for herself, shopping or even renting a home.  I liked seeing her when she was at her most comfortable, just her and Cash, and her calming nature was obviously just what was needed to balance Cash’s brash and outgoing personality.  The two of them certainly heated up at even the most innocent of looks or touches so there was never much doubt that Cash would claim his wife in truth, though I will say I was often surprised by the way Cash was so determined to keep a lid on the way his emotions leapt with Ella.  Just let it happen, man!

HOT SEAL Bride is the kind of story that most little girls wish was a variation of our own story; an exiled princess escapes a bad situation only to be rescued by a dashing alpha protector who ultimately falls madly in love with her.  But just like in real life there were several real challenges for Ella and Cash, beyond the internal struggles they both faced.  With enemies at every corner, Ella and Cash were on high alert too often, until they weren’t and then disaster strikes. Ella’s intelligence and spunk are undeniable especially once she discovers her confidence in herself and refuses to back down anymore, after all no queen will ever let anyone make her bow.  Cash is the type of guy destined to eat his words, and thankfully once he meets the woman that will hold his heart and soul, he is not above asking for forgiveness from those he slighted and begging their help.  Just like any family, when Cash and Ella need their friends’ support there is no question they will do whatever it takes.  The passion, laughs, sweetness, and heartbreak that are essential to a truly fantastic romantic novel are front and center in this novel along with the action and drama that Ms. Harris always supplies for us.  I will say that if you have issues with waiting for long periods of time between teasers and the next book, DO NOT READ THE EPILOGUE. I could not stop squealing after reading that one and like I said I will be stalking social media every second for news about that next novel.  You really know how to make a girl crave, Lynn.   No idea where she comes up with this stuff, but damn I wish I had that skill!

*eARC provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.