HOT SEAL Devotion (HOT SEAL Team #8)
by Lynn
Raye Harris
Blurb:
She’ll ask him to marry her. And pray he says yes…
Kayla wants a
daddy for her little girl. Navy SEAL Zack is perfect for the job. Kayla’s made
wrong choices before, but she knows this one is right. Zack’s a strong,
honorable man who will keep her baby safe.
Zack’s been
twisted up inside from the moment he laid eyes on Kayla. It’s been months, and
he still can’t untangle his feelings. Especially after the single night they
shared. A night that took their relationship out of the friend zone and put it
firmly into the hot zone.
When Kayla
proposes a marriage of convenience, Zack won’t agree to a name-only
arrangement. If he’s going to marry Kayla, and be a dad to little Ana, then
it’s all or nothing.
But when Kayla’s
past returns, threatening the life they’re building, Zack will sacrifice
everything to protect his new family from harm…
Themes: Contemporary
Rating: 4.5 stars
Heat Rating:
Review:
The devotion of a man to the woman that has owned his heart from the beginning and the little girl that has gradually
stolen it, is front and center in this story of love and danger by Lynn Raye Harris.
Long-time readers have been looking forward to this story and wondering when we
would find out if Zack and Kayla would find their way to an HEA ever since they
first met. Chemistry and connection are
so obvious, but we have been dying to find out if that deep love would develop
and keep her safe from the danger that continues to stalk her. The HOT series has evolved into one of my
favorites since I stumbled on it a few years ago and the more operators we
meet, the greater their stories become. Harris has an amazing way of pulling you right
into the lives of her characters and allowing you to live each and every moment
with them as they go on their adventures.
The last few novels have had such a connection with her spin-off series
(Black’s Bandits) and I can already tell that as the two continue to run
parallel, the depth and greatness of the two series will only grow. If you are a fan of amazing military heroes
and the women that make them more human as they fall in love and make fools of
themselves, you can never go wrong with the HOT series, and HOT SEAL Devotion
is no exception, with two characters both going on false assumptions until they finally have to put all their cards on the table or risk losing
everything.
Kayla
hoped she was finally going to be able to move on from her past mistakes, but
once again her past is back to haunt her. Danger is stalking her again and she
has a crazy plan to keep herself, and more importantly those she loves, safe
and happy. Zack has lusted after Kayla
from the beginning but after their one hot night together nothing was ever right
again, so no one could be more surprised when she shows up on his doorstep and
proposes marriage. He won’t settle for
anything less than everything though, and a marriage between them could be
nothing less than explosive. Terror lurks around every corner, but when his wife and new daughter are in the
crosshairs, no way will Zack stand down.
Zack and HOT step up to keep Kayla and Ana safe, but it might not be
enough and if he is too late he knows that his life will be destroyed so there
is no way he will give up. Can he be everything needed to save them or
will the darkness of Kayla’s past win in the end?
I
loved Zack, even when he was a bonehead, because he is just such a loveable
bonehead. Despite all of his skill in
the female department, apparently he has no way to spot the instant emotional
draw to the woman of his dreams, relegating the need to physical. Once he is offered the dream he never even
realized he wanted, he jumps in with both feet, moving ahead at light speed and
making them a true family in no time at all.
I loved all the sweet moments as he tried to prove to Kayla how he felt
without ever having to use the words and open up, bringing her little girl into
his heart and falling in love with both of them so totally. He remains a true
badass operator, but we get to see the softer and gentler side that makes him a
good husband and father and I am looking forward to maybe seeing them with more
kids later on too. Kayla has so many insecurities
from her past that color her outlook on life that I feel bad for her more often
than not. She has definitely drawn the
short-straw most of her life, but getting to see her find her footing and
standup for herself was wonderful. She
not only initiated just want she wanted out of life by proposing the marriage,
she slowly asserted what she wanted from Zack once they began to communicate
more and their emotions deepened. She
refused to live with anything less than his whole heart and she offered him the
same in the end, finally giving that last bit of her trust at just the right
moment to save them all. She proved to
us all that she is more than just a product of her life and experiences and
that she has a backbone of steel. I also
loved the way she interacted with the other wives and her sister as she
blossomed and found her place as one of the HOT women, making her an integral member
of the family.
HOT
SEAL Devotion was filled with emotional moments, surprisingly more often than you
might expect from a story based around special operators that are basically
alpha badasses. Zack might be able to
kick butt and take names when he needs to, but he can be gentle changing a
diaper or sweet offering to hold his woman when she is an emotional wreck
too. I loved getting to know him and seeing every facet of his personality developed until he was a fully
rounded man to admire. Kayla had her
moments also, coming out of her shell and beginning to understand for herself
that she doesn’t always need someone else to come to her rescue, sometimes she
can save herself. She was the kind of wife
and mother that most women need to model themselves after, fun and sexy, while
remaining soft and strong equally to be the home that her man returns to after
the devastation he sees in the dark world he protects with HOT. The passion between Kayla and Zack was
apparent in the first moment they met in previous novels and never cooled,
though it was lowered to a simmer as they finally allowed their hearts to
connect as well and they began to admit that their love was even stronger than
just their lust. I enjoyed each moment
of this story, even the odd family moments of simplicity as Zack and Kayla
began to build their lives together and I look forward to seeing them in future
stories. Whatever comes next for these
HOT guys, I know the SEAL team is down to just one more bachelor and I can
already guess that story is going to be monumental and sexy as hell. CANNOT WAIT! Another masterpiece, Lynn.
*eARC provided by author for the
purpose of an honest and unbiased review.
No compensation was provided.
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