Seal's Honor by Megan Crane

The last thing Blue Hendricks needs six months into his uneasy reentry into civilian life is trouble in the form of his old friend's kid sister, all grown up and smack in the middle of a dangerous murder investigation. But he didn't become a SEAL to turn his back on the hard stuff, and he can't bring himself to ignore Everly's call for help--no matter how much he knows he's not fit to be around the soft, vibrant woman she's become. Not after the things he's done.

Everly Campbell is desperate. When her roommate is murdered and the body vanishes, Everly fears she might be next. With no one to believe her, Everly runs to a remote Alaskan town to find a man she only vaguely remembers and his crew of ex-military brothers who could be her only hope. Blue wants to keep things all business but Everly isn't a little girl anymore and the commanding former SEAL is more temptation than she can resist.

As the men on Everly's trail draw closer, Blue will do anything to protect the woman he's starting to think of as his...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33259027-the-duchess-deal

Title: Seal's Honor
Author: Megan Crane
Series: Alaska Force
Pages: 352
Genre(s): Contemporary, US
Hot Buttons: Murder <-- highlight to reveal (may contain spoilers)

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I don’t often go for a romantic suspense but so long as the romance element is good, and the suspense part isn’t too scary (yep - I’m a proper wimp!) then I’m game. This particular story sounded fun and I dived right on in.

We get stuck right into the storyline with Everly arriving in Alaska and begging for help. Despite this, I found the start of the story a little bit slow paced. There was lots and lots (and lots) of chat about what a badass Blue Hendricks is. My what big muscles you have. My what manly deeds you have done. It started to become a tad counter productive to me. And then the descriptions of the Alaskan light despite it being nighttime. For some reason, after the fifth time of telling me, I actually yelled at my kindle to shut up about the Alaskan light already!

Then Blue and Everly got to Chicago and things just kicked into high gear. There was murder attempts, confusion, break ins - with a little bit of sex and a whole lot of internal confusions and ponderings thrown into the mix for good measure. Great fun and it soon became an unputdownable and riveting story - I couldn’t get enough.

By this time, I believed in Blue’s badassery. He kicked some ass but I also loved that he taught Everly how to kick some ass, too. He was having a tough time of it though, poor wee scone. He was having all these ‘feelings’ that made this big, hard, ex-marine feel all fluffy and hella uncomfortable. His attempts to belittle Everly into hating him royally pissed me off. I knew, and Everly knew, too, what he was trying to do - but it still irked me. Stupid man!

I loved Everly. She was smart and sassy and had just the right amount of scared to go along with the hots for Blue. I hate it when an author forgets that there’s some serious shit going on just so the couple can get it on. This author didn’t forget and we got some legitimate emotions over that fact. Alongside getting it on!

Speaking of emotions - I admit to getting a little bit weepy at the end. Not so much in the mystery or the romance but because of the parts about Blue and his family. And that set me right up for shedding happy tears when we finally get our HEA. The fact that there were a few laughs thrown in made me even happier.

The first couple of chapters of the story were 3 stars for me - while the rest was 5 giving me my rating of 4 stars. The next book in this standalone series is Sniper’s Pride and I’ve pre-ordered it already. I can’t wait to see the next Alaskan Force team member to meet his match. Great writing, great characters and great fun. A book I’d recommend.