Navy SEAL's Match by Amber Williams (spotlight, guest post, and review) PUYB

NAVY SEAL'S MATCH 
by Amber Leigh Williams 

Contemporary Romance

 384 pp.

 $6.99 (paperback) $4.49 (kindle)

Blurb:

Former SEAL Gavin Savitt always knew who he was—until his last deployment ended tragically. Now he’s home, his mind hijacked by trauma and the shadow of his once-perfect sight. Yet in this new hazy, unclear world, one person stands out—Mavis Bracken.

There are a million reasons why Gavin shouldn’t be with Mavis, including that she’s his best friend’s little sister. Yet he longs for her touch, her freckles and her special way with wild, skittish beasts like him. He just needs the courage to take his life back. And Mavis won’t let him give up without a fight.

“I know it’d be better for you if I left.”

“You let me be the judge of that,” she advised.

“The moment you’re burdened by me,” he said, slowly, “I’m out of here.”

She didn’t agree. No. Instead, she raised herself onto her toes.

Gavin’s eyes closed and his breath hitched as her kiss washed breathily over his lips and blew him away. Answers cropped up inside him, bright like candles. His hand moved to the back of her head, no more able to snuff them out than he was to convince her to walk away.

 

Amber Leigh Williams is a romance writer who lives on the US Gulf Coast. She lives for beach days, the smell of real books and spending time with her husband and their two young children. When she’s not keeping up with rambunctious little ones (and two large dogs), she can usually be found reading a good book or indulging her inner foodie. Amber is represented by the D4EO Literary Agency.

Amber’s latest book is the contemporary romance, Navy SEAL’S Match.

 

 

 

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My review:

Navy SEAL’S Match. by Amber Leigh Williams is a Harlequin Superromance that is part of the ‘Fairhope, Alabama’ series and features Gavin Savitt, whose military service left him with both physical and emotional wounds. The unexpected contacts with his best friend’s sister, Mavis Bracken, help him deal with some of his challenges, but this may not be enough to keep him from repeating his pattern of fleeing from those who care about him.

This contemporary military romance has one of my favorite tropes, a wounded hero, and the author does a great job of depicting not only his challenges but some of the impact on those who care about him. I love Mavis’ quirky personality and her unconventional approach to various problems but I thought her handicap was a little glossed over and I was a little troubled about some of the blowback the pair had to deal with from those who should have been supportive. I understand the protective instincts, but I thought some of the actions were excessive and some of the following scenes seemed to be a little rushed. The parental issues that the hero has to deal with are creepy and didn’t seem to flow well with the rest of the story, even though they explain elements of Gavin’s pattern of behavior. The paranormal aspect of the story imparted an interesting twist, but I wish it had been expounded upon more.

Nonetheless, this story had a great combination of humor, romance, and a couple of appealing animals, and I was quickly invested in the relationship between the main characters as well as entertained by several of the secondary ones. This tale is part of a series and can be read as a stand-alone story but I have to wonder whether some of my reservations about the pacing come from not having read the previous books and being unfamiliar with much of the backstory. I like the author’s characters and I will be looking for more of her stories.

A copy of this title was provided to me for review.