@GoddessFish, @debbiereadsbook, @MelJoyAZ
Devon Lowe is a survivor.
A survivor of war. Of combat. And of a betrayal by men she considered her brothers-in-arms. But her trailblazing work as a Cultural Support Team member working alongside the Navy SEALs is too important for her to back down now.
Fresh off a painful break-up, Air Force pararescueman Rhys Halloran recognizes Devon’s trauma for what it is—something that’s left her isolated, but far from irreparably damaged.
With Devon’s trust still lying shattered back in Afghanistan, putting her faith in a man who’s nursing a broken heart isn’t easy. But she’s tired of people making her feel weak, and Rhys makes her feel anything but, sparking a heated attraction that was never part of the plan.
With all eyes on Devon to prove herself in a brutal man’s world, having it all will mean putting her heart on the line like never before. But when it comes to Rhys, it’s an uphill battle she’s ready to fight.
Publisher’s Note: Keeping a Warrior deals with topics some readers may find difficult, including past sexual assault.
The night before, for the first time since he could remember, Rhys had fallen asleep with another woman on his mind.
The same woman now sitting and staring pensively at the plane. After a moment’s hesitation, Rhys gathered his courage and approached her, not sure of his welcome.
“Mind some company?”
Devon glanced up with what looked like a genuine smile. “Not at all.”
Rhys lowered himself to sitting and drew his knees up, ankles crossed, loosely draping his arms around them. “You okay?
”
With a shrug, Devon mirrored his pose and nodded at the plane. “Just sitting here trying to analyze my feelings.”
“About going back?”
“Mmm.”
“I can imagine those are some pretty complicated feelings,” Rhys said gently.
“Yeah, well, I’m in a totally different place now, at least. Back then I was so idealistic, so trusting, so goddamn stupid.”
Rhys didn’t say anything, just let her talk.
“I thought that bad things couldn’t happen to me, or if they did, it’d be something heroic, you know? Not—” She shook her head. “And now all I want to do is reclaim that part of myself that someone else took from me.”
A lump rose into Rhys’s throat at the slight quaver in her voice.
“Well, this time around you have me,” he said fiercely. “You have the guys.” He nodded his head toward Matt and Shane, who were leaning against a nearby wall, arms crossed, each with one booted foot propped against it, heads close together.
Devon smiled when she saw them. “Think they worked everything out?”
Rhys was about to say he hoped so when Matt pushed off the wall. As he did, Shane snaked his hand behind him and gave his ass a firm pinch, followed by a discreet pat. Matt elbowed him, hard, but he was smiling while he sauntered away.
“Um, I think that’s a pretty safe bet.”
He and Devon snickered together, and she bumped him with her shoulder. “You’re right. It’s gonna be different this time, for lots of different reasons.”
5 out of 5 (exceptional)
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
This is book 2 in the Loving a Warrior series, but you don’t NEED to have read book one, Loving a Warrior, for this to make sense. But personally, I would recommend you do. Cos I loved that book, and Matt and Shane play a huge part here.
Devon is trailing a path through a man’s world, a path she will not be veered from. But meeting Rhys, and how she connects with him on a very primal level, scares her a bit. When Devon’s full history comes clear, and Rhys’ too, their relationship takes the next step. Temporary, but NOT casual, right?
I loved this book, but equally I struggled with it. I shall attempt to voice why!
At times, I wanted to slap Rhys, I really did! He KNEW he was stringing his ex along, deep down he knew it, but he did nothing to stop it. He answered her calls, her messages, her crying down the phone, and pulled the string along a bit more. He KNEW he had to let her go. But then Devon comes into his life again. They met some 4 years before during an op. And here they are, working together again. And he doesn’t shut Lani down IMMEDIATELY! And I wanted to slap him some more.
He DOES care for Devon, right from the start though, and that makes him really question what he had been doing.
Devon’s trauma doesn’t come clear immediately, it kinda creeps out along the way. And it’s shocking, the level of betrayal she suffered, and it appears MANY women in the armed forces suffer. And I think this is what I found most difficult to deal with. How high up the food chain the covering up goes.
Oh, no, this bit, THIS is what I struggled with the most! Matt and Shane play a HUGE part here. Granted, they spend most of the book either fighting or ignoring each other, trying to find what they really feel for each other but failing miserably. Matt, apparently, said something to Shane. WHAT was said was never explained, and I’ve been trying to recall if this happened in their book, but short of going back to reread (I don’t, nor do I have the time!) I will never know, and I wanted to!
I loved the way Hanssen melds Loving a Warrior into Keeping a Warrior, not just because of Shane and Matt’s part here, but because of that other thing, the thing that I did NOT see coming! Had I read the two books back to back, I might have picked it up way WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY right back at the beginning of the book, but I didn’t, and I was blown away by that little revelation!
Both Devon and Rhys have a say, in the third person. I did not see any spelling or editing to spoil my reading, and I read this book in one sitting, not an easy or short read, but I could NOT put it down!
Who is next? I dunno. Are there more in this series? I hope so! Oh please tell me there will be! It would be great if Matt, Shane, Devon and Rhys all take part too!
Ms Hansen has 9 books (according to Goodreads) and now I’ve read 3. 3 very different, but still amazing books. I want to read the rest of them. I want to start at the beginning and work my way through. I want to follow the path of this author, cos she is on my hit list now!!
5 stars
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
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Melanie Hansen doesn’t get nearly enough sleep. She loves all things coffee-related, including collecting mugs from every place she’s visited. After spending eighteen years as a military spouse, Melanie definitely considers herself a moving expert. She has lived and worked all over the country, and hopes to bring these rich and varied life experiences to the love stories she gets up in the wee hours to write. On her off-time, you can find Melanie watching baseball, reading or spending time with her husband and two teenage sons.
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