Sunday, November 30, 2014

Undefeated by Melissa Cutler ~ Review

Source:  Received an eBook copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Undefeated (Bomb Squad, #2) by Melissa Cutler

Welcome to Destiny Falls, New York, home of Bomb Squad—an ice hockey team full of rugged military heroes. The team’s battling a losing streak, but the season’s biggest game changer is one player’s second chance with the one who got away…

Yoga instructor Marlena Brodie is always up for a challenge, and her new job of snapping Bomb Squad out of their rut is definitely that, even though it means being in close contact with Liam McAllister, her high school crush gone bad. She can feel the damage pouring off of him—but also a wild and sexy strength that calls to her.

The Army turned Liam McAllister into a man, but as a combat medic, he saw far too much to ever be whole again. He’s not interested in the civilian world beyond his job as a carpenter, but he never stopped wondering what might have been with Marlena—and it isn’t long before she’s crashed through his carefully constructed walls. He longs for a new beginning with her, but to be the man she deserves, he’ll have to step out of his defensive zone and score the most important play of his life…

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19545684-undefeated

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DMCV6IShttp://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/undefeated-melissa-cutler/1118867547?ean=9780698151901


Always comes down to characters, story, writing and afterglow.  Here's how I saw it.

Characters.  I didn't like Marlena.  She confused me.  I couldn't accept her serene yoga teacher and spiritual leader style when she considered herself a vixen.  She would sneak over to the local fast food Mexican joint but duck out the back door so she couldn't be seen by those she'd told to avoid the place for their health.  I just didn't like that or her.  Then there was the first encounter with the sexy Liam and she freaked out accusing him of rape when that was so not the case.  I'm not okay with that.  The word feels unique to me.  It's shouldn't be used lightly or thrown around during a panic attack.  I just couldn't get over it.  

I liked Liam.  He's figuring out ways to deal with the emotional turmoil he was part of in the military.  As a medic, he is haunted by all the guys he couldn't save.  He uses yoga and P.E.T. therapy to try and lesson his triggers and be a human being again.  The thing about Liam is that he likes control during sex.  And he prefers it hard.  I wish there was some hint in the blurb that this book had the dominance thing going on.  While I'm fine with those that like to read that, it's not my thing.  Warning would have been nice.

Story.  I just didn't enjoy the story.  Between Marlena feeling fake and the whole dominance thing, I just couldn't be content in the pages.  There was a lot of "the universe is bringing them together" aspects that felt strange to me too.  I just wasn't happy.

Writing. The writing was fine.  

Afterglow.  Mostly, I just wanted to be done and wash the story away with another book.

Not everyone had a similar experience.  Check out a different opinion below.


       







About the Author...


Melissa Cutler knows she has the best job in the world, dividing her time between her dual passions for writing sexy contemporary romances and edge-of-your-seat romantic suspense for Harlequin, Penguin, and Kensington Books.

She was struck at an early age by an unrelenting travel bug and is probably planning her next vacation as you read this. When she's not globetrotting, she's enjoying Southern California's flip-flop wearing weather and wrangling two rambunctious kids. Find out more about Melissa and her books at www.melissacutler.net or write to her at melissa@melissacutler.net . You can also find Melissa on Facebook (www.facebook.com/MelissaCutlerBooks) and Twitter (@m_cutler)

1 comment:

  1. Sounds like Marlena needed to embrace and be proud of eating Mexican food- who in the heck wants to hide that? Can you tell it is my favorite food to eat? Sucks that you didn't have the feels with this one though.

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