You know, including this in the long-running KCPD series is a bit of a stretch when you spend most of the book not knowing who the H is and how he ties in. I suppose I should have recognized the name dropping but it was an email so...:shrug

The story starts out with the H finding himself reading a wedding invite - from his former girlfriend (dumped him when he proposed) and his college room-mate. Along with the invite were notes from the couple expressing concern and a desire for all three of them to be bestest friends again. Are you kidding me?!

To my everlasting disappointment, instead of sending a missive telling them where to shove their friendship, where to go, and explicit directions on how to get there, the H..goes back home to VA to attend the wedding, thereby turning his man card into a wad of toilet paper and flushing it, along with his dignity.

Not happy with the inauspicious beginning here, and frankly disappointed he didn't punch the groom in the face after the wedding. But this wasn't about that couple - they quickly disappeared on their honeymoon (may the mosquitoes of the Caribbean see them as an all-you-can-eat buffet). It is about the bride's little sister, who has had a crush on the H since puberty I suppose, and her scatterbrained neighbor who bit off way more than she could chew and as is discovered, skipped the wedding because she was being killed for her troubles.

We then meet the local deputy who varies between being an ass, to a creep, the the deceased's boyfriend who appears strung out or something, a lawyer, a thug, an ex boyfriend who'd gotten tired of scatterbrain's stringing him along (and she wanted him to be happy for her that she'd found what she wanted to be Mr Right. It's like a disease where people don't seem to realize that expecting someone you dumped to be best buddies is a huge stretch).

Then the texts start, and after she a) figures out she's being spied on through a window and b) figures out what her late friend was talking about, they figure out what the deceased had that was so important, but not why. They also figure out that whoever is watching knows they know, so they run.

They stay at the H's family house (abandoned for at least a year), deciding to stay dressed - at least until they give in to the urges and make woohoo. Then of course, the bad guys show up, set fire to the place and here they gotta get dressed so they can run (facepalm)

They do eventually make it back to KC where we find out just how this ties in to the series (oh, so THAT's who he is), set up a trap, get confessions, get the bad guys caught (lawyer = thug too apparently, and yep; deputy was crooked), confess their ILYs, the end.

Some thoughts/issues - H was an agent for WITSEC, and paid visits to a few of his former clients along the way. This allowed him to dump his ride (made them harder to track), get fed and febreezed... and yet, they couldn't manage to find someone who could gas up the wheels while they stayed out of sight.

He was concerned that someone had gotten into her apartment but after figuring out she didn't have a landline, dismissed it as them trying to bug her phone and not checking deeper into things.

The aforementioned nookie on the run - after the decision to stay dressed rather than change into PJs in case they had to make a run for it, that's a bit more than changing. After all, in a pinch, you can run in your PJs - people show up in walmart all the time like that.

Going from one sister to another. ick And of course, going to the wedding in the first place "so people would stop worrying about him". IMO, the people "worrying" about him gave up their right to be concerned.

Rescued by the Marine - Julie Miller

Hmmm... I was pleasantly surprised both to discover a new release from the author and that it wasn't a part of her Kansas City series. I'm not too terribly sure about this one though.

Lessee... heroine. Socially awkward, smart but dumb, rich heiress with 2 degrees who is currently working on her phD. 20 years ago, her mother was kidnapped and killed by militia, the leader of which was executed. Her parents have arranged an engagement party for her and her slimy boyfriend on the anniversary of her mother's death because reasons.

Hero - former marine with PTSD, works in SAR. Not stated that he was special forces, surprisingly enough (most ex military heroes are SEALs, Rangers, Green Berets, etc...).

Characters were ok. Basic plot was ok - heroine gets kidnapped while leaving the hotel following breaking up with a douchebag. It went downhill from there.

First, there's the meeting between the H and a fellow SAR team member and the heroine's parents. It's in the local bar where everyone hangs out, including the son of the late, unlamented militia leader and all his cousins.

Then there's the lack of any real armament beyond a basic handgun and a hunting knife, going along with the team member to do this under the table rather than contacting their employer for aid.

He figures out where the h is being held, based on the video they'd sent her father and is disturbed that he didn't know they were so well armed. Uh... with the distinct possibility the militia were involved - there was motivation there - why wouldn't he expect it?

His team member/helicopter pilot is dead when they reach the rendezvous point and he's pondering who might have known. Well duh. They knew he was involved because they were at the bar when he arrived.

At some point he takes off on a forced march downhillish and gets over 150 yards away from the h. Really?! He was that sure they'd lost their pursuers/no bears or other varmints/etc.?

Heroine is smart but dumb - she chatters non-stop "to fill the dead air". Hon, when you're up in the mountains and people are hunting you, you keep that up, there might be more things dead than air. Then, when he leaves her in the hunting shack (why, I dunno), she repairs the radio - sortof, and tries using it. She can't receive, nor can she change frequencies, so she has no way of knowing who is listening in.

Final kicker - what sort of lame-ass background check did the owner of the security firm the heroine's dad employed run that he missed that one of his employees was a nephew to the guy who'd killed his client's wife?

Honestly, I don't remember Mike from whatever book was his dad's. I *think* his stepmom is in forensics but it's been years and a number of installments in this series since then...and that's assuming I guessed the right person.

So Gina is in line for a promotion to S.W.A.T...as is her partner. She wants to be the best of the best (overachiever). Her partner OTOH, is content to be accepted. She gets shot near the beginning of the book, and Mike (H) is her therapist. Actually, he's last resort as she'd refused to listen to the last two. He gets to spend the next several weeks keeping her out of trouble as she tries to figure out who shot her...and several other contenders.

As it turns out, her partner's dad was attempting to stack the deck in his son's favor by eliminating the competition - one minority at a time. The son figured it out at some point, but did nothing to dissuade dear old dad. Further, he more or less left her twisting in the wind after a run-in with the ex of a woman he'd been sniffing around (ex was abusive)

High-lights - no story arc to drag through half a dozen books (thank you Jesus)
Book was essentially a stand-alone. You'd have to go digging through the series to even find some of the characters (I sort of remember several mentioned on the S.W.A.T team but that was several years and a couple of story arcs ago)

Low-light - it being so long before revisiting the group there meant you almost felt lost at times. Fortunately I guess, you don't hang around any of the previously used characters too long - well, other than dear old dad. Still...

Heroine's attitude got old after a while. There's prickly and there's being a bitch. She strayed entirely too closely to the latter at times.

Well, that went fast.

A friends to lovers plot, this one especially egregious in that the H has known the h since she was 14, has been besties with her all that time, neighbors, etc...and has suddenly noticed she has T&A. Oh, he's been celibate for a year due to a training accident. He's a Marine, in whatever their version of special forces is (military guys have to be special forces to qualify for heroes, don'tchaknow). His position is up in the air due to the extent of his injuries (and numbnuts' attempt to force healing by overdoing the therapy, resulting in a strained knee). He's home for...R&R. Heroine was asked by his dad to be his physical therapist.

Heroine has been secretly pining for him for years, particularly after a drunken kiss some 12 years ago - which he remembers everything but the identity of the girl. Ironic since he commented to her after a bit of action in a roach coach that he'd held every girl up to that girl's kiss for comparison and they'd all failed.

Somewhere along the line, she comments that the whole town has set her up to be the next resident spinster. Gauntlet dropped.

The initial "plan" was for him to give her ah...tips? during the 2 weeks in exchange for her physical therapy. The book took place over just a few days, during which...a former friend/rival/douchebag who'd had a thing for the h's sister and had attempted sexual assault on said sister(only to be interrupted by H) some years previous, attempted to get revenge on the H by attacking the h (who used to play softball and found a handy bit of pipe or something). This of course, forced the H to confront his feelings for the h.

So why 4 stars? Characters are actually likable. Story isn't unduly contrived. I mean; I suppose if you could ignore that he'd apparently failed to notice the h being female in 18 years - or at least, a female to bone... And maybe his being celibate for a year made him a little (or a lot) desperate whether he acknowledged it or not. And he gave thought to that - that his lack of action in the last year made him see his bestie in ways he hadn't before...or was it feel? After all, his first thought after she left following a welcoming hug and a chat was that she had tits. So I dunno. It was an easy read and I didn't put it down mentally rewriting it with myself as the h with the H writhing in pain at my feet and clutching his groin. :D