Everything Changes by Melanie Hansen

Cover Created by : Natasha Snow

Release Date: September 14, 2020

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A childhood in foster care taught Carey Everett to hold tight to what he has. Enlisting in the Marines gave him purpose, but a life-threatening injury ended his career—and took his leg. Now fully recovered, Carey’s happier than he’s ever been. He has a fulfilling job, a chosen family and, best of all, a cherished friendship with Jase DeSantis, the platoon medic who saved his life.

Jase knows how to take care of the people he loves. As the oldest of seven, and then a Navy corpsman, it’s what he was born to do. Still, he’s haunted by his actions overseas. Playing music with his band keeps the demons at bay, but it’s a battle he’s starting to lose.

After a week of sun and fun in San Diego, Jase and Carey’s connection takes an unexpected turn. With change comes a new set of challenges. For Jase, it means letting someone else into his deepest pain. For Carey, it’s realizing love doesn’t always equal loss. In order to make their relationship work, they’ll each have to come to terms with their pasts…

…or risk walking away from each other for good.

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Bristol & Roan have been best friends since they were kids.  One night gets hot and steamy, and then they are closer than before.  With Roan getting deployed, they both have time to decide what they want by the time he gets home.

Roan has been in love with Bristol for so long.  He finally gets to show her how he feels.  When things get complicated, she tries to separate herself from him.  He wants to make the future happen, and show her just how he feels.

This was a sweet and touching story.  I am not giving spoilers, but this is a great read.  I love the characters care about each other and there is a solid friendship foundation there.  I also found the heat level was turned up and stayed there.  Always easy to love a man in uniform.  I give this a 4/5 Kitty's Paws UP!

***This copy was given in exchange for an honest review only.

The Marine’s Seduction

Best friends since childhood, Bristol Abbot and Roan Storm wouldn’t dream of mucking up their relationship with sex, until his deployment going away party and too much tequila drive them together.

Six weeks later, there’s more than just friendship at stake.

Bristol is pregnant while Roan is stationed overseas for six more months, and neither knows what comes next.

As the weeks turn into months, their friendship morphs into a shared devotion to their child and each other. Bristol is determined to honor her promise of including Roan in their child’s life, she just has no assumptions of a deeper relationship no matter how much she wants more.  For Roan, what once seemed impossible, now feels as necessary as breathing, and he comes home with a new set of orders in mind.

This Marine has seduction on the brain…

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Excerpt:

“Whose idea was it to get an apartment on the third floor of a building with no fucking elevator?” she groaned, holding her head.

“If I recall, you wanted this place because of the rooftop deck. Said you could watch the sunrise whenever you wanted like you were on top of the world.”

“Yes, the roof!” Bristol nodded and clapped her hands excitedly. “Let’s go up there and look at the stars.”

“You need to get some sleep, B,” he protested as she pulled him through the small apartment to the stairway he knew led above.

“I will, but we can look at the stars now, then when you’re gone, I’ll think of you every time I look up at them. I’ll know you’re looking at the same stars, thinking of me.”

Roan knew she probably didn’t intend her words to be so sentimental, but the alcohol was acting like a truth serum, and it shut down her inhibitions. She rarely allowed anyone to see this side of her. Following her up the tiny flight of stairs, he was soon seated on a wooden lounge chair, with her between his legs, her back against his chest, his arms wrapped around her to keep her warm.

“See, there’s my favorite, Ursa Major, the Big Bear,” she pointed upwards.

“Isn’t that the Big Dipper?”

“Yes and no. The Big Dipper is part of the Big Bear, but they’re still two different constellations,” she explained. “My dad taught me that when I was tiny.”

Her voice was wistful when she spoke of her recently deceased father, and Roan hugged her tighter. Having lost his own mother to uterine cancer when he was eleven, he sympathized with her pain.

“Roan, how much longer do you think you can take doing these missions?” she asked randomly.

Stunned silent, he could only shrug behind her.

“You’ve been gone more than you’ve been home. Don’t you get lonely?”

“Sure, every Marine gets lonely occasionally, but I’m one of the lucky ones because I get constant contact. You and my family send me packages, letters, and cards, and I can use FaceTime on some missions, Skype on others. There are plenty of guys over there who don’t have access to any of that.”

“Would you stay if they gave you the option?”

Roan tensed and frowned down at the top of her head, “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. I just hate when you’re gone. My world seems off-kilter somehow.” She sat up abruptly. “I’m like Lucy with no Ethel.”

“Excuse me?” He felt his eyebrow arch in question. “I am no Ethel. If anyone here is Lucy, it’s me.”

“Nah, Lucy was always instigating trouble, and Ethel just went along with it.”

“Which is exactly why I’m the Lucy in this relationship,” Roan laughed. She shivered, and he tugged her back against him. Instead of resuming their spooned position, she lay sideways against him, her shoulder on his chest, her hands dangerously close to forbidden territory. “If you’re cold, we should go back downstairs.”

“I don’t want to yet. I like having you all to myself,” she sighed and tipped her face up, the pale moonlight barely lighting her face properly. “Have you ever thought about giving it up? The Marines, I mean?”

“Aw, B, of course, it’s crossed my mind. Every man who’s had to watch a friend die or had to kill someone has second-guessed his career choice, but I was born to be a Marine. Giving it up would be like giving up air. My body just wouldn’t work anymore.”

She nodded, “I figured you would say something like that.” “I always come back.”

Author Bio:

Best-selling author, Lori King, is also a full-time wife and mother of three boys. Although she rarely has time to just enjoy feminine pursuits; at heart she is a hopeless romantic. She spends her days dreaming up Alpha men, and her nights telling their stories. An admitted TV and book junkie, she can be found relaxing with a steamy story, or binging in an entire season of some show online. She gives her parents all the credit for her unique sense of humor and acceptance of all forms of love. There are no two loves alike, but you can love more than one with your whole heart.  

With the motto: Live, Laugh, and Love like today is your only chance, she will continue to write as long as you continue to read. Thank you for taking the time to indulge in a good Happily Ever After with her.    

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Rose is on her honeymoon when she's abducted by aliens -- who have abducted her for the express purpose of having her carry one of the many eggs of a Queen struggling to keep her subjects safe and fighting to prevent an invasion force from completely conquering her planet. And, yeah, if everything goes bad, it'll be good to have some descendants of the Queen running around.

A few years later, a woman comes knocking on the door of Rose and her daughter, Quinn, with the news that the enemy is close -- and has been working with the FBI -- to take her daughter from her -- Rose and Zita fight for their escape through human robotic and alien forces, just trying to get off the planet so that Quinn can claim her rightful place helping her people.

There's a sense of fun, despite the dangers, and a great pace with plenty of tense moments throughout this. It was an enjoyable read with some good writing, and I'm pretty curious where it goes from here. It's not perfect, I have a couple of complaints that I'm afraid will overshadow things -- I want to stress: I liked this book, I want to read more -- don't think this post is anything but a recommendation.

But to start with, other than the weaponry, I'm not so sure I see the difference between Gray's 2160 and 2016 -- it's a shame that Gray didn't work harder on that part of the world he built. I'm not saying it needs to be an unrecognizable reality (although it'd be nice), but we should have moved further than just better guns.

One of my biggest beefs in fiction -- TV or books -- are central characters telling their closest family and friends lies to protect them. Yes, I'm looking at you particularly CW DC shows. That's Rose's impulse move, which is understandable, but why not trust those closest to her with the truth? Particularly her husband, clearly head over heels with her. Why make up a ludicrous story to explain what happened to her rather than risk the truth?

My last beef was the sex scene -- there's some romantic tension early on that I'm fine with, I thought it worked in the moment. But running for your life, with various enemies on your heels is not the time to take a quick break for a little whoopie. It didn't need to be as graphic as it was (thankfully brief), but really ill-timed.

Setting that aside, this was a fun, quick read (I couldn't believe I was done when I got to the end) that really made me want to go grab the sequel. Ash didn't create a masterpiece here, but he told an engaging, entertaining story. Which is good enough for me.

<i><b>Disclaimer:</b> I received this book from the author in exchange for this post, I appreciate it.</i>

Queen Callie Adell’s enemies want her for the secret elixir only her bloodline can produce. She flees an abduction attempt and lands in the arms of the most feared military man in the universe. Recon Marine Captain Joe, a genetically enhanced soldier, knows little of civilian life or of women. But his body knows what it wants from Callie even if his mind suffers mostly confusion in her presence.

Joe’s sense of honor and duty demands he protect the queen even if she can never overlook his unnatural origins and love him as a man. But neither of them can ever be safe if Callie doesn’t protect Joe from those who want to destroy him as much as her enemies wish to capture her. Only if she can civilize her marine will the world accept him as more than a living weapon. But can Callie convince Joe that he’s a man first, her man, and a marine second?

Review

I like the survival aspect of this romance. The hero is wonderful. The heroine... not so much. She waffles so very much. She goes back to her prejudice point of view constantly treating the hero as less than human.

The plot is interesting enough but it is drawn out and not balenced with the romance as much as it should be.

So, not a great read for me.