Pushing the Limit by Emmy Curtis
Publisher: Forever Yours (11/4/2014)
Series: Alpha Ops, book 2
Genre: Military Romance
Source: InkSlinger/NetGalley
My Rating: ★★★★
After their one-night fling at a wedding, archaeologist Henrietta "Harry" Markowitz thought she'd never see war hero Matt Stanning again. So when they're paired up to investigate a military plane crash in Iraq, she's not sure if the three-month reunion is serendipitous or cursed. What she does know is this gorgeous man lights her body on fire-and incredible sex is always a welcome distraction. Air Force Sergeant Matt Stanning has been called a hero, but he feels nothing like one when he realizes the sexy blonde in his bed is the widow of his fallen brother-in-arms. Even worse, he actually has to work with her, and she's unearthed evidence that points to a military conspiracy. If they dig deeper, they'll put their lives in danger. If they don't, they'll never know the truth-not only about the mysterious plane crash, but about each other.
- - -
{ excerpt }
Matt heard her sharp intake of breath
and wondered if he’d misjudged his attempt at lightening her mood.
There was a second in which he opened his mouth to explain, when there was a shifting in the air around him, and just as his lightning instinct had him reaching for his weapon, a soft projectile thwomped into his face, knocking him backward and off the bed.
“No one makes fun of my pain without
incurring the wrath of the pillow ninja,” she hissed.
Relief and outrage vied for pole
position as he immediately planned his revenge. He let out an agonized groan.
“Oh my God.” He heard her scrambling
over the bed to the foot where he’d fallen from. “I’m so sorry, did you hurt—”
He reared up, wrapping his arms around
her legs, and launched her back onto the bed. She bounced like a rag doll as he
grabbed the cushion he’d taken from the lobby and swiped at her as she tried to
right herself.
“Ooff,” was the only thing she managed
to say.
Victory
is mine. “Truce?” he asked from a safe
distance.
“My hand is caught in the headboard.”
She giggled. “I swear it’s not a trap. I’m an honorable foe, unlike you. Look,
or feel.”
Still keeping his distance, he put out
his hand where he thought her shoulder should be. It was soft. Heat rose in his
body.
“Okay, airman, it’s not my breast
that’s trapped, it’s my hand,” she said with a totally audible grin.
“Sorry.” He thought he would run his
hand up to her shoulder, then her arm to find her trapped hand, but it seemed
all his appendages had minds of their own. He hesitated on her breast, feeling
it swell beneath his palm. Shit. He stretched his hand out so just the center
of it was touching her, and he circled it around her nipple. Its hardness
tickled his palm. He meant to move it to her shoulder, but he swore he heard
her groan. The sound sealed the deal.
His other hand found her flat stomach.
He ran his fingers over her skin, making her shiver. “Does your hand hurt?”
“No,” she whispered. It was a tacit yes
to everything else.
He lowered his lips to her stomach and
kissed her, feeling it undulate beneath his lips. Kneeling on the bed now, he
ran his hands up and down from her waist to her legs, legs to waist, and then
with the same motion, he hooked her shorts around his
fingers and yanked them down. She
gasped. He grinned in the dark.
“You’re kind of at my mercy now, aren’t
you?” he said.
In an instant she wrapped her legs
around his waist and tipped him over onto his side. Before he could recover,
she rolled him over and sat astride him.
“I’m sorry? What did you say?” In the
shadowy darkness she whipped off her tank. He could barely see her in the dark.
No way. Nakedness or death? He grabbed her waist and held her as he sat up and
pushed her down toward the foot of the bed. He
used the few seconds he was upright to
flick open one side of the curtain covering the small window. A faint blue
light lit the room. Just enough to see her in.
“I guess you weren’t really that
trapped, then?”
“Not
that trapped.” She smiled up at him, and he was gone.
He ripped his shirt off over his head
and was about to undo his jeans when Harry beat him to it.
Her delicate fingers played with his
fly, flickering touches on his hard dick through the denim. Grazing her nails
along his length until he was desperate to feel her friction. As if she read his
mind, she flattened her hand and pressed hard against him, making him groan and
push himself against her.
She undid his fly, and when the heat of
her fingers touched his flesh he closed his eyes and allowed his whole body to
feel her.
Enough. He wanted her, right now.
Stripping off his jeans, and managing to extract a condom from his wallet
without fumbling, he retook the bed. He slid his whole body across hers touching
every part of her with every part of him. She fit him perfectly. In every way.
- - -
About Emmy CurtisEmmy Curtis is an editor and a romance writer. An ex-pat Brit, she quells her homesickness with Cadbury Flakes and Fray Bentos pies. She's lived in London, Paris and New York, and has settled for the time being, in North Carolina. When not writing, Emmy loves to travel with her military husband and take long walks with their Lab. All things considered, her life is chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny. And if you get that reference...well, she already considers you kin.
I really, really wanted this book (side note: that excerpt? One of my favorite parts in the book). I 'tweeted' with Emmy about it, I requested it, I emailed her publicist about it... I really wanted my hands on this book.
You know how sometimes when you want something really, really badly, and it doesn't quite turn out how you envisioned it? This was kind of like that. Do not get me wrong -- it was a good read, a great story, it had lovely characters... I just found it a bit choppy at times. Matt ran hot and cold throughout the beginning, but so did Harry. However, when I think of archaeologists, I think of Brennan from Bones, so I gave her a bit of leeway in my opinion of her.
You know how sometimes when you want something really, really badly, and it doesn't quite turn out how you envisioned it? This was kind of like that. Do not get me wrong -- it was a good read, a great story, it had lovely characters... I just found it a bit choppy at times. Matt ran hot and cold throughout the beginning, but so did Harry. However, when I think of archaeologists, I think of Brennan from Bones, so I gave her a bit of leeway in my opinion of her.
About 60% through, though, I became completely engrossed -- as in, don't/can't put the book down engrossed. That is, after all, where the brunt of the action was. And because of the lengthiness of the story, I hardly minded that the whirlwind of a semi-non-romance was truly only a span of a few days. Some people have reviewed the book and stated that the lack of sex/romance and the high amount of action/dig are what turned them away from this book... I actually appreciated it more.
Harry and Matt had already gotten to the down and dirty of everything in OVER THE LINE -- I appreciated that their relationship, after that point, wasn't about sex. It was more about each of them sorting their feelings for one another currently, and how they could live with their pasts and make way for the future. That said, I do feel that I am rating this book a bit harsher than I have the novella and book 1.
... I will likely (ok, so I will, no question) revisit this book when I have some downtime. Emmy has yet to disappoint me -- so Matt and Harry aren't my two favorites in the series; there are worse things. You can't love all of the characters :)
*this is one of those books that my Kindle app when ka-perk on me, and all of my notes and highlights disappeared :( Hence, the lack of anything other than the excerpt.
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