Sunday, August 9, 2015

{ arc } review || EXPOSING THE HEIRESS by Jennifer Apodaca


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Entangled | August 4, 2015 | Contemporary Romance
Once a Marine, book 3
★★★★1/2

SOURCE: PUBLISHER

This Marine will protect her at all costs...

When wealthy heiress Alyssa Brooks finds out her stepfather has been paying her fiancé to marry her, she's humiliated and betrayed. She quickly breaks the engagement, only to be blackmailed by her now ex-fiancé, who threatens both Alyssa and the son she gave up for adoption. With nowhere to go, she turns to the one man she can trust.

Former Marine sniper Hunter Reece's lethal skills could save Alyssa's life. But his little sister's best friend has turned into a woman, who is an irresistible mix of secrets and sexiness. And while Hunter can trust himself to protect her, he can't trust himself to keep his attraction hidden...or even pretend to be the man that Alyssa remembers.

Because the only way to keep the lovely heiress safe is to become the one thing he knows she could never love...a killer.

{ review } .

This was likely the best cover, thus far, in the series. The other two covers are very much Entangled-style covers, so when this one came across, I was very... aesthetically happy ;) Granted, I haven't read the other books, but...

This series follows men who are working for Once a Marine, a security firm, if you will, that is comprised of Marines who are no longer active. This book follows former sniper, Hunter Reece.

The very last job he wants is to play body guard for a wealthy heiress, but when his boss tells him the name of his charge (after she'd specifically asked for Hunt by name), he decides to go with it -- after all, Alyssa Brooks was his little sister's best friend when they were younger.

Alyssa is very much grown up when he sees her again, but he can't help but try to keep her in pig-tailed "Lyssie" category. While at first he's not so sure about this keeping her safe from the ex thing, it's when she says it's the son she gave up for adoption that she's most concerned for, that gets Hunt's feet moving.

To keep her safe, he takes her back to the vineyard that they spent many summers at.

I loved every moment of this title. It was my first look at the writing style of Jennifer Apodaca, and hers is a style I'm sure I won't get sick of. The book was easy to read, emotionally charged... the suspense was on point, the romance was hot, but it was the underlying friendship that did it for me. I loved that Hunt first took the job because Alyssa was, in a sense, family.

I loved the complexity of Alyssa. She was the poster child for the company her mother had run. The only reason why she was still a part of it was because it was her mother's. She hated the fake face she had to put on for public and lived for the day she could only make appearances, and instead of being in the limelight all of the time, being home with her family. When she learns that life wasn't what she thought it was, everything she'd been preparing for was a lie, rather than crumble and accept the blows, she went and did something about it -- to keep her and hers safe.

When they were younger, Alyssa always put Hunter in the 'prince' role, a role that Hunter scoffed at. He always knew he was going to be a Marine, and that was far better than a prince rescuing the damsel in distress.

"Joke's on you, Marine. You're rescuing me."

Hunt laughed. "You got your wish. I'm playing your hero now."

Hunt has his reasons for wanting to keep Alyssa in firm friend territory, but he can't help but fall for the strong woman in front of him. I loved that he wanted to keep her safe, but also that he didn't everything he could to keep her son safe. While Alyssa had to give her baby up, he was always the most important person in her life, and Hunt makes him important too. Above all else, though, Alyssa comes to mean the world to Hunt, and he will prove it again and again.

"When I ask you this, you need to  know I'm asking you as my friend and lover..."

Altogether, this was a sweet read that I very much enjoyed. I found myself another author to follow!


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