REVIEW: Uniformed Desires Anthology

UNIFORM Desires: Six Military Romances 

Infatuation by USA Today bestselling author ] Melissa Schroeder 
To prove her love and save her man, she has to go above and beyond the call of duty

SEAL's Honor by award-winning author Elle James 
Two Navy SEALs jeopardize their lives and hearts in a battle-torn land when they vie for the love of one sexy Night Stalker helicopter pilot

SEAL the Deal by national bestselling author Sharon Hamilton 
A SEAL's nightmare of a promise given at his sister's deathbed gives him the woman of his dreams

Dangerous Liaison by national bestselling author Delilah Devlin 
A pampered travel agent escapes through the jungle with an undercover DEA agent when a drug lord mistakes her for a rival's daughter

Her Forever Hero by bestselling author JM Madden 
When the boss's pregnant, unwed daughter needs rescuing, disabled Marine Grafton Parks proves he's still a hero

Cinderella Liberty by NY Times & USA Today bestselling author Cat Johnson 
A weekend liberty leads to unexpected passion between a Marine and his best friend's sister, but he must survive seven months in Afghanistan to get back to her.

(information obtained from Goodreads)

Adri’s Reviews:

Ok this is the first time I am reviewing and Anthology so please bear with me if it seems a bit confusing. I will be giving my thoughts on each book… With that being said though... This book set is something everyone would love to read. Six books each with a sexy man in uniform… either on leave, active or retired… yeah it’s enough to have you needing air conditioning in the middle of winter. There wasn’t one book in this collection that I didn’t completely enjoy. Where yes some were more emotional than others they were all excellent. Well hope this helps… Happy Reading.

Book 1 Infatuation by Melissa Schroeder

This one is a hot and sexy Dom SEAL who’s always had a thing for his best friend and BUD/s partner sister Shannon. Shannon Dupree has always found Francis “Kade” McKade sexy and desirable. While on in Hawaii for one of Shannon’s brother’s wedding they both finally give into the their desire for each other… Only problem is that Kade is sent on a mission before they can figure out what they want to do.

Upon returning home after a disastrous mission where Kade is injured, he becomes afraid all his demons will cause him to hurt Shannon is some way. So he decides he is going to try and avoid her. Little does he realize the saucy Cajun woman refuses to let that happen, when she sets out to make him jealous with one of his buddies at the bar she owns, he is pushed past the point of reason. He lets his Dominant side take over and takes her to bed showing her exactly what happens to his women when they misbehave.

If any of you have ever read some of my thoughts on Doms you know very well they are a huge weakness for me… Add to that this one is a Military man and I am done for. Don’t worry if BDSM is not your thing, this story is so well written that it’s not something you are drowning in but can still feel the  power and need behind it.

Book 2 SEALs Honor by Elle James aka Myla Jackson

This one is a heartwarming/breaking story. I highly recommend having the box of tissues handy for this one. Read Tucker “Tuck” and Cory Nipton “Reaper” are SEALs that are training with a group of Army helicopter pilots one in particular being Delaney “O’Connell “Razor”. Here’s the problem, because of their jobs being together isn’t allowed and Tuck and Razor are forced to keep their sexual relationship secret. The night before they are all deployed Reaper asks Razor to marry him. He is convinced that he’s fallen in love with the sexy Army pilot. Tuck does everything in his power to stop his friend, he knows that Razor doesn’t feel that way about his friend and is trying to spare his feelings. Reaper does so anyway, making Razor promise to not answer right away but to think about it and she can give him the answer when they return from their deployment.

On one particular mission Reaper is injured to the point that he loses his arm. Feeling guilty and not wanting to hurt his will to live Razor agrees to marry him. Her sense of guilt because she knows she doesn’t love him that way and is completely in love with his best friend eats away at Razor. But no matter she will have to continue on with her commitment, besides Tuck doesn’t love her so why should she stop herself from finding love.

So many emotions are hit with this story. The guilt of not wanting to hurt a fellow friend and partner, the need to protect each other on a mission, the lost feeling of never finding love or losing your only chance at the one you do love and the fear of not only the ones injured in the line of duty but of those who are around them and sworn to help. Like I said at the beginning this is definitely one you want to keep that box of tissues handy for. But it’s all well worth it in the end.   

Book 3 SEAL the Deal by Sharon Hamilton

Well let’s just keep the cry fest going with book 3… Nick’s sister Sophie is dying. Cancer has over run her body and she can no longer care for the nursery she adores. In light of that she calls her brother and best friend for help. She needs to sell the property, but wont be able to do everything to make it presentable by herself. Her best friend Devon is a real estate agent and is there for her. But little do Nick and Devon know that Sophie has another plan in mind. After her death both will be left alone, no other family to care for and about them.

Nick asks his roommate, partner and friend Marc to accompany him up the coast to where his sister lives to help with the huge undertaking of getting the nursery ready for sale. What he isn’t prepared for is the state in which he find Sophie. When Sophie informs him that he will not only work closely with, but date Devon her best friend all he can remember is the skinny braced awkward girl he’d seen years before. In reality what he encounters is a sexy, beautiful woman.

Devon isn’t happy about what Sophie asks of her, but willing to do anything to make her dying friends wishes come true she goes along with it. At first she makes it a point to be cold and distant to Nick, she remembers him as the egotistical, self-riotous man who thinks he is better than the rest because he is a SEAL. But quickly all those feelings are thrown out the window as she really gets to know him.

Again because of the subject matter it makes it an extremely emotional story, but one that you cant put down once you start to read it. You’re pulling for Sophie to have a peaceful last few days of life, for Nick and Devon to find love in each other and not be left alone with no one else in the future and for Marc that he is able to help keep everything and everyone happy as the days come to a close.  

Book 4 Dangerous Liaison by Delilah Devlin

After two books that make us cry lets dive into an action packed one shall we…

Maya Cordoba is partners in a travel agency that is in dire need of a new source of income… well why not trying to book people on adventure vacations instead, only thing is she needs to take one first. Her first adventure vacation… A survival training camp, somewhere in South America.

Only problem is that the vacation turns out to be more action and adventure than Maya ever expected or wanted. When she is accidently confused for the daughter of a drug rival a group of men kidnap her and hold her hostage. She is forced to rely on the help of a man she no longer knows if she can trust.

Angel Rickman is an ex-Marine, ex-Mercenary and current undercover DEA agent at the training facility. His 

goal… to find where the drugs are being produced so he can bust and rid the world of two dangerous drug lords. That mission is thrown out the window the minute Maya Cordoba is accidently mistaken for the wrong woman. Now he must get her out alive and back to safety.

There is one other problem neither of them prepared for… The attraction they have for each other…

Amongst the action and adventure these two find love, well at least lust. This was a great story to have after the two sob fest stories that precede it…  

Book 5 Her Forever Hero by JM Madden

This is such a beautiful story… I truly couldn’t stop reading it, even with the company I had over I was completely submerged in the story.

Kendall Harrington is the daughter and hopefully preceding CEO of Frank Harrington and Harrington Limited. The only problem is that she finds herself pregnant and having to fight for the position of CEO against her father’s best friend’s son, after giving in to her desire for her bodyguard on Christmas Eve. With the way some of the old timers think, getting the job just became so much harder. Grafton, her body guard and the baby’s father comes up with a simple solution. They get married.

Grif is the first to notice that Kendall is pregnant, he sees the symptoms even before she does. He’s scared of what being a parent could mean for him… He didn’t exactly have the best role models for the job, and as an amputee would it be something he could help with? Though he’s adapted well to having lost his right arm he isn’t completely confident. He’s also scared of what he can bring into a relationship with Kendall. He also doesn’t want Kendall to think he is only after her for her money so he does anything he can think of to protect her future. He has only one major request during their marriage… she not treat it like an arrangement but a real marriage.

Again this is such a wonderful story, one that helps the reader renew their faith in humanity. The growth of both characters is amazing. I just completely loved it.  

Book 6 Cinderella Liberty by Cat Johnson

While on a weekend leave before being deployed to Afghanistan John “Crash” O’Malley and Danny “Zippy” Zipkin decide to head to NYC and meet up with Zippy’s sister Trish. Zippy’s goal is to get Crash a woman. With that in mind he asks Trish to bring her best friend Dawn along for the weekend. But Crash isn’t interested in Dawn, his eyes are for Trish.

Trish is instantly attracted to her brother’s fellow Marine and Brother at Arms Crash. His southern drawl and gentlemanly ways, something she can’t find in New Jersey. Going for it she decides to forget the fact that Crash is about to be shipped off and get what she so craves… his body. After two wonderful days with this amazing man neither one thought it would be so hard to let go.

One of the things about this story that I like was of all the stories in the anthology it was the only one that gave us more of a day to day life of those in the service. It was also the only story that showed us how they need to adapt to changes of life on the camps in case of attack.

Anyway that is my review of six different stories in one book set… I hope you run off and get them because they really are great stories.