The Navy's Ghost

Bad Boys of Beta Squad #1

by Siobhan Muir

A SEAL is strongest with her Team…

Ensign Christiana "Ghost" Brickman is the only female SEAL to survive BUD/S training, a real Navy Jane. But when an ambush ends her career as an active SEAL, she’s free to pursue other interests. Like her two best friends Lt. Jim "Retro" Waters and Chief Warrant Officer Todd "Magic" Hunter. She's wanted them for over a year, but never dared to approach them while in the squad.

Retro has fought his dark desires since high school, certain the need to share a woman unnatural. Magic had never considered sharing before Ghost mentions it, but it solves his dilemma of choosing between his best friend and his woman. But Retro balks at Ghost’s offer to share and retreats from both when she marries Magic.

Everyone feels Retro’s loss, but he ignores the ache of their broken connection in favor of living ‘normal.’ When Ghost and the other wives of Beta Squad are kidnapped, Retro must reevaluate how much both Ghost and Magic mean to him. And he must decide how far he's willing to go to save the woman he loves, before she becomes the Navy's ghost.

Genres: Menage, Erotica, Romance, M F M, Contemporary Romance, Military Fiction, M M F

312 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2013

About the author

Siobhan Muir lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with her husband, two daughters, a kitten who thinks he's a dog, a cat who's not impressed, and the dog who just wants to be walked. When not writing, she makes miniatures, bakes, knits, and sews. An avid reader of science fiction/fantasy, her husband gave her a paranormal romance for Christmas one year, and she was hooked for good.

In previous lives, Siobhan has been an actor at the Colorado Renaissance Festival, a field geologist in the Aleutian Islands, and restored inter-planetary imagery at the USGS. She’s hiked to the top of Mount St. Helens and to the bottom of Meteor Crater.

Siobhan writes kick-ass adventure with hot sex for men and women to enjoy. She believes in happily ever after, redemption, and communication, all of which you will find in her paranormal and dauntless romance stories.

Reviews

[♂♀♂ Mary's Menage Reviews ♂♂♀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

(...)

The Navy’s Ghost started very emotional. The author, Siobhan Muir, completely mastered the immediate attention of her reader. The first chapter is definitely for me what hooks me to a story. Here, I was almost instantly.

What I liked is that I was not lost in military terms. It was explained with logic and simplicity which ease me into the story. Even if all the story is mapped around the SEALs, it was not over the top because romance and action were mixed perfectly together.

Even if I could hardly stop reading this story (thank you Mrs Muir for my 3am late sleep last night, I was a zombie all day long today…), I could not give the perfect rating, close enough though.

First half of the story (220 pages) was fantastic. I got to know the characters and their struggles. But after the second half, one character started to bother me with his recurent insecurities. I felt it became redundant and at the end I just wanted to kick his ass. It was the same issues over and over again. From my perspective, a SEAL is almost not human. He has to go through so much physical and emotional training that his mind does not function the same way anymore. So, even if I know it is a romance and everything can be told and deformed in a romance, I had a hard time at the end of the story to accept his issues. It was a I-love-you but I-cant-be-with-you-two over and over again without truly evolution.

I also thought that a sex dream scene was way too long and probably added with the edits. At times, I had to tell myself that he was dreaming and I got confused that it was real and I wondered if I missed the part where he finally decide to change his mind. Too many pages in my opinion. I understand the reasons though since sex is not very present the first half of the story and being an erotic romance, it was somehow missing. No wonder, he told himself that he wanted to record this dream to replay it. Not saying it was not hot, it was, but it seamed as if he was more in a coma for days instead of a dream…

I liked the heroine very much. I think her best moments were when she was under fever or drugs. Of course, there is no such female in the SEALs world but I could easily imagine females in the military and how much they have to be mean in order to be respected by this world of full of bad-asses men. The way Siobhan Muir portrayed the SEALs were a bit too ideal in my opinion like none of the married men would cheat on their spouses and the singles would jump on every navy groupie brainless girls in heat. That was a bit too stereotype for me. But it went with the romance and it is nice to think that their values are extreme.

(...)

My conclusion is that it is a great story. It may not look like it since I detailed the inconsistencies but it is a well deserved 4 poly stars. It was full emotion, full action, full romance from beginning to end. This book is the first of the series. Sadly, I think it will be a MF one and this ménage one was an exception.

Read it! no question about it. A must read.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Men in uniform are a serious weakness!! Oh and two yummy Alpha SEALS for the price of one, sold!! Really great story telling that keeps you involved from beginning to end!! I loved the characters and their whole dynamic!

Yummy smexy steamy action and just enough dirty talk to keep me on edge!! I do love a man with a naughty mouth!! Have a cold shower or a tub of ice handy, things get super smexy!!

There was a touch more angst with Retro than I generally enjoy, he really took his time! And it gets emotional more than once, have the tissues handy!! I laughed, I cried, and I sighed over some yummy scenes!! Overall a very enjoyable read! I can only hope we will be getting more stories from Beta Squad!!

*Disclosure - I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts, opinions and ratings are my own!*

[MsRomanticReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I read the blurb, I was intrigued and excited to read a romantic suspense involving a female SEAL. The author stated quite clearly that she took creative license with that, therefore I was prepared to find some rules being bent to suit the plot.

The story started off with a bang which marked the beginning of the end of the heroine's SEAL team career. She behaved just about the same way I would have expect a male SEAL to – sadness, shame, anger, guilt, depression. However, Chris fared a little better than that, and I attribute that to having her two best friends and team buddies by her side most of the time. I liked that Todd and Chris didn't beat around the bush about taking their friendship to the next level, especially after her drug-induced confessions. The story really gets interesting when they both acknowledge that they'd like to bring a third into their relationship. Specifically Jim, since Chris already confessed to wanting both of her best friends. The plot focused on the elation from Todd and the devastation from Jim because Todd got to Chris first. From that point on, I struggled with getting into the flow of the story.

There were three things that dampened my enjoyment.

The names. Sometimes in dialogue their given names were used while their handles were used in narration. Other times it wasn't unusual to find both used whether in dialogue or narration. I even thought to myself that it would be rather funny if they used their handles in intimate sex scenes. In the very beginning I had to remind myself which one was Magic and which one was Retro, so I was thrown for a while.

The facts. Granted, someone who doesn't have that much Navy knowledge probably wouldn't care or notice, but the few that I found, one on top of the other, became bothersome to me. Chief Petty Officers might have gold chevrons, not gold bars. The one that stuck out the most was the heroine's promotion from Ensign to Lieutenant, which was wrong. It should have been Lieutenant Junior Grade. It stuck out because over the course of the story, Chris was often referred to as Lt and she called herself “an equal ranking officer”. And all I could hear in my head was a buzzer.

The repetition. “Man up”, “pull your head out of your ass”, “the blond SEAL” instead of saying Todd or Magic, “he's a better man anyway”, etc. The amount of times their cocks swelled or hardened just from seeing her.

The dream sequences and flashbacks weren't in italics, so the transition from the present time to either of those didn't feel smooth. I'd read and read only to stop and have to go back to see if I missed something. I would have liked a visual for my subconscious to point out the change without a jarring interruption in the flow.

Out of the three protagonists, I felt that Todd (Magic) was the most pulled together. He was the glue holding them together. From the moment he got a positive sign from Chris that she wanted to be with him, he became a bit too lovey-dovey: always doting on her and haranguing Jim to “pull his head out of his ass”. It took him a long while before he figured it might be better to ask Jim about his demons instead of trying to bully him into accepting a threesome relationship.

Chris began on a strong note and slowly turned into a cliche as the story progressed. As soon as she opened herself up to Todd, gone was the toughness that kept her going as a SEAL, and so was her confidence. Aside from several repeated mentions of how impressed the guys were with her during BUD/S training, I couldn't tell you much more about her. She went from warrior to ordinary (at least until the last few chapters when the drama sets in). The climax portion was a brief breath of fresh air when we get to see Chris in her element again.

Jim (Retro). I started out loving him. His demons, that centered around his interest in threesomes, went all the way back to his childhood and his verbally abusive father. Jim was made to feel like a pervert and a deviant for his kinky wants. Then he lost the woman he wanted to his best friend. Then they presented him with his forbidden fantasy. The drama of his life dragged on too long. His repeated mantras of how he wanted but couldn't, Todd was the better man, it was wrong to want to share his friend's wife, and so on. He didn't make any effort to sort himself out, his friends preferred to pressure him rather than help. By the half way point I didn't care anymore; about any of them. Two chapters before the end, Jim tells Chris that he has strange needs, that he “loves pleasuring a woman with help”. Then he asks her: “That okay with you?” What kind of question is that when the whole story was about them inviting him into their marriage, and they'd already had a threesome that didn't happen in a dream?

I really wanted to like it more than I did. I think the execution is what made this story fall a little flat in places. Even though it was just over 100k, I felt like I was reading forever. Several pages of dialogue could have been shortened or eliminated without losing the momentum. The overall pacing of the plot was good with advancements in this complicated relationship being moved along in spurts of few months at a time. I believed their feelings for one another, but more on a professional level as opposed to a romantic one. The sex scenes were scorching hot, but I did skim some parts of them when the nicknames came into play because it wasn't very sexy and made them sound detached from the romance.

I do think the author has a great voice, and she can tell a story. I know my review sounds like I didn't like anything, but that's not the case. It's just hard to explain. All the elements were there, but some may have needed to be rearranged. Would I recommend this story? Yes. I think it could appeal to someone who likes angst, a tortured hero and a hot menage. This may not have been for me, but I would still love to read something else by this author.

Disclaimer: I received a review copy from the author for the purpose of an honest review. The views and opinions expressed in this review are my own, and in no way represent the views or opinions of the publisher/distributor.

[Trish-Sunshine Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book! I loved the struggles the three main characters dealt with. The military aspect was great. Three strong people finding love and acceptance, had me not wanting to put the book down.

[J. Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's always something sexy about a man in uniform. Having a whole book full of SEALs is about as sexy as you can get. Then there's Ghost. Her sex appeal is as much about her abilities to kick butt and take names as it is about being in uniform.

Ghost is the first Navy SEAL on Team 9. She's beautiful, small, and seemingly fragile, but look can be deceiving. She's made it through all the same hard training as the men. All the things other
s use to dismiss her make her a valuable asset. She's so good at her job that the bad guys never know she's there, hence her nickname. When an injury in the line of duty cuts her career short, Ghost has to find a new way to live. She starts by using her new-found freedom to admit her feelings to her two closest team mates. She loves them both equally.

One man, Magic, embraces her love immediately. He has no problems sharing the woman he loves, as long as she's his. Who could ask for a more perfect mate? She understands his crazy schedule and inability to talk about his job. He can count on her to take care of herself when he's gone on missions. He knows her better than anyone else because he's fought should-to-shoulder with her for four years. happiness looms on his horizon.

The other, Retro, loves Ghost but is dealing with demons from his past. An overbearing father and pressures of traditional society make accepting Ghost's love difficult. He tried very hard to listen to his stern father's voice from the past, but the admonishments don't make him a better man. They make him miserable. Sharing his woman is his biggest kink and his greatest secret. It takes him a lot longer to find his way to happiness. Thankfully for him, SEALs are patient, and Ghost is as good a SEAL as the rest of them.

I couldn't put this one down. There action and great plot. The sex is hot and the emotion strong. Most of us can relate to the nagging voice in our heads from the past telling us things that make us unhappy. The language and sex is graphic, meaning you should be wary of taking this one to work. This is the perfect book for snuggling up by the fire with a glass of wine and spending the evening with a couple of book boyfriends. This one is four and half stars all the way!

[Silver James · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Navy's Ghost is erotic author Siobhan Muir's latest M/F/M release. I admit I'm not a big fan of menage stories but Ms. Muir handled my questions about the "validity" of the relationship beautifully. She made me believe that two Alpha SEALs would indeed be happy (and fulfilled) sharing one woman. The heroine is engaging and the underlying suspense plot just added the...no, I'm not going with whipped cream. For these guys? It'd be pepperoni on the pizza. *wink* If a sexy menage story is your cup of tea, this is a good one!

[Elaine Swinney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to get a copy of this book though Smashwords and I voluntarily chose to review it. Awesome book. It is well written and the characters are some of the best I have read lately. I am looking forward to the next book in this series. This one is worth your time nd effort. I found it to be a great story. Give it a chance. Oh yeah...it is a Ménage story so if this isn't your type of story it will not be a favorite of yours. Think about that before you give it a bad rating.

[Cayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like her first books I fell in love with this one too. will have to get the others in this series soon. Siobhan Muir is another must read author on my list:-)

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit it. I almost stopped reading this story. The beginning was a bit hard to get into for me. But hoooo mama! Am I glad I kept at it. This story is HOT. Not spicy, red pepper, no water in sight, hot. This is more like walking through the desert, 125 degrees, enjoying the sun on your shoulders, until hour 3 hits and you are burning from the inside out HOT. The author ratchets up the heat and keeps you wondering what twist in the story of Chris, Magic & Retro is coming next. You are going to yell out loud with Chris, Whiskey Foxtrot Tango, several times! It's not just about Navy SEALs, or just about a menage'. It's about learning to love and accept that love for all it's worth. 4.5 Smoking Hot Stars.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!! This series just keeps getting better!! Although this is book 1 in the series there is a prequel novella. This is a great stand-alone book but I recommend the series. There is a lot of action, demons from the past resurface, emotions run high, love runs deep, and so does the kink. It is an easy read.

[Patricia Mattingly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Navy's Ghost

When I read this I wanted to pinch out that cheating scrum of a wife to do that to your husband while he is protecting her and his country botch. Would not blame Ghost if she did punch her in the face and I'm glad Ghost and her guys settled their problem.

[Cheryl Graham-Petit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Hope Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

LOVED the story line, LOVED the characters. Wish they would have given more insight to what happened to them in the future.