1,5 stars. Loved the premise, disapointed in the writing and the story.
I generally love SEAL-books - kind of a guilty pleasure within the romances I read - and so I loved reading SEAL's through the eyes of this new to me author. So when given the chance to read this 10th book in a series for free (I received an ARC from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange of an honest review). Sadly, with regard to the ratings of other books I've read, I can't go higher than a 2 star rating for this book. The main reason for that is, because I am first and foremost a romance reader, the storyline just didn't tick al my boxes. If you're mainly a suspense reader, this could be a better fit. Then I need to say this is not a professional review, but only my personal and honest opinion.
I liked the premise, well, actually every bookcover with the word SEAL on it would have sufficed. I liked the hero being from indian descent, of the glimpses of life on a reservation (which I truly hope isn't all like it's told here), the love that starts out with a one night stand and the spirits of the ancesters. I also really liked some parts of the book, especially the scenes with his grandfather in the hospital and when the hero and heroine met in the bar. I also liked both the hero and heroine, but didn't get to love them.
But most times (hence the 2 star rating), the story seemed to jump all over the place and at times even confused me. Of course, this being an ARC, it is possible some things are changed before publication, but since I don't know what changes will be made, I can only comment on the version I've read. And in order to make this a constructive criticism, I'll write what I would have changed would I have been asked to edit (which, dear author, I would be most willing to do in the future) and hope that the author will be able to change some of the next points. I would have liked:
--> more show and less tell throughout the story: especially more dialogue and especially between the hero and the heroine.
--> to have the SEAL-part play a bigger and more integral part of the storyline.
Let's face it, with a title and cover like that, I expected SEAL stuff, and with SEAL stuff I mean an action packed beginning where the hero is doing something tough and heroic where he immediately and undoubtadly establishes himself as, yes, a guy you can depend on to safe your life. So, again with expectations, at first I was disapointed when it took almost a quarter of the book before the word SEAL entered the story. So in order to comply to readers expectations, in editing, I would have tried to change some scenes around, or change the chronoligical turn of events, so the hero would be a SEAL at the beginning. which I think would have worked with the rest of the story and some parts of the SEAL training and brother-bonding could still have been worked in. Secondly, I would have liked the SEAL stuff to be better tied in with the romance. I expect (in a seal romance) the hero to be heroic for the heroine. He must save her life, be willing to give up his being SEAL for her, or something else... in this story. He does at one instance, but he could just as easily have been a cop, so the SEAL part kind of felt like put in as an afterthought, in order to fit into the series. To make a better fit would be a challenge, and something for which at this point I do not have an answer.
--> more focus on the developing of the romance. This book is marketed as a romance, but to me it felt more like a suspense with some sex (ok, hot sex) thrown in. And that, in my book, doesn't make it a romantic suspense novel either. First I need the romance to be believable. The happy couple have 1 one night stand, meet about a year later (by chance) and are almost instantly madly in love. That's something, even with the spirits guiding them, I didn't buy. Second the romance part is concluded halfway through the book when the suspense story line takes center stage (and it even focusses on the secondary characters instead of the h/h). For it to be a romance, I need more obstacles for the HEA throughout the book untill the very end. A solution could be to market this as a suspence, rather than a romance or change some stuff around so the suspense obstacles are more evenly spaced with the romance obstacles.
--> more explanation for his estranged relationship with his parents. It is mentioned a couple of times with respect to his leaving the reservation at one time, which is then put forward as a barrier for the solution of the suspense part, but why that came to be was never really explained. Maybe all people living on a reservation have it as their life goal to leave, and maybe if everyone reading this book would know that, than it would be ok to leave it like this. But me, being from Europe, don't know these things. So as an editor I would say: either explain, or make up another story that doesn't need explaining (for example his parents died and he went into happy foster care or adoption).
Will I read more by this author? Yes. But only if the book is free, even without it being in exchange of an honest review, as I said, I'm more a romance reader. But I would like to see how miss Hamilton grows as a writer. So will I recommend this book to other readers? To romance readers only if they are truly SEAL-mad and have to have read everything they can find with a SEAL thrown in. I would be curious to see how someone with a main focus on suspense would rate this.
Either way,
Enjoy reading (this or another book)