The Navy Seal's Bride by Soraya Lane (Review)

Title: The Navy SEAL's Bride
Author: Soraya Lane
Publisher: Harlequin
Release Date: August 7, 2012
Pages: 185

Blurb:

Too much armor to let anyone close...  

Ex-navy SEAL Tom Cartwright is struggling to return to civilian life. His little niece is his only ray of sunshine and he agrees to be the "show" in her school show-and-tell. 

Teacher Caitlin Rose knows all about past disappointments-once, she danced in the spotlight but now she shows others how to. She's learned the hard way to rely only on herself.  Yet as soon as Tom looks at her with those big brown eyes, she's done for.... 

Excerpt

“Gabby?” Caitlin stood behind her desk, leaning toward her young pupil. “You know how I feel about notes being passed in my class.” She watched confusion cross Gabby’s face as she put the neatly folded piece of paper on her desk. “But it’s for you.” Caitlin’s eyebrows rose. “For me?” Gabby giggled and ran back to her seat. “Ten more minutes to finish your writing,” Caitlin instructed, before sitting back down herself. “Then you can all share your stories with the class.” She carefully unfolded the paper and looked to the end of the letter as soon as she had it open. Tom. His name was printed neatly, his handwriting bold and uniform, as she imagined he was at work. For the first time since he’d walked out on her his name made her smile. Caitlin looked up to make sure all the children were busy before letting her eyes rove back to the start. Her pulse started to race, her body tingling with … anticipation. She’d never been sent a letter by a man before. Dear Caitlin Gabby came home with a note in her bag last night and it made me think of you. I’m sorry for the way I behaved. Thank you for a lovely dinner and please don’t think I’m some rude idiot with bad manners. My mom would kill me if she found out. Meet me Saturday afternoon? I’d like to make it up to you if you don’t mind giving me a second chance. Let’s go hiking. I’ll pick you up around 2pm.

Before I read this book, I went searching for a review online to see what people thought of it. The one I found was in Goodreads and it wasn't a good one. This was the reason why I went in with a biased opinion on the book. Well, as it turned out, I shouldn't have read that review after all, because this book wasn't as bad as was portrayed by the person who reviewed it in Goodreads.

Admittedly, there were some editing errors in the book, but there wasn't as many as I thought there would be. In fact, I thought it was well-edited for an ARC (I didn't know this book hasn't been released until I started writing this review.) One thing I didn't like, however, was the constant repetition of the issues that the characters faced. Something unique I noticed about this book was that not only was there a scarred hero, but a scarred heroine as well. This was where the repetition came in. Their personal issues were constantly mentioned in every page, as if the reader would actually forget it that quickly.

As for the rest of the book, I definitely enjoyed it. I loved how Tom was portrayed as the protective ex-Navy SEAL with a big heart to care for the ones he loved. I also loved Caitlin's independence in the book. Truly, both of them were heroes in the book. Both went through horrible moments in their lives - losing something they both loved - but finding each other was a blessing. They were able to lean on each other and forget the past when they were together. That in itself was beautiful.

"No!"

Caitlin leaped up as the shout echoed around the room, dragging the sheets up to cover her naked body. Fear ran through her like a raging current, tore through her body as she fought the scream building in her throat.

Stop.

"No!" he yelled again, even more bloodcurdling than before.

Tom. It was Tom.

It wasn't anyone who was going to hurt her.

Caitlin bent to cradle Tom's head, to push the damp hair from his forehead. She hadn't known where she was or what was happening, had immediately thought she was the one in danger. But it wasn't her who needed taking care of, who needed protection, not right now.

"Shh, it's okay." She pressed kisses to his wet skin, pushing the sheets off him as she did so. He was hot and sweaty, terror making his body shake. Making him whimper like a child scared of the dark. "Tom, you're okay."

His eyes fluttered open, she could make them out even in the near dark. Frightened to begin with and then slowly relaxing.

"I'm here for you," she whispered, cradling his head and keeping her lips against his skin.

Tom didn't say anything, didn't need to, but his breathing became less shallow, his body relaxing beneath her touch.

"Shhh," she whispered again, as if she were comforting a baby.

Caitlin tucked her body move possessively to his and shut her eyes.

They both had their demons, she knew that, and the one thing she could do for Tom was to hold him. Because when she'd been in her most darkest of places, it had been not having anyone with her that'd made it that much harder to live through.

"Caitlin?"

She sighed as Tom's lips closed over hers, clumsily in the dark.

"Thank you."

She didn't need to say anything back, drifting off to sleep with him in her arms.

The other favorite character I had was Gabby. She was Tom's 6-year-old niece. She was absolutely a happy and energetic kid who had Tom wrapped around her little finger. She feared no one, especially not Tom. Her strength and innocence were admirable to say the least. And she was just incredibly adorable!

Overall, this was such a quick and easy read. I would even say, a great beach read :)

"Has anyone ever told you how cute you are when you're angry?" he whispered in her ear.

Caitlin tried to push him away but he had hold of her and he was too strong. "No," she whispered back, wriggling so she was facing him. Tom grabbed her and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he lifted her in the air. "But you can tell me all you like."

"You're cute," he repeated on command.

"Kiss me," she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, touching his mouth to hers.

"Don't call me ma'am," she told him, trying not to laugh.

"Yes, beautiful," he said instead, cupping his hands beneath her bottom to keep her in place against him.

"Now that's more like it," she said, nose to nose with him.

About the Author:

Romantic Times award winning author Soraya Lane describes writing for Harlequin Romance as a dream come true. An avid book reader and writer since her childhood, Soraya hopes to be writing heart-warming, emotional romances for many years to come.

Soraya lives with her own real life hero and young son on a small farm in New Zealand, surrounded by animals and with an office overlooking a field where their horses graze.

For more information about Soraya and her upcoming or past releases, visit her at www.sorayalane.com or follow her on twitter @Soraya_Lane, or www.facebook.com/SorayaLaneAuthor.