Review: Undefeated

Title: Undefeated
Series: Bomb Squad, #2
Author: Melissa Cutler
Publisher: Penguin Group
Release Date: November 18, 2014
Buy Link: Amazon Pre-Order


I received an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. Quotes in this review may be altered in the finished copy.

Blurb:

Welcome to Destiny Falls, New York, home of Bomb Squad--an ice hockey team full of rugged military heroes. The team's battling a losing streak, but the season's biggest game changer is one player's second chance with the one who got away...

Yoga instructor Marlena Brodie is always up for a challenge, and her new job of snapping Bomb Squad out of their rut is definitely that, even though it means being in close contact with Liam McAllister, her high school crush gone bad. She can feel the damage pouring off of him--but also a wild and sexy strength that calls to her.

The Army turned Liam McAllister into a man, but as a combat medic, he saw far too much to ever be whole again. He's not interested in the civilian world beyond his job as a carpenter, but he never stopped wondering what might have been with Marlena--and it isn't long before she's crashed through his carefully constructed walls. He longs for a new beginning with her, but to be the man she deserves, he'll have to step out of his defensive zone and score the most important play of his life...

Review

I read this book every minute I got. This was one of those books that you would rather read than work for a living. The book you'd rather stay up late for and screw the consequences of the next day at work. Who needs sleep?

This book was like a combination of a couple books I've read in the past. The ex-military reminded me of Jessica Scott's Coming Home series while the rest reminds me of Laura Kaye's Hard Ink series.

Melissa really captured the struggle of a veteran coming back to the civilian world and re-learning how things worked in society. When you read this book, just know that Chapters 16 and 17 were the ones to look out for. I was absolutely into it and I think they were the best chapters in the entire book. It showed just how dysfunctional yet strong Liam and Marlena's relationship was.

Liam had PTSD syndrome and as any man would, he didn't bother sharing his pain with people around him, including his twin Olivia. He was kind of like a Dom, except this wasn't a BDSM story. He definitely had tendencies, though. If he was a real person, I'd still be a bit scared of him even after reading his story.

"And I'm not going to ask you out because I don't have the patience for civilian dating bullshit."

Marlena, on the other hand, was some kind of spiritual sage. She put everything to the universe and she had some weird psychic abilities. Reading this book made me want to go back to doing yoga. The relaxation and the grounding seemed so promising. 

I don't know what else to say to convince you to buy this book, but I promise it's going to be so worth it! Now I should go buy the first book :)


Check out my reviews for the books that reminded me of this story:
Hard Ink Novels
1. Hard As It Gets
2. Hard As You Can
2.5 Hard To Hold On To

Coming Home Novels
1. Because of You
1.5 Anything For You
2. Until There Was You - it looks like I never read this book :(
2.5 I'll Be Home For Christmas
3. Back To You

Categories: bomb squad, book review, melissa cutler, undefeated