The Valentine's Arrangement:
Ronnie Clark and Kale Emerson
(Hard Feelings #1)
Summary:
From Goodreads.com
Tattoo artist Ronnie Clark is counting the days until
Valentine’s Day is over. Ronnie doesn’t do romance. She doesn’t do flowers or
dates, and she sure as hell doesn’t do love—not anymore. Love leads to
heartbreak, and she’s vowed never to let herself get hurt again.
Sergeant First Class Kale Emerson is home on his mid-tour
leave from Iraq, but he only has one thing on his mind—returning to his
soldiers to finish leading their mission. He’s dedicated to his men and to his
country, and he’s not interested in getting wrapped up in a distracting
relationship…but casual sex, that’s a different story. From the moment he sees
Ronnie, he wants her. And he agrees to her terms—no romance, no fluff—just
passion.
But as their sexual chemistry ignites, the lines of their
arrangement get blurry, and Ronnie starts to push Kale away. And when Kale
realizes he’s found his match in this razor-tongued, gorgeous woman who is hell
bent against love, winning her heart could be the toughest battle he has ever
fought.
Review:
I really quite enjoyed this book! It was hot and sexy from
beginning to end. Ronnie’s snarky bad attitude made for a fun, interesting
heroine. I don’t typically like heroines that don’t have a little bite to them,
so Ronnie was right up my alley. I also like that she was the one that was the
tattoo artist. I’ve read a few books where one of the main characters is a
tattoo artist, but usually it’s the male so I like the role reversal. Ronnie
was a tough, thick skinned chica, with a bad attitude and no room for love in
her life. Her ex-fiancé had done a real number on her and she certainly wasn’t
ready to trust her hear to another, especially another military man. To her
they are a heart ache waiting to happen. When Kale walks through the door in
her tattoo shop she throws the bad attitude to its full extent because she had
never been so intensely attracted to another man before and it scared the shit
out of her.
Kale takes one look at Ronnie and knows he wants her even
with all the bad attitude she throws his way. He knows she wants him just as
badly as he wants her, so he’ll gladly take the bad attitude if it gets her
where he wants her. I just adored Kale, due he took everything Ronnie threw at
him and just kept smiling with cute dimples (I’m a sucker for dimples!) all the
way to the bedroom. Kale only does one type of relationship, the type the ends
when he leaves and no one has any hard feelings, so he isn’t sure why he’s so
bummed when Ronnie offers him just that. His life is the military and that’s
how he likes it, he lives and breathes the military lifestyle. His men are the
most important to him and no woman has ever threatened that before, until
Ronnie. Kale is the type of man, which every woman wishes she could find:
loyal, committed, funny, steadfast and an all-around good guy. So why is Ronnie
still pushing him away?
I really liked how Kelsie Leverich approaches the military
life style at least how it is for the woman left behind. I felt it was a pretty
accurate to how it really is. I have a couple of friends that are military
wives so I know how it is for them as the one that is left behind and has to
keep on trucking as their men are risking their lives every day. The news
becomes a nightmare every time there is a bombing in the area that her man is
fighting in. They go into birth on their own, raise kids on their own as the
man she loves comes in and out of her life. Ms. Leverich does not shy away from
this and addresses these issues in her book. Ronnie is reluctant to enter into
this type of lifestyle again and hell there is no way I can blame it. I’m not
sure I could ever do it, so for me it is a special tough sort of woman that
can. I can see how some who read this book may see Ronnie as a total bitch for
not immediately taking on Kale, because, let’s face it, he is a catch, but I am
not one of them. I have seen what this kind of life is like and it’s not for
everyone, if anything I admire Ronnie for not jumping right into it.
Overall, this was a great read, it was quick, fast paced and
sexy as all get out. Ronnie and Kale made the characters come to life and I was
not a bit disappointed with this title. I would definitely recommend it to
readers and am looking forward to any future titles from this author.
Reviewed originally on Let’s Get Romantical
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