Brynna is a single mum to two beautiful twin daughters, who accidentally witnesses something that puts her and her children’s lives in imminent danger. Forced to flee across the country to avoid becoming a target, she returns to her home town of Seattle where she is immediately embraced into the ever-expanding Montgomery clan and made to feel safe and loved. But Brynna only has eyes for one member of the Montgomery family, a man whose every look makes her weak at the knees and whose mere presence re-awakens the hot-blooded woman inside her who had stayed dormant ever since her ex-husband walked out on her and their newborn babies.
Caleb is an ex-Navy SEAL whose last mission marked him so deeply that he gave up his military career as a result of that trauma. He came back home as a broken man, uncomfortable in crowds, tormented by night terrors, and convinced of not only being too damaged for a good woman like Brynna, but also undeserving of such happiness when so many members of his SEAL team never even made it home alive. He cannot help his body’s reaction when he’s around her, though, Brynna being the embodiment of the perfect woman in his eyes, but he works hard to keep her at an arm’s length, unwilling to admit to her or himself that there is nothing in the world he wants more than to have a woman like her in his bed and by his side.
“I’ll never be the best thing for her.”
When the danger that Brynna escaped from finds her in Seattle, Caleb steps in to protect her 24/7, moving into her home and getting a taste of what it would be like to have a family like that of his own. With his innate protectiveness and loving predisposition, he slowly gains the trust and affection of Brynna’s young daughters as well who’ve never had a dependable father figure in their lives, and whose bright personalities very soon claim a piece of Caleb’s guarded heart. But every time he lets himself feel something for them, he makes himself take a step back, knowing he would eventually disappoint them and unwilling to become one more man who would end up walking out on them.
“I’m falling in love with two amazing girls and their mother. And I’m exactly what they don’t need. Broken. Hurt.”
This is a story about wanting something so desperately, but not seeing yourself as being good enough to claim it. The chemistry between Caleb and Brynna is off the charts, they are neither good at hiding their emotions from one another nor at keeping their hands off each other. But while Brynna puts all her cards on the table and goes all in, knowing in her heart that she has never loved a man like she loves Caleb, and trusting them to create a beautiful future together, Caleb, on the other hand, never stops seeing what they have as finite, something that has to eventually end for the sake of the ones he now loves more than himself.
“You are the best part of my life, Bryn. Don’t you forget that.”
This is also a story about a damaged war hero who came home physically in one piece but mentally in a million more. The burden of the horrors and losses that he has lived through and survived affect everything in his life, making him grateful for the life he still lives but also guilty for living it in the first place. Losing Brynna and her daughters’ love is a wake-up call for Caleb, the trigger he needs to make him take control of his future and of himself. Caleb and Brynna’s tale fits perfectly in the With Me in Seattle ‘sexy, exciting but light-hearted’ storyline formula, but there’s an added element of deeper emotion in this book, which hints at this story being very personal to the author who is a soldier’s wife herself. I loved that element, I connected with that element and I hope Ms Proby digs even deeper into that ‘pot of emotions’ for future instalments of the series as she managed to truly wreck me with a couple of scenes in this one.
“That American Dream that y’all fight so hard for over there? The freedoms that you would die to protect? They’re yours too, you know.”
As always, we get to re-visit some ‘old friends’ in this book, all the Montgomeries and their loved ones making an appearance at one time or another. We see their stories progress and we get to witness some pretty special moments from their happily-ever-afters.
Fight With Me, Jules and Nate’s story, might still be my favourite in the series because of that darn apa and all, but this is the book I emotionally connected with the most. There are some aspects of the common storyline which I personally feel should be refreshed, spiced up, taken to the next level for the series to stay as unpredictable as possible given the ‘formula’. Now that I have seen Ms Proby do a scene of unrequited love and hit me with it like a ton of bricks, I want to see more. I need to see more.
“I want to be someone’s f*cking first choice, goddamn it! … I want someone to want to stay with me. To choose me!”
If you love steamy reads with a pinch of comedy and smuttilicious romance in spades, then this series is exactly what you’re looking for.
“What is it about the three of us that’s so f*cking scary to a Navy SEAL, Caleb?”
Excerpt
“Easy,” Caleb murmurs behind me.
“I’m fine.” Maybe if I keep saying it I’ll start to believe it myself.
He moves up behind me and nudges my legs apart. “Widen your stance for balance.”
I fire again, and my blood thickens as adrenaline pumps hard and fast through me.
It doesn’t take a Navy SEAL to figure out how to line up the sights, and I squeeze the trigger, again and again, my body taught with aggression that I didn’t even know I’d been holding.
Shooting is great therapy.
When the magazine is empty, Caleb wordlessly shows me how to switch it out, and I continue to throw the bullets down the range, clip after clip, until all four are spent.
I set the heavy gun on the shelf, pull my goggles and earmuffs off and step back. I have to lock my knees because my legs feel like Jell-O and I’m afraid I’ll fall. My arms are humming, I’m panting, and I swear to God, I could run a marathon.
Suddenly, Caleb steps up behind me and presses the button to bring the target back to us.
“Take a deep breath,” he whispers against my ear and I instinctively respond, pulling in a long, deep breath. He presses his chest against my back, his thighs against the back of my own, and pulls in a long breath of his own. “You smell so f*cking good.”
His cock stirs against my backside, through his jeans. He pulls his hands up my arms and down my sides to my hips, where he rests them as he runs his nose up the side of my neck.
With the noise and feel of the gun still in my head, my heart still pounding like crazy, I want him.
Now.
“You have no idea how f*cking good you feel pressed up against me like this,” he whispers, his voice rough and strained.
“I think I have an idea,” I respond, surprised to hear the raw need in my own voice. Closing my eyes, I lean my head back on his shoulder and relish in the feel of his hands kneading my hips and his face pressed into my neck. My nipples are puckered and straining against my bra, and goosebumps have broken out up and down the length of my body.
I want him unlike anything or anyone I’ve ever wanted before.
“Caleb.” His name is a whisper, a prayer.
“Smell so damn good.”
“Touch me,” I demand softly. His hands still. He kisses my neck softly, takes a long, deep breath, and then backs away.
I turn around in surprise and in full-blown anger.
“What kind of game are you playing?” I demand.
“I’m not playing a game.” He crosses his arms over his chest.
“Caleb.” I just stare at him for a long moment. Thirty seconds ago his hands were on me and he was whispering the sweetest things in my ear.
Now he’s turned back into the drill sergeant.
And men say women are confusing.
Finally, he turns and pulls the target down.
“I’ll be damned,” he whispers.
“Let me see.”
There are a few stray bullet holes around the white part of the target, but in the center of the chest and the top of the head are two good-sized holes where my bullets pierced the paper.
“You’re a natural.” I shrug like it’s no big thing, but inside I’m doing the mega happy-dance. “Not so much a pussy, I guess.” Caleb laughs, long and loud and scoops me up into a long hug.
“Definitely not a pussy,” he agrees as he pulls away from me.
“Caleb?” My heart is beating hard, and I’m still pissed at him. He’s smiling down at my target, but when his eyes meet mine, he sobers.
“Yeah.”
“Don’t f*cking touch me like that again unless you plan to finish what you start.”
His eyes go hard and his jaw tightens. Before I can turn and walk away, he grabs my wrist and pulls me against him, pinning my arms between our bodies.
“Let’s get this straight, Brynna. I want you so f*cking bad my teeth ache. I’ve wanted you for months. But you’re part of my family, and I’m supposed to be protecting you. Dropping my guard and f*cking you into the mattress is not the way to keep any of you whole.”
I gasp as his words sink in and I want to beg him to take me home do exactly that; f*ck me into the mattress, but before I can speak, he lowers his forehead to mine and clenches his eyes closed as if in pain.
“I’m not going to f*ck up our friendship, or make things weird for you with my family, just because I can’t keep my damn hands off you. You mean too much for that.”
I lean into him, wanting to comfort him, but he sighs, lifts his head and plants his lips on my forehead for a long few seconds and then backs away, turns his back on me, and loads the weapon and clips back into his locking gun box.
“I apologize. I won’t touch you again.” Before I can argue, ask him to talk with me about this, he stalks off ahead of me. “Let’s go.”
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(standalone stories with interconnected characters)
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