Willing to Surrender by Sharon Kimbra Walsh

She’d given her heart once before. Never again… or so she thought. Then she met him and the promises she’d made to herself meant nothing.

Specialist Annie McKendrick is a medic deployed to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom. She just wants to stay alive and go home to her son. The last thing she wants is a man.

Master Sergeant O’Rourke is a career US Marine and team leader of Delta Team. Rumor has it that he’s not interested in women. Then he meets Specialist Annie McKendrick and recognizes her. She’s the girl he’s been crazy about since high school.

Annie finds the sexy marine familiar and doesn’t know why. What she does know is that the attraction she has for him is going to go no further. She’s got a job to do and she’s going to do it. She’s not going to let Master Sergeant O’Rourke get under her skin, but their first meeting leads to a second, her defenses begin to crumble and she discovers that denying herself is no easy thing.

Shay’s buried emotions for the girl who has grown into a beautiful woman start to thaw his icy façade, and he realizes he’s begun to concentrate on something other than his military career.

War is declared and the Operation Iraqi Freedom invasion begins. In war, people will be hurt and some will die. Lives will be changed forever. Will Annie and Shay survive? Can Annie surrender her heart to have a second chance at love? Will Shay have the woman he wants?

Reader advisory: This book contains scenes of combat injuries, violent death and other horrors of war, references to an emotionally abusive marriage and a scene of sexual harassment.

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆☆
M/F Military Romance

Annie has always been a strong woman. Even in high school, when she was with one of her first boyfriends, she didn't let him step all over her and didn't let anyone else tell her what she should do or be either. She has always been her own person. Now in the military, despite being away from her child, she loves what she does. She's good at it and even though sometimes she takes flak for being a woman, she knows that when push comes to shove, they'd rather have her than not.

Shay meets Annie while she's still in high school. He's embarrassed by his sister's actions but develops a huge crush on the girl who won't let anyone get her down. He also knows that Annie is out of his league. He's from the wrong side of the tracks and doesn't want to sully Annie's reputation. Years later, Shay is a military man through and through. He's known for being quick on the uptake and an amazing leader. Shay's team is known for going into a situation and resolving the issue, no matter the situation. They are the elite, and everyone knows it.

While serving at the same base, Annie and Shay meet again. However, since it's been years and they didn't really run in the same circles, Annie doesn't recognize Shay. Shay's crush hasn't really diminished, but he knows that starting something with Annie is dangerous and that it's just not the right time. But situations arise and Annie and Shay have to learn to work together.

To make the situation more complicated, Annie's ex-husband is also stationed there and he likes to make Annie's life difficult.

This is a great story about duty, love, and fighting for what you want. But it also felt incredibly unfinished for me. I wanted something more. Maybe the author was leaving it for more stories to come, but it ended pretty abruptly.

Sharon spent eight and a half years in the Women’s Royal Air Force. Originally based in London, after she met her husband, Sharon relocated to Scotland to settle in Edinburgh. Already loving the country after having been stationed there during her time in the military, Sharon has never looked back. She lives with her husband and rescue West Highland Terrier, Snowie, (who thinks that she is a Rottweiler in disguise).

In 2014 Sharon started to have visions of writing a contemporary military romance. The ideas started to pile up and there was nothing for it but to get them down on her laptop, regardless of time and place.

Connect with Sharon

Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Willing to Surrender by Sharon Kimbra Walsh to read and review.

Let Him Come Home by Sharon Kimbra Walsh

Her husband is going to war. Can she win her own personal battle to stay strong, not knowing if he will come home?

Military life is hard on a marriage. Melissa McCabe knows because she is wife to Delta Unit’s Master Sergeant Brandon McCabe. He has a heartless mistress—the US Marine Corps—who accepts no infidelity.

Melissa thought she had sailed through the hard knocks of being a military wife, but how wrong she was. Brandon is off to war again and it’s tearing her apart knowing he will be facing violent life-and-death situations, to kill or be killed, because she has a secret. But if she tells him, will the news distract her husband, making him lose focus and endanger his life?

The US Marine Corps is what Brandon is made of and he has bloodied hands and boots to prove it. He has no choice but to deploy, but he senses something is wrong with Melissa—and she isn’t talking.

Once she shares what she knows, can she go on alone to face a bleak, empty life without him if he doesn’t return? Can she find the courage to move on to the next chapter of their future?

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆☆
3.5 stars
M/F Military Romance
Triggers: Click HERE to see Avid Reader’s review on Goodreads for trigger warnings.

This is a very short story that spans about ten months. Melissa and Brandon are crazy in love, but with Brandon's impending deployment, Melissa has worries and decisions to make.

Brandon knows his wife. He knows that something is wrong, but can't quite put his finger on it. He is trying to make sure everything is going well before he has to deploy and gets some help from a good friend to remember that when he leaves, Melissa still has to sit home and worry.

We get some flashbacks that are well written and really help you see who Melissa and Brandon are.

I really thought that this was a cute story with a great happy ending.

Sharon spent eight and a half years in the Women’s Royal Air Force. Originally based in London, after she met her husband, Sharon relocated to Scotland to settle in Edinburgh. Already loving the country after having been stationed there during her time in the military, Sharon has never looked back. She lives with her husband and rescue West Highland Terrier, Snowie, (who thinks that she is a Rottweiler in disguise).

In 2014 Sharon started to have visions of writing a contemporary military romance. The ideas started to pile up and there was nothing for it but to get them down on her laptop, regardless of time and place.

Connect with Sharon

Google+  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Let Him Come Home by Sharon Kimbra Walsh to read and review.

Ambush of Love by Sharon Kimbra Walsh

She thought he was arrogant. He thought she was trouble. Will conflict, misunderstanding and suspected betrayal allow two people to ultimately find each other?

Corporal Jessie McAllister is a US Marine Corps medic, deployed to Afghanistan during renewed hostilities and attached to the British Army, Bravo Recon Section. She is totally unprepared for the hostile conditions, not only from the environment but also from the members of her new section and her commanding officer.

The lieutenant makes it quite clear that he considers her a troublemaker, intent on disrupting his section. Determined that no man will dictate or control her, Jessie is angered by his judgmental attitude and tries to convince herself that he is arrogant and conceited. Why then does she find him so attractive, and what is it about Nick Ryan that sends her pulse racing?

Lieutenant Nick Ryan has no intention of allowing a woman to mess with his section, no matter how beautiful he finds her. Falling in love with any woman—let alone when he is fighting a war—has never been part of his plans. Why then does he find it increasingly hard to deny his feelings for her, and why does he want her so badly?

Through misunderstanding, betrayal and the hard facts of war, love is almost lost. Two very different hearts are on a collision course in a hostile and unrelenting land. Will their love be able to breach insurmountable barriers or will everything fade away?

Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of battle injuries and death of soldiers and innocents.

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆☆
Finally! A war romance where the leading lady is perfectly capable of rescuing her own damn ass. Heavy on realistic details of life for Royal Marines on a FOB in Afghanistan and lighter on the romance than many recent combat romances, I loved this book.

Told from Jessie’s point of view, this book is about a female medic embedded within a Recon team. Capable and calm under fire, Jessie is my new girl crush. I loved watching her adjust to her team and fit in with the men. Her experiences as a combat medic felt real and I really loved her story. Her team, Charlie Recon, comes to life and the author manages to make real the grueling “hurry up and wait” existence of the isolated soldiers in an extreme climate. Some of Jessie’s experiences are horrific but they always feel honest, and while I can remember similar stories from news clips, the novel format made the events feel intensely personal.

For me, the romance in this story almost undermines it slightly. This would work well as an action/drama without any romance. Jessie’s attraction to Nick feels like her biggest weakness, the only reason not to take her seriously in her professional role. But Nick is an attractive leading man and a wonderful Lieutenant to his men. I really liked both of these characters and I loved the chemistry between them, but I found myself more worried for their careers than their relationship by the midpoint of the story.

This is an exciting read and I read it in a single evening, honestly unable to put it down. The military detail is exceptional and the experiences and characters are thoroughly believable. I want to see more leading ladies like Jessie and I will be looking for other books by this author.

Sharon spent eight and a half years in the Women’s Royal Air Force. Originally based in London, after she met her husband, Sharon relocated to Scotland to settle in Edinburgh. Already loving the country after having been stationed there during her time in the military, Sharon has never looked back. She lives with her husband and rescue West Highland Terrier, Snowie, (who thinks that she is a Rottweiler in disguise).

In 2014 Sharon started to have visions of writing a contemporary military romance. The ideas started to pile up and there was nothing for it but to get them down on her laptop, regardless of time and place.

Connect with Sharon

Google+  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Ambush of Love by Sharon Kimbra Walsh to read and review.