Sophia's Reviews > Her Marine Hero

A fashion designer with an anxiety disorder fears to start a relationship with a man who puts his life on the line in the military. Small town, friends to lovers from a new to me author had strong appeal so I gave into temptation.

Her Marine Hero is the third standalone romance in the Polk Island series. I could see that the two previous stories were about the heroine’s cousins getting their romances and that Renee and maybe Greg had been introduced earlier, but I had no trouble diving in out of series order.

Greg Bowman returns after a few years. He’s been serving in the Marines and made it into MARSOC, the Marine Special Operations regiment which was his goal. But lately, he feels the pull to finish out his time and get out of the military since he never planned to retire. He is considering taking his friend up on a job offer and if that offer puts him close to the woman who turned him down and put him in the friends category? Perhaps he can persuade her to give him a chance once his job isn’t coming between them.

Her fashion designs and sales are a big success now and she feels a contentment for reaching the pinnacle of her success, but then a huge temptation arrives back in her quaint, pretty small town and stirs her up. Renee Rothschild has had a thing for Greg since they met and went on a date. She put a halt to things knowing that her anxiety disorder would eat her alive dating a guy in the military gone on active duty and besides her ex did a number on her and she hasn’t come to terms with that issue. But here is Greg and he’s well-nigh irresistible. They both have different dreams and needs though so how could it possibly be a good idea?

I settled into the author’s warm, tender, and gently-paced writing style right away. The setting sounds perfect- a small island community and family and friends supporting each other. The sweet time of friends who feel the sparkle of attraction and share some poignant moments made for easy reading and romantic feel throughout. It wasn’t lacking in layers and some drama, either.

The heart of the romantic conflict is the heroine struggling to get past her anxiety, her belief that she can’t handle a relationship with a person with a military career, and the pair of them struggling with the possibility that one of them will have to give up their dreams. I was cheering them on and admit to getting impatient with Renee for holding them back particularly when she seems to be making Greg pay for what her ex pulled on her, but she does deal with that eventually. Also, I applaud her for seeing the hardship that a military relationship might be and her selfless desire that Greg not have to sacrifice his dream career. He doesn’t think he’s sacrificing, but there is a crisis when he needs to go back to duty for a friend and his desire to leave the Marines isn’t so cut and dry.

I appreciated that she had written characters of service and duty like her cousins and the hero in civic and military service careers, but also of different abilities with the heroine’s cousin getting used to a prosthetic after military duty and the heroine dealing with mental health struggles.

All around, this was touching and satisfying. I would definitely read more from the author and I was glad to see that there will be more Polk Island stories. Those who want a quick, but heartwarming sweet romance with solid character development should definitely give this book/series a try.

I rec'd an eARC via NetGalley to read in exchange for an honest review.

My full review will post at Caffeinated Reviewer Nov 2nd.