Book Title:Love & Lagers: A Cat Johnson Hot SEALs Kindle World Novella

Author: Liz Crowe

Genre: Military Romance

Release Date: November 1, 2016

Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions

Owen Taylor lost everything in Iraq—his best friend, his faith in humanity, and his leg.

Haunted by the past, and unwilling to accept the future, he takes an IT job with the Guardian Angels Protection Services (GAPS).

Former chef turned GAPS operations manager Lainey Jackson discovers a connection with Owen—a shared love of great food and beer. Terrified by his attraction to her, Owen shuts down, leaving her wondering if she’ll ever have a normal relationship again.

But by the time Owen can admit his feelings for her, he and his fellow GAPS agents must step in when the dangerous secret Lainey’s been running from catches up with her.

Review

The story was initially a bit confusing. What a cast of characters! Do I need to remember all those names? After that initial confusion, the story builds slowly. There’s quite a bit of story before the two main characters even meet. I really enjoyed this as it gave the reader a good opportunity to become familiar with the main characters before they became enmeshed in their romance. I did find Owen’s story of going rogue beyond unbelievable; especially as it didn’t seem necessary to add this bit of unbelievability to advance the story.

I liked Lainey a lot. What I didn’t like was her male co-workers continuing to ogle her despite being in committed relationships. It objectified women and made it sound as if men cannot be in the presence of a beautiful woman without leering at her. That’s wrong in so many ways.

After some skids and bumps, the romance between Owen and Lainey progresses well enough until Owen contracts a spectacular case of Male Martyrdom and nearly ruins the whole thing. Will men never learn? The story then hits hyperspeed with the last few chapters rushing through to the conclusion. This speedy ending didn’t match the slow build-up at the start of the story.

Overall, a quick but at times hot read. Perfect for warming up on a cold Sunday afternoon this Fall (or any Fall for that matter).

Figuring that shoving her into a shower would simply leave him with a wet drunk, he eased her down onto the leather couch in his living room overlooking the ocean. She muttered and flailed around, managing to smack him pretty hard in the nose before he got her settled under a blue and white afghan Lindsay Love had given him as a going away present.

Of the many things he could do with his fancy, metal lower leg, kneeling was not one of them. But he wanted to stay near her, to watch her perfect face and those pretty Cupids-bow lips as she drifted off, which was so very weird. He second-guessed himself as he pulled a leather ottoman close and sat on it so he could do just that.

As he studied her face, her eyes opened wide, startling him so much he leaned back and nearly toppled off the ottoman. She glanced around, confusion apparent on her face. “Who are you anyway,” she demanded, fixing her ocean-blue gaze on his face. “I mean . . . you know what I mean.”

Unable to resist, he brushed her hair off her forehead and pressed his lips there for a few seconds, relishing the warmth of her skin. When he looked back at her, her eyes were closed again, and her breathing had evened out once more as if the question had never been asked. With a sigh, Owen leaned back, unwilling to stop watching her.

“I’m nobody,” he said after a few seconds. “Or better yet, I’m the guy who’s been watching you for six weeks, trying to decide if he was in anywhere near your league.”

She rolled onto her back and threw her arm up over her eyes. The cover shifted downward, revealing that tempting gap in her blouse once more. With a shaking hand, Owen pulled the blanket up so she was covered then headed into the kitchen. He’d been brewing a batch of dry-hopped India Pale Ale and figured it was time for a taste test, if for no other reason than to remind himself that this was exactly the right time to be a nice guy.

He used the beer he’d made to wash down a few over-the-counter painkillers, then leaned on the counter and watched Lainey Jackson sleep.

Amazon best-selling author, mom of three, Realtor, beer blogger, brewery marketing expert, and soccer fan, Liz Crowe is a Kentucky native and graduate of the University of Louisville currently living in Ann Arbor. She has decades of experience in sales and fund raising, plus an eight-year stint as a three-continent, ex-pat trailing spouse.

Her early forays into the publishing world led to a groundbreaking fiction subgenre, “Romance for Real Life,” which has gained thousands of fans and followers interested less in the “HEA” and more in the “WHA” (“What Happens After?”).

With stories set in the not-so-common worlds of breweries, on the soccer pitch, in successful real estate offices and at times in exotic locales like Istanbul, Turkey, her books are unique and told with a fresh voice. The Liz Crowe backlist has something for any reader seeking complex storylines with humor and complete casts of characters that will delight, frustrate and linger in the imagination long after the book is finished.

Don’t ever ask her for anything “like a Budweiser” or risk bodily injury.

Liz Crowe writes intense true-to-life stories that make you feel. Whether it’s anxiety, love, fear, hate, bliss, or loss woven into her plot lines, you will feel it deep down to your very soul.

–Audrey Carlan, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

Liz Crowe is one of those rare authors who knows how to take the emotions of her characters and make them real for her readers, binding you to the story.”

—USA Today and Internationally Bestselling Author Desiree Holt

“Liz Crowe is my drug of choice for unconventional romance that pushes the envelope of my comfort zone.”

–Bestselling Author of the Enigma Series, Ditter Kellan

“I’ve learned to expect the unexpected with any Liz Crowe novel—along with 3-dimensional characters and well-written, realistic plots.”

–USA Today bestselling author AM Hargrove