Review: Coach Maddie and the Marine by Blaire Edens

After the combat death of her Marine husband, grief counselor Maddie Westerfield has thrown herself into helping other families—leaving no time for dating. Which is just fine with Maddie since falling in love again, especially with another man in uniform, is out of the question. No matter how gorgeous he is. Plus, she’s busy looking after her eight-year-old nephew for her deployed sister.

For the last eight years, Lieutenant David Sterling has lived with the guilt of losing one of his soldiers in an ambush in Afghanistan. So when the opportunity presents itself, he jumps at the chance to help the beautiful widow coach her nephew’s football team. But keeping things strictly professional between them is harder than he expected. And even though he knows a relationship with Maddie will only lead to heartbreak, he can't help falling for her.

ebook

Expected publication: January 11th 2016 by Entangled Publishing, LLC (Bliss) 

Kristine's Thoughts:

** I received an advanced readers copy from Entangled Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

If you are looking for a quick and easy contemporary romance, this book will fit the bill. It is a sweet read that can be finished in less than a couple of hours. This is not the book to pick up if you are feeling a complex and thought provoking storyline with a ton of depth.

I sometimes really enjoy it when I can get through a book quickly but I craved a little bit more with this one. There was some character and plot development that I think needed a little tweaking in order to bring this story to its full potential. The romance happened far too quickly and there were many gaps or omissions in the time line that left me questioning. I was really hoping that it would dig into the connection between David, Maddie and her deceased husband but it was just skimmed over. There was so much there that I craved a deeper story.

The characters were all likeable and Maddie as the football coach was a cute angle. I enjoyed Maddie and David together but I was hoping for more chemistry and build up to their relationship. Things progressed from a simple attraction to thoughts of marriage way too fast for me and I felt like I was trying to catch up. Yes I liked them together but my mind couldn't process as fast as the relationship did. Fans of sexy between the sheets action will not find it in this book. It fades to black when that time comes.

I thought the story was cute but I really feel it had potential to be so much more if it was longer and more in depth. It could have been a highly emotional and moving story. It was just too rushed and there were too many holes to capture it effectively.

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