He s the one man she refuses to fall for…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 … 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.
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When I got this book I was really looking forward to it. Coach Maddie and the Marine sounded like a cute lighthearted read that would put me in my warm fuzzy zone, but sadly it missed its mark. While parts of this book were cute, it was lacking any real substance. In the first 50% of the book the couple were cute,but a little cheesy. David comes off a little too perfect in the first half. But I am okay with cheesy and perfect when I read lighthearted books. Then at like the 65% mark the books just lost it for me. David did things that I just didn’t buy. The book starts jumping around like crazy, their making up and the ending felt totally rushed. I didn’t really connect with the characters or their relationship. I learned more about football then I did about Maddie, David or their love. I would have liked more of everything. More of them falling in love, more of their feeling and thoughts through their time apart and more of them making up not just bam their back together. Over all the book was just a quick, lighter, okay read for me.
Maddie Westerfield gave her heart away once and it was completely disintegrated, when the man she loved was killed in a combat mission. From that point on she made the decision to never let love in again, or give her heart away to another soldier. Her little plan has been relatively easy to accomplish since she keeps herself far too busy to date anyone; between her work helping families deal with loss and caring for her nephew she has very little time to focus on anything in her personal life. That is until fate steps in and has other plans for her, which involves working alongside a handsome soldier that is far too tempting to resist…
David Sterling has a serious case of survivor’s guilt and has yet to find something to ease the pain of losing one of his men in Afghanistan. He needs an outlet for the pain, something else to focus on, and give him some reprieve from the guilt he carries with him everyday. So, when he sees that Maddie is in need of helping coach her nephews football team, he is more than willing to offer up his expertise. Not only will it be something else for him to put his energy into, but may just give him the opportunity to feel like he is putting good back into his world again. Not realizing that Maddie just maybe the one person to help erase the guilt that he has been carrying for so long…
This was my first time reading a book by this author and I have to say that I really enjoyed it, so much so, that I plan to read more of her work in the future. This story pulled me in almost instantly and had me flying right through pages to see if Maddie and David would find the happily ever after that they both deserved. It was a touching story full of hope, passion, and gut wrenching emotion that had the tears welling a couple of times. Definitely a read that I think everyone should add to the top of their reading lists, it sure to satisfy all your reading needs and then some!