EXPOSING THE HEIRESS (Once a Marine #3) by Jennifer Apodaca-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / BAM

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 4, 2015

This Marine will protect her at all costs…

When wealthy heiress Alyssa Brooks finds out her stepfather has been paying her fiancé to marry her, she’s humiliated and betrayed. She quickly breaks the engagement, only to be blackmailed by her now ex-fiancé, who threatens both Alyssa and the son she gave up for adoption. With nowhere to go, she turns to the one man she can trust.

Former Marine sniper Hunter Reece’s lethal skills could save Alyssa’s life. But his little sister’s best friend has turned into a woman, who is an irresistible mix of secrets and sexiness. And while Hunter can trust himself to protect her, he can’t trust himself to keep his attraction hidden…or even pretend to be the man that Alyssa remembers.

Because the only way to keep the lovely heiress safe is to become the one thing he knows she could never love…a killer.

••••••••••••

REVIEW: EXPOSING THE HEIRESS is the third installment in Jennifer Apodaca (Jennifer Lyon’s) adult, contemporary Once a Marine erotic romance series. This is former Marine sniper Hunter Reece, and celebrity heiress Alyssa Brooks’s storyline- a friends to lovers trope that reveals many hidden secrets and ghosts from the past. EXPOSING THE HEIRESS can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty.

Told from third person point of view EXPOSING THE HEIRESS focuses on Alyssa Brooks as she must go into hiding to protect the son she gave up years before. At seventeen years old, Alyssa would discover she was pregnant and the resulting aftermath would force Alyssa to take stock of her entire life. Fast forward to present day and Alyssa will overhear that her step father has been paying her now former fiancé Nate Madden a hefty sum to marry her in order to gain control of Dragon Wing Productions, left to Alyssa in her late mother’s will. In order to protect her son and his new family Alyssa will approach Once a Marine Security Agency asking for her best friend’s brother Hunter Reece to act as body guard until she is able to take control of her life-once again. What ensues is a waiting game wherein Alyssa will become the target of a vengeful ex-fiance who is willing to go to any measure to take back and destroy what he considers his.

The relationship between Hunter and Alyssa is a friend to lovers trope that sees Hunter craving his little sister’s former best friend. Alyssa has always had a bit of a crush on Hunter Reece, one that began at fourteen years of age, and in the ensuing time has never forgotten a promise Reese made to her. But Hunter is a man with a dark past that haunts his nights with nightmares, horrific memories, and the guilt of a man doing a job no one else wanted to do, and in this Hunter doesn’t do relationships, friendships or love. The $ex scenes are erotic and provocative –Hunter likes to talk dirty in the bedroom but the sexual chemistry between our leading couple felt distant and somewhat flat-Reece’s inability to love was readily apparent throughout most of the read. Having some issues of trust, when the time came to step up, Reese walked away leaving Alyssa unprotected, alone and broken hearted. Some major groveling was needed (in my humble opinion).

EXPOSING THE HEIRESS is an enjoyable but predictable storyline with a little bit of everything: sex, romance, some suspense, friendships, heartbreak and love. Most of the storyline focuses on the building relationship (while in hiding) between Hunter and Alyssa, and the threats from Alyssa’s former fiancé that promise to expose Alyssa’s secret past- the majority of the action takes place in the final few chapters.

Jennifer Apodaca (aka Jennifer Lyon) is a talented author with a spirited energy that comes through in her storyline characters. EXPOSING THE HEIRESS reveals a tender side to a man hardened by the harsh realities of the atrocities of war, and how the love of one woman can melt the ice around a frozen heart.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy

The Baby Bargain
Once a Marine #1
by Jennifer Apodaca
Release Date: March 11, 2013
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / BAM

Seeing Adam Waters is the last thing veterinarian Megan Young expects. Ex-Marine. Ex-boyfriend. And still extremely dangerous territory. But Adam doesn’t know the secret Megan has been keeping from him. The secret that was created three years ago, after their last night together…

Adam returns to Raven’s Cove to sell his home in a final break with the town and memories that haunt him. The problem is that his attraction to Megan is as blazing hot as it ever was. But when a vicious smear campaign against Megan turns ugly, Adam learns the truth he never knew—he has a son.

Now the only way Megan can protect her child is to strike a bargain with Adam. And it’s a bargain that looks a lot like blackmail.

_______________________

Her Temporary Hero
Once a Marine #2
by Jennifer Apodaca
Release Date : July 14, 2014
Genre: contemporary, adult, romance,

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / BAM

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 14, 2014

Former beauty queen Becky Holmes and her baby are on the run from her dangerous ex. With her dreams of love and marriage destroyed, she’ll do anything to protect her child…even agree to hide out in her boss’s cousin’s house while he’s away.

Wealthy, sexy, and emotionally haunted Logan Knight needs a temporary wife to get his land, per his dad’s rules. No wife, no inheritance. But when that wife lands on his doorstep and comes with a baby, his darkest memories are triggered. He tries to keep his distance, but his efforts are shattered when he starts to have real feelings for his fake wife and child.

Just as Logan begins to think he may have a future with Becky, his attempt to have it all backfires into a betrayal that forces Becky into a heart-wrenching choice no woman should ever have to make.