4 Stars

This was one of the best in showcasing friends evolving to lovers, hitting all the emotional stops on desire, want, longing, and the trauma war wrecks on those who’re lucky to survive.

Jase has been in love with Carey for forever, falling hard when he was the medic for Carey’s Marine contingent. They’ve been through a lot, mainly Carey losing his leg in an explosion, but also Jase’s continued guilt and PTSD from his remaining time served.

Despite different life projectories, these two remain the best of friends, sharing a rare bond forged literally in fire, and they continue to take the time to visit and reconnect. Underlying their deep friendship has always been a strong attraction that they've mostly ignored or brushed aside, basically because Carey insists he’s straight. Or is he?

Be aware this jumps back and forth in time. There’s also a lot of denial and some might not appreciate what Carey puts Jase through, as he remains adamant that his attraction to his friend could never move beyond a fleeting indulgence of lust.

However, where this excels at is how strong the bond is between Jase and Carey. Both men do hesitate about ruining the friendship but when push comes to shove, the blatant and repeated situations that showcase their undeniable hot connection to each other can no longer be ignored. Unf.

This was obviously pretty darn hot and sexy, while never failing on the varied emotional struggles these men faced and are facing. Mostly with no unnecessary angst, Jase and Carey’s win with each other was definitely wholly satisfying.

3.75 conflict(ing) ⭐ (rounded off)

This one definitely made me cry. Carey and Jase were perfect for each other but it just took Carey a little longer to figure it out. I normally don't like a lot of flashbacks but it worked here. It really did. They always had me on the edge of my seat though. My husband was in the Army for over 25 years and was deployed twice (He made it back safely) but unfortunately he had some friends who didn't and also had some come back injured. Those scenes in the book were hard to read sometime, but when Carey and Jase were together even as friends you could feel the chemistry between them. Man they were both hot when they finally took it further. I mean H.O.T hot, hehe I didn't mind reading all they went through to be together because of that HEA that I love in the books that I read. This really was a great read.

3.75 stars, review of the 2nd edition. The romance, while nice and convincing, could have used more room to breathe and I would have liked to see an epilogue as well. The ending came on too sudden. Carey's road to self discovery also felt a bit too easy. I understand his journey was a bit more complex in the first edition. I loved both the concept of Hope Ranch and the feeling of comraderie in Jase's band.

I read this at about the same time as [b:Squared Away|37544729|Squared Away (Out of Uniform, #5)|Annabeth Albert|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1517539395s/37544729.jpg|59147902] -- a book that shares some similarities with this one but does not have the same substance and character development etc. This book was far more enjoyable however it did have a few flaws that distracted from the main story ... the biggest would he the abrupt and sudden whiplash sustained with the two MC moved from best friends to lovers who have marathon sex that isn't awkward at all? It was just too implausible and too much for me ...

Otherwise, it was are largely forgettable book for me -- I finished it a few days ago and hardly remember very much about it. For a first book it is better than most, however ... its missing something ...

I will continue to read this books by the author to see how her style develops ... there is potential that is worth exploring here.

It started out good but slowly dwindled into lameness.

“The best kind of love is friendship that has caught fire.”

A beautiful sad, haunting, romantic and lovable story. Friendship that turns into love. But not in a easy way, the friendship between Jase and Carey is one that begins in the army. When Carey got injured, Jase saved him. Over the years they keep seeing each other but both feel more fore each other than only friendship. But they're also scared. Scared for admitting it. Scared for the reaction of each other. When they finally admit it, it isn't easy. Their love is perfect but Carey is scared. Scared for his feelings and scared for his love.

The way they keep fighting, keep singing, keep living is beautiful and shows their strength.