Jason Reed is a U.S. Marine with a job waiting for him in San Diego, he's just not sure it's a job he wants. He's not sure he's qualified to teach a bunch of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) recruits when the reason he's stateside is a job that went horribly wrong in Afghanistan. His recovery was long and he's still dealing with the after effects, namely he can't sleep indoors, so he hits the road and is hiking the Continental Divide Trail from his father's ranch in Montana. He ends up veering off to take a detour to Last Chance in West Texas to see Natalie Luna. He has unfinished business with her, never mind that she doesn't know him from Adam.
Natalie is a young widow with a young son, Marcus, and working two part-time jobs to make ends meet. Jason finds her at her second job, waitressing at a local bar called The Night Owl. Of course he takes one look at her and backs off telling her who he is and why he's there to see her. Instead he steps in with his best White Knight Impression to handle Billy Hendricks, local bad guy who just so happens to be the local sheriff's kid. This altercation leaves Jason banged up, and seeing that Natalie needs the help (handyman stuff around her house) he stays on. Still, of course, not telling her who he is and his connection to her late husband, Mike.
Natalie loved Mike and his death gutted her. The only thing that kept her moving forward was Marcus, but it hasn't been easy. She's also young and attractive, so she's been fending off "interest" from lowlifes like Billy Hendricks and his more honorable brother (and Mike's BFF), Wade Hendricks. However romance is the last thing she's been interested in until Jason shows up, sending her hormones into a tizzy. These two start sparking together right away but they both have a mountain of baggage, never mind the massive Big Secret Jason is keeping from her.
These are messy people. Romance readers are used to the suave, put-together on the outside heroes who are hiding vulnerabilities, but that's not Jason. This guy is messy both outside and inside. He's not dealing with what happened in Afghanistan, he's got a complicated relationship with his father, and for reasons he's not being completely upfront with Natalie - which we all know is going to backfire spectacularly for him.
Natalie is the kind of hardworking, vulnerable heroine who doesn't need the Rescue Fantasy, but Lord knows she deserves one. She can take care of herself and her son, although without Jason blowing into town she'd probably live out her days emotionally hollowed out, sitting herself on the shelf out of respect for Mike's memory but also for the fact that pickings in town are pretty slim. She hasn't left Last Chance because of family - Mike's and also the grandmother who raised her, now in a care facility.
There's a lot of passion in this story with sexual tension zinging between Jason and Natalie from the start. How good is it? Even their fights are passionate. Seriously, I loved reading these two disagreeing and fighting with each other. Which I realize makes me sound sick, but it's been such a long time since I've read this kind of passion in a contemporary romance, frankly I think I'm forgiven.
Of course Jason's Big Secret comes exploding out in the end (blessedly not via a third party) and of course Natalie reacts the way you expect her to. This is where I'm not entirely convinced with this story - I'm not sure she should forgive him nor ride off into the sunset with him. What Jason tells her completely upends everything she thought she knew and while Sorenson does give this development some room to breathe, I'm not entirely sure it was enough for me.
That said, I did really enjoy this story quite a bit and Sorenson sets up Last Chance with enough interesting secondary characters that I'm dying to see where she takes this series next. One of those rare series books where I want to end up reading books about damn near everybody.
Final Grade = B+
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