Veena’s review of Love Always and Forever (Sergeant Joe’s Boys, Book 3) by Alexis Morgan
Contemporary Romance published by Loveswept 14 Mar 17
This is a delightful conclusion to Sergeant Joe’s Boys. Given the emotional intensity of the earlier two books in the series, I thought I was prepared, but this story left me with a sweet ache in my chest. I feel not just for Mikhail, the protector who wants to keep everyone safe and alive, but also for war veterans who are returning home riddled with survivor’s guilt.
Mikhail is a protector. Every failure to save a human life haunts him, starting from the guilt he carries for not being able to save his drug addict mother, even though he was just a child at the time. His years with his adoptive family have given him stability, love, loyalty, and warmth, and yet even they are not able to help him deal with the demons that ride him for the lives lost under his care in the Army and as a firefighter.
Amy has been smothered all her life by her over-protective family. Determined to live her life on her own terms, she ends up as Mikhail’s next door neighbor. With him encouraging her, soon she’s planting a garden, both his and hers, putting up fencing with the help of Mikhail and his brother and friends, all the while learning to ride a Harley and adopting a puppy. She is full of the joy of life and determined to live with the wind in her face as she rides all throttles open. Her biggest joy is the love that she’s found with her next door neighbor.
It all comes to a grinding halt when her brothers come to visit and Mikhail finds out that she’s had a heart condition all her life and her family fears for her life. Given who and what Mikhail is, this news does not go over well. He cannot survive losing another person whom he loves. With his emotional baggage, he has her in a grave and gone under his watch while she’s learning to live for the first time.
This is a great story. The chemistry and dialogue between the characters, including a lot of the secondary characters we’ve met in previous books, is fabulous. Hands down this is the best book in the series so far. I hope the author will continue the series and add in the story behind the other war vets who we’ve met between the pages of these books.
Grade: A
Summary:
Sergeant Joe’s Boys are back! Bestselling author Alexis Morgan delivers a tender and inspiring novel about Mikhail, a battle-scarred firefighter, and the sensitive young woman who slips inside the walls around his heart.
As a child, Mikhail Wanjek couldn’t save his drug-addled mother; as a young man, he left a promising military career because he couldn’t defend the innocent victims of war. When Mikhail’s feeling like a failure, not even the love of his adoptive parents and loyal brothers can console him. But after he volunteers to help his beautiful brunette neighbor install a fence around her yard, Mikhail begins to heal. He wants to shield her pure, unabashed lust for life from the darkness—including his own.
Successful heart surgery has allowed Amy Short to finally set out on her own, apart from her loving but overprotective family. Now she’s experiencing new thrills with the chiseled fireman next door, from riding on the back of Mikhail’s Harley to late nights full of passion. Still, he refuses to open up emotionally, and with Amy’s history, she’s not willing to wait around for Mikhail to change. What she needs to do is show him that together they can build something that will last forever.
