Series: Rose Canyon #2
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Release Date: September 27th, 2022
Add to Goodreads | Amazon.in (Available on KU)
CW: characters with military backgrounds, scenes set in warzones (flashbacks), parent with dementia, mentions and scenes of gun violence, mentions of human trafficking, kidnapping and blackmail, mentions of death of family members
What started out as two friends who wanted to make their military lives easier, turned into a mess.
Why? Because I stupidly fell in love with my husband.
In an attempt to remedy my mistake, I severed all ties and put my life as a combat medic and Emmett Maxwell behind me. I’ve lost too many people to open myself up to love.
Now I’m working as a private investigator, and fate has stepped in, forcing our paths to intersect again when I’m looking into the disappearance of a missing girl with ties to Emmett’s hometown. A case I fear puts his life in danger.
He gives me one week to prove my suspicions and then I need to sign the divorce papers and leave. The problem with that? The moment I see Emmett again, I realize how foolish it was to leave him, to think I could ever stop loving him.
When the case threatens not only my life but also his, I’m faced with my worst fear. How many times can a heart break before it shatters beyond repair?
Oof. This book knocked me on my backside from the minute I started reading! If it wasn’t for the need to sleep, I would have probably just read through the night and sobbed my way through most of it too. I’m still fairly new to Corinne Michaels’ stories, but I am definitely ready to get caught up in more! This one had a great balance of suspense, small towns and a swoony romance.
In Give Me Love, you’ll find:
✨ a marriage of convenience
✨ second chances
✨ leads with extensive military backgrounds
✨ a feisty, awesome and sexy private investigator
✨ a small town hunk of a sheriff
✨ LOTS OF STRESSFUL SITUATIONS
✨ a love for Sunday’s
✨ an adorable puppy
✨ tension, chemistry + banter
✨ amazing friendships
Not even the little teaser/snippet we got at the end of Help Me Remember could have prepared me for what this book was going to be. While serving time in the army, Blakely and Emmett decide to get married so they can reap the monetary and other benefits of being a couple in the military. And somewhere along the way feelings start to crop up. But when Emmett’s unit is hit and he’s taken down with a bullet and then medically discharged, everything goes awry. One night together turns into Blakely running off on her next tour, leaving Emmett behind. So he goes back to his hometown of Rose Canyon, sends Blakely divorce papers and settles into his role as the sheriff of the small town. Till Blakely shows up telling him he’s in trouble thanks to a case she’s working and everything goes wild.
“Blakely is like drinking water after being in the desert for too long. She’s the sun on your face after a year of cloudy skies. No matter how much I wish it were different, she holds my heart and soul.”
Emmett and Blakely’s relationship was so much fun. It was chaos, absolutely ridiculous at times, but on the whole, I loved it so much. While they’re still very much married and only ever once consummated this marriage years ago, their friendship is the strongest thing they’ve got going for them. Having served in the army for so many years, the two of them have a shorthand that is unbeatable and chemistry that is undeniable. I loved how both of them worked to irritate the other constantly, how their friendship/relationship/marriage is complicated and yet it makes sense all the time. Their banter is wicked and while there’s some amount of fighting and arguing, I love that those little moments really strengthened their connection and bond. Corinne did such a good job of building up their frustrations and showing just how much they do love each other, even if their pasts and their struggles keep holding them back.
Unlike the first book, this one is a lot heavier on the suspense. Don’t get me wrong, Help Me Remember had a lot of suspense going for it, but Corinne amped it up in this. Between figuring out why young girls are going missing to being introduced to a whole heap of new characters and possible suspects, this book really keeps you at the edge of your seat. There’s only so much one can say about that part of the story without giving away spoilers, just know that Blakely and Emmett’s relationship goes through so much (not conflict wise, just everything else) before they come out on top. And Corinne built up that suspense and stress so wonderfully!
And that little teaser at the end for book three has me so excited to see where Holden’s story is going to go!
Thanks to Valentine PR for generously providing me with an advance copy. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
anna reads here 