Reviewed by Vicki

 

TITLE:  Semper Fidelis

AUTHORS: S.A. McAuley, T.A. Chase, Devon Rhodes, LE Franks, Sara York, Kendall McKenna, and Morticia Knight

PUBLISHER: Totally Bound Publishing

LENGTH: 66,930 words

BLURB:

Anomaly by S.A. McAuley

Warning: Untested chemical reactions in process…

When Staff Sergeant Galen Welc is handed Temporary Additional Duty orders that move him to the Marine Corps base at Twentynine Palms, he thinks he’s prepared for what’s to come. Known for his uncanny ability to spot improvised explosive devices, he’s pitted against the latest in defense technology. He trusts his instincts and his training, but they may just be leading him somewhere—and to an explosive reaction with someone—he could never see coming.

Always Ready by T.A. Chase

Making a living on the Bering Sea is hard enough, but throw love into the equation, and things can blow into a hurricane.

Senior Chief Dean ‘Jake’ Jacobson loves his job as a Coast Guard rescue swimmer. Saving lives is the second best thing he could ever do. The first is loving Phil ‘Rhody’ Rhodes.

Phil is a third generation crabber who fishes the Bering Sea. Being gay and in love with Dean isn’t something he talks about, especially not with the six men he lives with on the Angela Kayla for weeks on end. But he’s been happy with his life.

Until one day the Bering Sea reminds them that she is a dangerous place to work. As her icy waters surround them, they discover one truth. Dean and Phil must always be ready to love each other because life can be taken so easily when one works on the sea.

A Ring and a Vow by Devon Rhodes

Every promise must someday be fulfilled, and the best way Owen knows how to reward Cary’s faith is with a vow.

It’s been nearly five years since Owen went down on one knee with his Academy ring and promised Cary he’d someday do it for real. With Cary being a Naval aviator and Owen a Marine officer serving in Iraq, they’re rarely on the same continent, let alone together.

About time for them to fill out paperwork to re-up, Owen realizes that if they were married, they’d have a much better chance of being stationed nearby. But time is not on their side so he’s forced to compromise on his proposal in order to make it work.

Cary has been waiting for Owen for years—there was no chance he’d ever say anything but yes. Owen is coming home at last, and wants to make a home with him. However, between the chronic nightmares he’s been fighting and the ever more complicated wedding plans, the next month could be anything but a dream.

Publisher’s Note: This book is the sequel to A Ring and a Promise.

My Marine by LE Franks & Sara York

For a man who made his career in intelligence, falling for an Afghani national in the middle of a war zone wasn’t the smartest thing a Marine could do.

Marine Captain Sean Kelley loves his country and the men he serves with, but when he meets Akim, he’s tempted to throw it all away for the mysterious man. He knows better than to chase after a local, but repeat encounters culminating in a moment of passion leave him reeling—he’ll do almost anything to figure out how they can be together.

Akim Bijan has a secret of his own—one large enough to get more than just himself killed if it’s revealed. But from the moment he first lays eyes on the handsome Marine, he’s tempted to do just that rather than hide his growing attraction to the man. Being a translator allows him access to the base and he finds Sean alone one night. They take things farther than he ever intended. If only he could tell Sean everything, but his lips are sealed.

When tragedy strikes, Akim is afraid he’s lost Sean for good and he’s forced to make a decision that will change both their lives. Will love win, or will Sean and Akim be separated forever?

Soul Sick by Kendall McKenna

Jamie thought he made it home to Tucker, leaving war behind. Now, each day he battles to fit into his own life, and save the love that saved his life.

Jamie is a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps who carried a photo of Tucker with him throughout his deployment. His body and his heart both make it home, but he isn’t sure about his sanity. It no longer feels like his own life even fits.

Tucker is a reformed bad boy who has an advanced degree and an important job but still sports long hair and tattoos. He missed Jamie while he was on deployment, but he couldn’t stop living his own life. Now, they’re struggling to learn to live with one another again, and things are going downhill fast.

Jamie wants everything to be the way it used to, but his anger and self-destructive behaviour begin to push Tucker away. Too much alcohol and a night of violence inside their home take them nearly to the brink. Tucker is willing to fight alongside Jamie to keep it all from falling apart, if Jamie can learn to accept the help he needs…before it’s too late.

Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of domestic violence.

Safe Shores by Morticia Knight

Kirk’s Coast Guard lover, Shane, is the only person who can save his son from a vicious gale storm – if he’s not too late.

Fishing is the only life that Kirk has ever known. Born and raised in a small town on the Northern Oregon Coast, coming out of the closet was a struggle. Fortunately, he’s been lucky to find an amazing man to be with who serves in the Coast Guard. But he can’t help but wonder whether Shane wants more than just a shore leave romance.

Shane loves the Coast Guard, loves the sea. That’s one of the main things he has in common with his fisherman lover, Kirk. He just needs to make sure that Kirk knows how serious he is about their relationship and what he plans on doing about it.

Shane and Kirk’s joyful reunion is interrupted when a vicious gale storm threatens the coast. Kirk has to stand by helplessly and wait while his lover battles the raging seas to save his son. In an instant, Kirk could lose everyone he holds dear.

Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of BDSM.

REVIEW:

Anomaly by S.A. McAuley

Oh man… It ended just when it was getting good! Galen is a Marine temporarily stationed at Twentynine palms, a couple of hours away from LA. He is an expert in spotting IED’s, and is there doing some testing for a company developing drones that will do the same thing. He drives to LA frequently and just deals with the traffic. A friend recommends he tries Waze, which I had to go look up to see if it was real! It is! It’s a cool traffic app that shows icons and avatars for drivers who have signed up for the service, as well as real time traffic information. Galen plays with this a bit on the road, trying to match the avatars he sees on his phone with the cars around him. He spots a Captain America avatar, sees the man driving the car, and falls instantly in lust! Not love, just lust! He eventually finds the guy, Zach, of course they are working at the same place! They have a quick little evening together, run in to each other through work again, and…. that’s it! I was so shocked when it ended! Yes, I know, this is an anthology, the stories are short, but I was so liking this one, just reading along, and bam! No more Galen and Zach!

It’s a great little story, I had the potential to really like these guys and like their little corner of the universe. I can imagine them going along in a geeky life, one Marine, one rocket scientist, having adventures together! I like S.A. McAuley’s writing, this is just a smooth bit of fun!

RATING: 

Always Ready by T.A. Chase

Awww…. such a sweet story with some good drama! Set in Alaska, this one is about Senior Chief Dean Jacobson, a rescue swimmer with the Coast Guard, and his lover Phil Rhodes, the son of a crab boat captain. Dean and Phil have been a couple for two years when this story takes place, I love to see short stories with established couples. There is no insta-love, just a good foundation of a relationship between the two characters. This begins with Phil and Dean meeting up as they do every couple of months, having a stolen weekend together before Phil heads out for a season of crab catching on his fathers boat. They have some hot sex and conversation, and agree that the time to come out for Phil, and be a couple may be approaching. It was a great weekend between lovers…

Then the drama starts with a storm, and both men are hard at work in their own way. How to say this without giving anything away…. I liked that each man is dealing with his own issues and that Dean is not the solution to Phil’s drama, that would have been too fake. This was a very realistic dramatic issue that a couple would deal with considering the jobs they both have. I hope that makes sense! There is a nice moment with Phil’s family, and I can see how these men will be living happily ever after.

I generally enjoy TA’s books, she’s a very good writer. This one was a good one, it has all of the things I like in a short story. Just enough drama but not too much, a quick plot that didn’t give us too much crammed in to a short story, good sex, an established couple with a good emotional connection, and a happy ending. It all worked for me!

RATING: 

A Ring and a Vow by Devon Rhodes

Uh oh! I already used the word sweet in my review of the last story, but I HAVE to use it again! This one was so sweet too! A Marine officer and a Naval pilot fall in love during their academy days (from a previous story called A Ring and A Promise), and now five years later find a way to make a life for themselves together. How could that not be sweet? When this story starts, Owen, the Marine, is deployed, Cary the pilot is stateside. They have been apart for most of the last five years, and are both due to re-up. They are so tired of the time apart, but Owen has come up with the perfect plan. They get married! They can now get legally married, and have the same rights as all married service personnel, with the possibility of being stationed near each other.

So that is the plot of this story. There was no drama, in fact there were a couple of moments that I was concerned would become dramatic and potentially sad, but Devon passed those by. And I thank her for that! This story was great just as it was, a little sex, a little romance, some fun, some love, and a great ending! I liked the characters and the writing, I liked the military details, she obviously knows her stuff, and the ending was perfect. I loved it!

RATING: 

My Marine by LE Franks & Sara York

Ok. I understand I am reading a romance novel, but I do like to see a plausible story, and I’m just not sure I buy this one…. Unfortunately it didn’t work for me at all. Captain Sean Kelley is stationed in Afghanistan, in the Marine intelligence division, sees a local translator named Akim, and falls in lust with him. They chat a couple of times, then have a dirty fuck in one of the interrogation rooms, resulting in instant love on both their sides. Akim is not all he seems, and some drama happens. I can’t say much about the plot without giving it away, but I didn’t buy any of it. The military details didn’t feel real, the dialogue didn’t seem realistic for men like these, and the sex scene felt fake too. I didn’t really like either Kelley or Akim, and I didn’t get them as a couple. My biggest pet peeve of all is calling a Marine a soldier, and that happens multiple times in this story. While it may be something civilians do, using it as a generic term for a service member, it is not something Marines do.

I’m sorry, but this didn’t have the accuracy of the other stories in this book, and I didn’t care for it.

RATING: 

Soul Sick by Kendall McKenna

Jesus. What an amazing and painful story…. It starts with Jamie in a battle, assuming he’s not going to survive. He’s a Marine, strong and secure, not afraid of death. He doesn’t die but is a bit battered. He makes it home a few months later and is so grateful to see Tucker, his lover, waiting for him. They head back to the home they share, but Jamie is far from “home”. He is damaged and destructive, a walking time bomb waiting to go off. Tucker is about the only man that can deal with this, being a counselor himself. While not a physical match for Jamie, he won’t be pushed around, but still, it’s a close thing. I’ll stop there before giving too much away. You just have to read this potentially heartbreaking story.

I’m struggling with the words to describe this story, and how incredible Kendall is at writing men like these. Jamie is so fucked up, he doesn’t want to be, he doesn’t want to hurt Tucker, he loves him so much. The two love scenes between them were as hot as just about anything I’ve read, but so sweet and caring. The love very clearly comes through, and the pain for both of them. The details of the beginning with Jamie seem very real and scary. Then he comes home and it’s equally as scary. This happens. This is real. It’s terrifying in its reality. No one but Kendall could do this story and make it work so well. Holy crap.

RATING: 

Safe Shores by Morticia Knight

Now there is some good drama! Kirk is a fisherman/cook, living in Astoria Oregon, waiting for his lover  Shane to return from his latest tour on a Coast Guard cutter. They have been apart for a couple of months, and Kirk has come to the realization that he is in love with Shane, and wants to have a life with him, not just be lovers. Shane is ready to be off the ship and with his lover, needing to tell him his true feelings but knowing how Kirk will react. There reunion night starts off so well, but goes to shit when Shane gets a call to come back to the ship, there is a fishing boat in trouble. Unfortunately it’s Kirk’s boat, that is son has “borrowed”.

I won’t tell you more, other than to say it was a very exciting little story! I loved the action and the drama, and the ending was perfect. The sex between them was veeeeery nice, I’d love to see where they go from here. There is a bit of kink going on between Kirk and Shane, and I want more! I was fine not getting it in this story, it wasn’t about the kinky sex, there was just enough to show the connection, but this story wasn’t about that. So this felt very authentic to me, I was thinking the author must be familiar with the area, then I see in her bio she lives on the northern Oregon coast! I love when authors write about a location familiat to them, it really shows in this book. Morticia Knight is a new author to me and I really liked her style. Smooth and flowing, not overly chatty, she just gives us a good, solid story with great characters.

RATING: 

OVERALL REVIEW:

As you can see by my reviews of each story I really liked most of them. I liked the common theme of military life and love, and liked that they featured members from a wide range of branches of the military, with different lives. I liked the diverse characters, some in the military, some civilian. I love that relationships between same sex couples in the military are more accepted and these stories reflect what could, and hopefully is happen now….

Well done authors! Thanks for the great stories!

OVERALL RATING: 

BUY LINK:

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