Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Bootilicious
SERIES: Cedar Falls #17
AUTHOR: Shea Balik
PUBLISHER: Siren-Bookstrand Inc
LENGTH: 156 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 30, 2016
BLURB:
From the moment ex-SAS officer Vicar Hunt met ex-Delta Force officer Lucian Frost, they couldn’t deny their instant attraction. Well, Lucian wasn’t about to deny it—Vicar, on the other hand, wanted to run as far as he could in the opposite direction. Why he ever thought he could fit in around others after all he’d experienced was asinine on his part. A mistake he never planned on making again, if he could just get to the safety of his home.
Lucian stared after the beauty that had run from his shop, Bootilicious, as if the hounds of hell were chasing him. Up until that moment, Lucian had never realized he’d wanted a man in his life. Since entering the military at eighteen, he’d been perfectly content with one-night stands, not having the time for anything more permanent. Now that he’d met Vicar, however, Lucian found himself more than ready to settle down.
Too bad Vicar didn’t feel the same.
Then again, Lucian always did like a challenge.
REVIEW:
There are some triggers as far as flashbacks of the London bombing and Vicar being in it and losing someone. There are also moments because both of the MCs are military retired and have issues from time serving. So just a warning.
You know, I get a thrill out of everyone of these books. I love the new people I meet, the feel of a stronger community, a community growing again. It’s all so heart-warming and at times heartbreaking. The stories these guys have, the trials they’ve been through are extraordinary. And that they’ve made it out alive and at thriving, even if it means therapy, they’re doing it. They’re making friends, forming bonds and it’s a great sense of family. But I would be sitting here lying my butt off, if I didn’t say, I get a thrill at opening each book to see what in the Sam hill Jesse has gotten up to this time. And boy, I was crying, I was laughing so hard. The innocent faces he pulls or the act of being incredibly dense to get away with something. It is the funniest damn thing. And oh Mercy, the claws can!e out when Betty Sue and Savannah can!e around. Oh man, my stomach hurts from laughing so hard.
What made me laugh so much harder in this one was Vicar’s way of trying to get back at Jesse and having no clue Jesse knew it was him all along. Too funny.
Vicar tries to stay hidden away in the forest. His job as a park ranger keeps him away from town and drama, at least until one of Jesse’s Bigfoot hunting episodes get them lost and Vicar has to go find them. He’s known Jesse for a few years and tries to steer because who knows what will ever come out of his mouth. Like now, when Vicar is trying to save him from falling off the edge of a cliff and he’s arguing with Vicar about Bigfoot being real. But when Jesse cons him into coming into town, he knows it’s a bad idea. Especially when they walk in Bootilicious, and his breath is taken away. But he can’t fall under Lucian’s spell no matter how bad his body betrays him. He can’t betray his ex that way. But Lucian has laid claim and he’s determined to get his hands on that sexy man. Once he does, he has to fight tooth and nail several times with Vicar, but the last time, he gets what he wants. Vicar tied up with nowhere to go and they’re getting to the bottom of this story. When he finds out Vicar’s story, his heart breaks for the man, but how does he convince him it’s not is fault when the man keeps running.
I feel for both of these guys for being in the military alone. The crap they endure in war zones or on deployment, it’s nerve racking. And then being in bombings and other things, it definitely leaves it’s mark. PTSD is no joke. The survivor’s guilt, the pain, the injuries. It’s hell on Earth. Sometimes it takes intense therapy, sometimes it takes something else. Everyone responds differently. But I love that these two keep getting up and trying. Maybe just trying at their jobs right now, but sometimes that’s enough. When they meet, it’s a full on fight every time. Because Lucian has to get under that wall Vicar has built. But the effort is always worth it if you keep working at it. Even when everyone says give up.
It’s a hard story dealing with the military aspects, but I’m glad Shea tied Jesse deep in this one, because it helped tie in humor to diffuse situations that could have been worse. Leave it to ole Jesse lol. Gah I love that boy.
RATING: 
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