Happy Release Day, CJ Matthew!!!
Kari Phillips has sworn off alpha men, thanks to a childhood spent raising four sisters while her dad served in the air force and her mom was unable to cope with his deployments. Vowing never to follow in her mom’s footsteps, Kari has become a driven, successful attorney. On her way to Tokyo to rescue her best friend’s wedding, she meets a cocky F-15 pilot headed to the same ceremony. When he finagles a seat next to her on the flight, she vows if he gives her any grief, she’ll shove him out of the emergency exit without a parachute.
Major Steve Shorner, a patriotic warrior fulfilling his lifelong dream as a fighter pilot, is finding it tough to live down a couple of practical jokes. Before he heads to Tokyo to be his buddy’s best man, Steve’s commander assigns him to a no-win project in Japan, and links the outcome to Steve’s tryout for the Thunderbirds, the AF’s elite demo team. But after a chance meeting with a beautiful redhead at the airport, Steve acquires a new goal—convince the sexy, workaholic lawyer to bend her rule against military men.
As the airport security line slowed, Kari’s cell phone rang somewhere deep in an out-of-reach pocket. The tote bag shoulder strap took another dive and abruptly stopped its fall with a heavy jolt on her elbow. What was it with this bag? Now, with every movement, the bulky monster bumped into her knee.
Kari stopped. Bending over to dig for her phone, she followed the “New York, New York” ringtone. “Damn it,” she whispered.
“Need some help?” A deep voice rumbled from somewhere close. She glanced up. Way up. And stared. The man…gorgeous. A magazine model? Maybe not with that blond hair cut extremely short. Uh-oh. Possibly the first strike against him. He looked military.
As an air force brat, she knew how frequently men with domineering and controlling traits joined the service. Her own mother had been hard-pressed to cope with her dad, the Colonel’s, overpowering personality. Since Kari was determined not to follow in Mom’s footsteps, she simply avoided men in uniform.
Still, she had to admire the man’s strong chin and classically handsome features. Her gaze slid down to broad shoulders, trim waist, then stalled. Darted back up. Whoa, his eyes were the exact color of warm chocolate.
Wait…here was half a strike. His eyes were framed by impossibly long lashes. Unfair, wasted on a male.
He met her gaze, smiled, and said, “Could I help with the bag while you find your phone?”
Her heart cart-wheeled. As his smile grew, a deep dimple appeared in each cheek, punctuating his full lips. Wow, a tall, helpful man with sexy dimples. Her phone quit ringing. Kari felt the telltale warmth of a blush spread across her neck and up her face.
Locating her cell, she shook her head at her tall neighbor. “Thanks. I’ve got it now.” Seeing the picture of her baby sister, Deborah, on the screen, Kari punched Recall.
Since the hunk behind her only scored one and a half strikes, she surreptitiously completed her inventory and reached her verdict: the man was a total hottie. But what about the drastic buzz cut? If it wasn’t military, he might be law enforcement. Not worth the risk.
(review request submitted by the author for an honest critique)
Kari and I had one thing in common, we are both former Air Force brats. I remember some fun times on the military bases when I was a kid. Memories I will always cherish. As I was reading “A Major Seduction”, I began to think back on those days and found myself smiling. Thank you for that, CJ.
Also like Kari, we both had a father who was a very dominant man. The Colonel liked things his way, a bit controlling, and I could relate. After dealing with the Colonel and her ex-husband commanding ways, she became quite touchy and would turn to anger rather swiftly. That’s were we part ways. I don’t react that way and I assumed Kari, as a lawyer, would be better at schooling her reactions/emotions. As a top notch lawyer, going for partner, she should be able to handle uncomfortable situations better. She reacted harshly on more than one occasion when it came to Steve. She misread his actions/intentions on more than one occasion and overreacted accordingly. I’m thinking she might benefit from a bit of therapy because I don’t see this issue resolving without some sort of assistance.
Now lets discuss Steve….. He had a marvelous sense of humor. Him reciting the preflight checklist so he could “last longer” was very humorous. Whatever works to hold off the BIG O! He also had a sweet romantic side which he demonstrated on many occasions. (Chapter 41 and Chapter 43, for sure)
I can’t end this review without touching on the reason why their path’s crossed in the first place – the wedding. Between the bachelorette dinner/party, florist, baker, caterer, chapel coordinator, musician , rehearsal dinner, and fixing scheduling conflicts, I can’t believe anyone had time to shag. But if anyone needed and deserved coitus it was these two. He was on a foreign base dealing with issues to reinforce his role as a prime candidate for the Thunderbirds. And Kari, she was juggling wedding duties, trying to make partner, and having to deal with Momzilla and the groom’s vile older sister. Now, Momzilla did find tolerable thanks to General Robert Harlson. He charmed the pants off her and the wedding party couldn’t have been happier.
As for Kari and Steve, they did get their happily ever after but it required compromises, which any great relationship will have many of. And, to avoid spoilers, I won’t tell you what those compromises were. Read the book and find out for yourself. 🙂
Heart Rating System – 1 (lowest) and 5 (highest)
Score: ❤❤❤❤
As a thank you for taking the time to read the sneak peek/review of A Major Seduction: The Colonel’s Daughters (book one), CJ is offering ONE LUCKY person a chance to win a SIGNED COPY. A great prize to keep for yourself or to surprise your spouse, lover, best friend, or any bookworm in your life.
To be eligible for a chance to WIN THIS PRIZE, all you have to do is leave a comment below. It’s really that simple! Contest is open from now until Saturday, midnight (central time).
Winner will be posted below (on a comment) Sunday (10/16) morning so don’t forget to follow the posting through your email and to come back and see if YOU ARE OUR LUCKY WINNER!!
Best of luck to you all!!
CJ Matthew grew up in an Air Force family traveling and living all over the US and around the world. It proved to be the perfect experience for gathering ideas for future books. And for meeting real life heroes and heroines in uniforms and flight-suits. She spent her high school and university years in California, which inspired her love of marine life, and the Pacific Ocean.
A Major Seduction is the first book in CJ’s contemporary romance quintet titled The Colonel’s Daughters. Each book features one of the five sister’s story. Born in different countries around the world, when each of the daughters happens to return to her country of birth, she’s meets her true love, and is forced to confront her destiny.
In CJ’s paranormal romantic suspense series Dolphin Shore Shifters, the most current release, Toxic Tide is book 5. The series features a pod of dolphins living in the Santa Barbara channel off the coast of California, who are capable of shifting to human form. While posing as real humans, the dolphins work, through their oceanic conservation corporation, Save Blue Water, to protect their oceans at any cost.
Her romantic suspense series, The Paladin Group, launched with Deadly Reboot. The books are set in a small southern town, and star wounded air force veterans, men and women warriors turned civilian attorneys and investigators determined to continue their rescue work.
A member of Romance Writers of America (RWA), Georgia Romance Writers (GRW), and Kiss of Death, CJ lives and writes near a lake in the woods northeast of Atlanta. When she isn’t writing or reading romances, CJ spends time with her two grown children, their spouses, a brilliant grandson and a feisty cat named Max.
Schedule permitting, CJ loves to travel, to discover new favorite places and to meet new friends in both the US and around the world.
Max flatly refuses to travel.
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