Love, Always and Forever

This is the third book in Morgan’s series, Sergeant Joe’s Boys, about three boys adopted by Joe and his wife, Marlene, and the men they grew up to become. All three boys had a very hard time of it as children until they were adopted by Joe and Marlene. From Joe they learned how to become good men and were inspired to join the military. From Marlene they learned how to treat a woman and what it means to love. I’ve enjoyed all the books in the series and this is no exception.

Love, Always and Forever is the story of Mikhail who has recently retired from the Marines and is now working as a fireman. He has his demons from his time in the military, but is learning to cope as he settles into his new life. Then he meets his very attractive neighbor, Amy Short. The two soon become good friends, working together on their neighboring gardens. Amy is eager to try new experiences such as learning to ride a motorcycle and adopting a pit bull puppy. And Mikhail is more and more attracted to Amy and wants to take their relationship beyond simple friendship.

It’s hinted throughout the book that Amy has moved away from her home in order to escape the smothering love of her family who are extremely protective of her because of a past unspecified health problem. We also know that Mikhail carries a load of guilt for not having been able to save his drug-addicted mother when he was a child and then not to be able to save civilians in Afghanistan or the victims of the fires he is fighting.

You know where this is going and how it will end up. But it is still a very pleasant ride to travel along with Mikhail’s and Amy’s journey to finding love. And I enjoyed the interactions between Mikhail and his brothers and the boy that his oldest brother adopted in the first book. Mikhail has his problems with his tempter and his PTSD, but he’s working through it and his brothers understand because they went through similar difficulties transitioning back to civilian life. Perhaps being a firefighter is not the best career choice for him; I’d think he’d do better in the family construction business, but I guess the reader doesn’t get to give career advice to fictional heroes.

I also enjoyed the relationship between Mikhail and his adopted mother. She is loving, but knows when to back off.

One thing that Marlene and Amy share is a love of cooking. Amy seems to cook up batches of cookies every day and then chows down on enormous banana splits when things are tough. I guess when you’re recovering from severe medical problems, you can afford all those calories without any noticeable way of working them off. But that’s just a minor complaint.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.