Sam and Gray together:

“I’ve been watching you all night.” His mouth was right above the tip of my ear and I felt something crack inside me, a fissure was forming in the mask I’d donned earlier today or perhaps his breath, his touch, his words were simply hastening the demise of the barriers I’d held between myself and everyone else for two years. Because inside my body, it felt like there was an awakening and every fiber of my being reached toward him, upward and outward as if I was a flower on the first day of a spring rain. I lifted my head to gaze up, wide-eyed and anxious with anticipation.

Some part of my brain was telling me that the storage closet was just two steps to my right at the end of the hallway and the exit door was just beyond that. My Rover was outside and all three were safer than standing here almost in his embrace but I couldn’t hear the warning over the pounding of my heartbeat. He bent toward me, his face serious and even in the low light of the corner I could see the gold flecks feathering out from the center of his eyes.

“I'm going to kiss you now.” His voice was deep, rough and matched the rest of his thoroughly masculine body.

“I know,” I whispered back. And I wanted that kiss from Gray who ordinarily wouldn't be my type at all. I wanted it more than I wanted to breath. When his mouth molded against mine, it felt like bliss as if my whole cold body had been submerged into a warm bath. If I thought I was engulfed before it was nothing like I felt at that moment. My entire world—my thoughts, my feelings, my senses—were full of him. I tasted the mint and hops on his tongue. I inhaled the cinnamon, bergamot, ocean of his faint cologne into my airways. I felt the calloused palm on my waist and then lower against the exposed skin of my thigh. His dense muscles were drawn tight under his skin and the fabric of his t-shirt and he felt as strong as a citadel. The moan that had been building since he first backed me into the wall escaped. It had been so long since I’d had the touch of a man’s hand on any part of me and I nearly wept at the pleasure of it.

We met Gray in Unspoken as a friend of Noah and Bo's from the Marines. In this story, he is on a forty-five day special leave from the Marines so he goes to visit Noah and Bo and enjoy some down time while trying to figure out if he will re-enlist or leave the service.

Sam is a young, lonely war widow who works at a bar where the guys hang out. She lost her best friend/young husband in Afghanistan and has basically just shut down for the past couple of years.

Neither of them is looking for a relationship. But their chemistry is hard to resist. They are both in need of a temporary fix to scratch the itch. They have several false starts and misunderstandings and even try to avoid the situation at times.  But they can't stop thinking about each other. 

I liked that even though Sam was married once before, she never disputes what she felt for Will as anything but love. She doesn't deny that her first marriage was based on love, an easy brush off that often happens when a character has a new love. It left that first love as part of her past without weakening her past feelings and for some reason that really resonated with me. Instead, she recognizes that she did love him but that because he died so young she has to move on. 

Initially I was wary about Gray being the hero in this book. I mean, as far as the men of Woodlands, he was a new arrival and a temporary one at that. I wasn't sold prior to reading, mostly because I was really hoping this third book would be Finn or Mal's. But by the time I was a few chapters in, Gray was it for me and I couldn't imagine reading any one else's story at this point. There was limited appearances by Adam, Finn and Mal, but Bo and Noah do make several cameos as friends of Gray. He may not be a permanent resident of Woodlands, but he fits in with the guys well and made it his place while he was there.

Overall this was a great smooth read and I once again enjoyed my time at the Woodlands house. I loved that despite so many miscommunications and miscues between Gray and Sam, the story never felt overdramatic or full of angst. I can't even say that any mixed signals sent bothered me in this case, after learning the background of each character. The set up and plot events felt true to the characters' personalities with nothing forced or created simply to fill space. It was just a great, enjoyable read and I look forward to the next in the series.

Other books in this series:
Note: Although these books are part of a series, they do not need to be read in order

Undeclared (Book One)
Add to Goodreads 

Amazon/Barnes & Noble/Kobo/

Kim's 4 Star Review and  Rachel's 4 star review

Amazon/Barnes & Noble/Kobo/

Kim's 4 Star Review and Rachel's 4.5 star review