Monty’s the lone survivor of a Navy SEAL operation gone terribly wrong—and he wasn’t even supposed to be there. Opal’s his next-door neighbor and, now, physical therapist. She also happens to have been in love with him for years. Oh, and she’s being stalked by her father’s murderer.

This book started out so good. So good. There were some awkward and unrealistic word choices, as I’ve come to expect based off the other books in the series. But, unlike the previous book (Cry in the Wilderness), the moments about/with Christianity felt so natural and unforced. I had such high hopes for where everything was going. And then my hopes and dreams crashed and burned.

This book was supposed to be about Monty and Opal, but all of the sudden we started getting the perspectives of Opal’s sister, Ruby, and Navy Seal, Tony/Bambino, on their developing relationship. I was trying to get over it, but then it turned into Tony trying to force religion down Ruby’s throat. It ruined the good thing we had going, but then we didn’t even get to see the end of their relationship from their perspective. I don’t understand, we just got a few (UNWANTED) chapters from them in the middle of the book. And it’s not like it was trying to get me interested in their book because they don’t have one.

Because we spent so much time with them, we really did miss out on a lot of moments with Monty and Opal. Moments I wanted to see and would have been really helpful in feeling like their relationship was progressing. But just when we thought we were finally getting there, Monty decided to do a complete 180 and ruin everything. Don’t worry though, 5 minutes later, after the whole suspense situation was wrapped up, he turned everything back around. No wonder Opal needed some time to herself—nobody wants to be loved only after life-or-death situations cause the people around you to realize how much they need you. The suspense situation, I liked it. The ending, it sucked.

I’m giving this 3 stars because I liked the beginning enought that I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up reading it (the beginning) again.

*Side note, while looking into the series, I made the discovery that the author, Rebecca Hartt, is a pen name for Marliss Melton who writes/wrote non-Christian romantic suspense. The Acts of Valor series is essentially a rewrite of her Navy SEAL Team Twelve series with Christian elements added in.