Rating: 5 “Grab Some Tissues” Stars

Publisher: Liam Kingsley

Genre: Paranormal Gay Romance

Tags: Paranormal, Kids/Family, Fated Mates, Military, Mpreg, Opposites Attract, PTSD, Romance, Series, Supernatural, Wolf Shifters

Length: 225 Pages

Reviewer: Cindi

Purchase At: Amazon.com

Blurb –

This former SEAL will see his mission through, no matter how painful …

When Nash’s best friend, Jesse, is killed on deployment, it’s his responsibility to return his dog tags to his older brother. As an alpha, he’s having a hard time grappling with his failure to save his friend – someone who counted on him. At first, Jahiah doesn’t seem anything like his brother; the omega is struggling to raise his son alone and is practically hanging by a thread. Still, there’s a core of steel to the man that Nash can’t resist. It feels wrong to fall so fast when they’re both grieving, but when Jahiah’s in his arms, it couldn’t be more right.

He needs to do it all on his own …

Jahiah’s too busy to dream about an alpha soldier sweeping him off his feet. Between his job and his delinquent son he can’t afford lose focus. But there’s something about Nash that makes him want more. No alpha could fall for a harried omega with a kid born to cause trouble, but Nash seems determined to prove him wrong.

How can Nash protect his newfound mate from the hardships of the world when the man won’t ask for help? Nash and Jahiah will need to confront their entrenched issues if they’re ever going to survive as a family, but will a fated bond be enough to hold them together or will invisible wounds destroy the foundations of the new life they’re trying to build?

Review –

“I’m not going to make it,” he groaned as I held him in my arms.

“You are. You’re going to make it.”

“Nash… I need you to take this. I need you to tell him…”

Jessiah Gloss. Jesse had been my best friend, and I had one last mission to carry out on his behalf.

This book made me cry like a baby. I’ve gotten a bit teary while reading almost all of them, but this one really got to me. It starts with the final moments of Nash’s close friend, Jesse. Both Navy SEALS, Jesse was severely injured on a mission that wasn’t even supposed to be dangerous. As Nash holds Jesse in his arms, Jesse makes him promise to find his older brother (Jahiah) and give him his dog tags and tell him he loves him. Moments later, Jesse’s gone.

Then we get to the here and now. Nash, the nephew of Greer and first cousin of Jaxon, has come home for the first time in eight years determined to fulfill the promise he made to his dying friend. He’s feeling guilty because he believes he should’ve been able to save him. He couldn’t have, and deep down he knows that, but that doesn’t take away the guilt.

Jahiah is mourning the loss of his younger brother Jesse while trying to raise Cody, Jahiah’s fourteen-year-old son. Things aren’t good for Jahiah and Cody. They both work concessions at a sports complex, not earning enough to make ends meet. They live in the poorer part of town and don’t have money to pay most bills, much less extras. Jahiah and Jesse grew up poor in foster care. No matter how hard Jahiah tries, he can’t get ahead. He’s at Jesse’s grave having an emotional moment when he’s approached by Nash. Nash knows almost instantly that Jahiah is his fated mate. Nash, wanting to spend more time with him, asks him to go for beer and burgers. Jahiah agrees. When their ‘date’ ends, they agree to meet up in a few days so that Nash can give Jahiah something Jesse had asked him to give him – his dog tags. Nash gets a bit of a supernatural nudge telling him that the timing isn’t right the night they meet.

Not tonight. It sounded like Jesse talking to me. Tonight isn’t about me.

When they see each other again, my heart broke into a million pieces. Nash shares details of Jesse’s death with Jahiah and Cody and gives Jahiah the dog tags. Anybody who reads that and doesn’t get touched by it is heartless. Seriously.

Nash, knowing Jahiah is his fated mate, continues to come around. When Jahiah goes into heat, they have sex the first time. One thing I’ve not really gone into in my reviews of this series would be the sex scenes when I really should have. Liam Kingsley writes hot sex scenes.

When Jahiah asks about the knot, Nash tells him the truth about who he is – a wolf shifter. It’s not something he tells others but Jahiah is his mate. Jahiah takes it well, as does Cody. They start a relationship, with Cody on board 100%. As with charcters in the other books, Jahiah gets pregnant the first time he and Nash have sex, so there’s a pregnancy happening quickly. They all move into Jahiah’s nice home and work toward their HEA. But there are problems.

Nash suffers from severe PTSD, which the author wrote very well. There are flashbacks, night terrors, and panic attacks. This was not glossed over in the book. The reader is taken inside Nash’s head as he goes through this. It was heartbreaking. I was in the waiting room of my son’s dentist as I read that part. I had to put my Kindle away because the scenes were that emotional. Nash is terrified that his PTSD and other issues will have him accidentally harming Jahiah or their child when he or she is born. He doesn’t discuss his fears with his mate. Normally, I’d be thinking, “Here we go again, a character who refuses to communicate.” Not this time. I understood Nash’s fears.

Then I get back to Jahiah and Cody. Cody does something early on that’s pretty stupid to help pay a big bill. He gets caught. His heart’s in the right place, but what he does is wrong. This shows the reader exactly how difficult their life was as far as finances. Unless you’ve had nothing, been at the bottom, you won’t understand it. Honestly. I was one of three daughters with a single mother who didn’t earn enough for anything. I have been there. While my heart was breaking for Nash it was also breaking for Jahiah and Cody.

This brings up a major difference between Nash and Jahiah. Nash grew up extremely wealthy. The Timberwood Cove homestead is considered one of the most affluent in the area. Jahiah has always had very little, been forced to scrape by just to have money to buy a meal for his son. He reminded me of Bryce from the first book, but even Bryce had disability payments, though it wasn’t enough to pay all his and Liam’s bills or for him to afford extras. Jahiah had a below minimum wage job and couldn’t even pay for necessities. Nash, being an alpha – Jahiah’s alpha – wants to take all Jahiah and Cody’s problems away, financial and otherwise. He can easily afford it. But that’s not Jahiah. His pride prevents him from telling Nash how seriously bad things are. Even when Jahiah and Cody move into Nash’s palatial home, Jahiah keeps his horrible job and does what he can to pay his own bills. This causes a serious problem with Nash when Nash discovers something that hasn’t been paid – something that Jahiah has worked his damnedest to pay but has been unable. Nash does what a good alpha would do. He handles the payment without a problem. Jahiah, being proud, is furious. I understood that. This was the one thing that Jahiah felt he needed to do and he failed. It hurt his pride when Nash came to his rescue – again.

Then something major happens that almost causes Nash to lose his life and all other issues disappear. All that matters is Nash.

I listed supernatural as one of the tags above because Jesse was helping Nash and Jahiah from beyond the grave. It was like he knew that Nash and Jahiah were meant for each other so he gave a few nudges here and there to push them in the right direction. This started when Nash got lost in the graveyard the night the two men met. He was suddenly ‘guided’ to Jesse’s grave and to a mourning Jahiah. Jesse’s there a lot, making sure Nash and Jahiah are doing the right thing. I really liked that part of the story. I was able to get to know Jesse in a ways that I might not have had he not been ‘helping’.

This is a beautiful story. I know a lot of people see mpreg and roll their eyes. I admit that I used to do that as well. This series is so much different from other mpreg books I’ve read. Sure, there’s always a pregnancy, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s amazing characters and their stories, all of which are linked. I’ve gotten to know all these characters over the six books I’ve read so far. I’ve laughed with them. I’ve cried with them. I’ve cheered them on and even shook my head a few times. I can’t tell you how much I loved Nash and Jahiah, Nash especially. He just wants to do the right thing, even if it means hiding his emotional problems from Jahiah and Cody.

I absolutely loved this. The first book, Homerun Daddy, has been my favorite in the series since I read it. Rescue Daddy is now right up there with it. Another thing I loved was how the author wrote Cody as a typical fourteen-year-old who did typical fourteen-year-old things. I raised three sons. Fourteen was ‘that’ age. 😉

I’m going to be sad when this series ends.