A Beautiful Distraction

Hard Feelings, Book 3

By: Kelsie Leverich

Narrated by: Abby Craden

Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

A brand-new novel in the New York Times bestselling Hard Feelings series - where nothing's more dangerous than a bad boy with a broken heart.

First Sergeant Rafe Murano did everything to the extreme. He trained harder, he fought harder, and, unfortunately, he loved harder. Because when he fell for the wrong woman it nearly destroyed him.

Home from a deployment, and without his missions to consume him, Murano is ravaged by memories of his heartbreak. So he drinks until he's numb and drowns himself in meaningless one night stands. But they only take the edge off…until he meets Fallon.

Haunted by her past, Fallon Kelly knows all too well about the desperate desire for an escape. So when she sees the tatted-up bad boy who's one more punch away from a ride in the back of a squad car, she offers a distraction - but he quickly becomes an addiction.

Little does she know that this bad boy could love so hard it could break her.

©2014 Kelsie Leverich (P)2014 Blackstone Audio

2.5, Extreme attraction, very sexual

Here’s the tale of Rafe and Fallon, and it’s based in Colorado. Rafe is your basic over-protective alpha male, military man with a heart. Fallon is a stripper & club-owner. Both bring baggage. This book somewhat worked for me. The narrator worked fine, and the sex scenes were pretty hot. It also flowed well. The story is somewhat explicit though not erotica. Still, be forewarned that the author does use one explicit term for female genitalia that may cause some people unease. I liked that Fallon was a strong, self-reliant woman. But I didn’t like the author’s explanation for several of Rafe’s and Fallon’s behaviors or statements of logic; they seemed manufactured to create angst and controversy. Similarly, everything, and I mean absolutely EVERYTHING between them was at evisceration level ALL OF THE TIME. No one can live like that. So it was a bit over-the-top. I get that they were very attracted to each other and felt for each other what they’ve never felt for another. But the extreme level was a bit unrealistic and actually made the staying power of their relationship questionable. And, at times, Fallon was characterized as super woman. In one scene, she acted too familiar with Rafe’s youngest brother the 1st and only time she met him; not in a sexual way but by telling him about himself unnecessarily. It was to make Fallon appear to be insightful and strong, but she came across as overstepping and a Ms. Know-it-all ass. And constantly giving the namebrand of her pumps and some pieces of clothing was offputting and seemed in opposition to Fallon’s attempt to move past her affluent childhood wherein she was just a pretty object of her materialistic parents. I didn’t miss the book when I wasn’t listening to it, but I wasn’t bored when I was listening either. Yet, I was ready for it to be over once it was coming to an end.