SEALed with a Kiss

Author: Mary Margret Daughtridge
Published: April 2008 (Sourcebooks)
Category: Romance
Rating: 9/10

When I first heard about SEALed with a Kiss, I was told that it's touching, has a little boy who needs a family, dogs, and a muscle-y hero. I'm a sucker for strong men dealing with new challenge and needing a strong woman's help. And did I tell you there are dogs in the story?

Lt. Jackson "Jax" Graham has always put his career in the SEALs first, so much that his marriage had been very brief, and he has seen very little of his four-year-old son Tyler. His ex-wife passed away suddenly and he has to figure out if he should sign full custody of his son to his ex-mother-in-law. I didn't know this until I read the book, but SEALs are away for at least 200 days a year, and when they are home, they're training all the time. I can see how that would put strain on a marriage.

While in North Carolina visiting his mother-in-law and Tyler, he meets Pickett Sessoms, our heroine. She happens to be a family therapist and does some work with Marine families as well. Her family isn't very supportive and makes her the odd ball out with their little verbal jabs, criticizing her being single, rescuing mutts, and having celiac disease (can't eat products with wheat flour). Being a family therapist and counseling marriages, Pickett has very strong notions about what kind of man she wants to marry, and a SEAL definitely doesn't qualify.

While Jax thinks Pickett is high maintenance and not what he's looking for in a woman, she thinks he's unacceptable as a love interest. But when they're thrown together in Pickett's house during a small hurricane, they find out they might have to rethink their first impressions. They coax Tyler out of his shell and act like a real family, complete with three rescued dogs.

This is a great book for readers who have a problem with alpha males due to their macho manliness. Jax, while an alpha male (he even says that all SEALs are), is in new territory that his elite training can't help him conquer. And don't be afraid that there'll be too much technical SEAL mumbo jumbo. There's enough facts to make Jax's character believable, but it was in no way a Tom Clancy super-techno-action novel. Heck, Jax keeps thinking about how his extensive training can't prepare him for fatherhood. It was so lovely seeing these characters grow: Pickett stands up to her family; Jax realizes he can be a father and want a real marriage; and Tucker shows himself to be a smart little boy. SEALed with a Kiss is greatly touching and heartwarming, a cozy read for a rainy day. Daughtridge's descriptions of the setting for the book made me want to live in Pickett's charming farmhouse, tucked in safely from a storm (preferably with Jax!) with a dog warming my feet. I wanted to read more about the new little family, but books have to end sometime. I can't wait to read the next SEALs romance!

I do have to say that the cover is kinda yummy, despite it being too naked to read on the subway openly. Two problems: His mouth seems kinda feminine. Maybe if he had scruff it'd be less noticeable and dang, that's a HUGE nipple. That is all.