Copy received via Netgalley for honest review.

3.5 stars


Aria and Dan have their HEA at the beginning of Once a Seal. We meet them on their wedding day after a whirlwind courtship and romance.

I am sure more than one of us has had a fantasy of being with a Navy SEAL (I can neither confirm nor deny this for myself!), but that's what it is, a fantasy.

Once a Seal, though a romance, is not the average romance. It shows the side of military life that is glossed over in many books based around the military.

It shows the nitty gritty of being a military wife. The lonely nights. The worry that their man may not come home. The secrecy of their missions. The loss of one of a team.

It also shows us the sense of family amongst the team's families.

I found the first half of the book a bit hard to get into,and Aria felt quite naive. I know she was new to the military world but I felt her expectations of Dan were a little... I don't know how to explain it. It was like she expected Dan to have a 9 - 5 job and be home every night and she got shirty when he wasn't. I am sure the adjustment into being a military wife is a difficult one, but at times I just wanted to shake some sense into her and tell her to snap out of it.

I think Anne did a great job with the Jimmy (Aria's brother) story line. Though I felt that Mark's storyline could have been a bit more suspenseful (but this could just have been me!)

I really do like SEAL storie - it's like "you had me at SEAL" but with this I don't know... I didn't hate it but I didn't love it. I did like it though.

It was kind of like a "Military Wifes for Dummies" kind of book.