4.5 stars.

Ugh, this book was SO close to being 5 stars for me. It was headed that way but then things started dragging on a little. I felt like after about 65% of this book I was waiting for something to happen, for Slade to be deployed. For me, that came way too late and what happened in the aftermath was not enough and was kind of brushed over too easily. I think there was a real opportunity for the difficulties of dealing with the aftermath of a deployment to be explored here but it was all tied up quickly and easily.
Still, I loved how strong Austyn was, and I liked that Kaylee’s usual formula was flipped here and Slade was the one without family. Together they are a great couple and this is still a great book, even if the lead was buried WAY under.