Laura’s Review of Concealed (Hidden from Love, #2) by Selena Laurence

If you loved Axel (Corps Security, #1) by Harper Sloan, Raid (Unfinished Hero, #3) by Kristen Ashley, and Fighting to Forgive (Fighting, #2) by J.B. Salsbury then you will LOVE this book!

Basic Summary

           

     The sequel to the top selling military romance Camouflaged. 

                Two years ago, Gabe Thompson stood in the desert of Afghanistan and watched the love of his life drive away.  When his tour of duty ended six months later, she wasn't waiting.  Now Gabe’s ready to go after the one thing his life is missing—the woman he’s never been able to forget.

                Twenty-year-old Alexis Garcia rues the day she decided to volunteer for a UN mission to Afghanistan.  The sexy, exasperating soldier she met there nearly destroyed her carefully constructed life with the boy next door.  She’s spent two years trying to forget Gabe, working to show her parents and her boyfriend that she knows where she belongs.

                But when Gabe shows up at Alexis’ door, complete with tattoos, a Harley and enough attitude to start another war, everything she’s tried to conceal could be exposed, starting with her heart.

What I Love About This Book

                

             Well the question is what isn't there to love about Gabe Thompson, because he seems pretty freaking perfect.  Who wouldn't want a hot man fall in love with them who looks great in an army uniform?  He hits all my requirements for the perfect man; bad boy, rides a motorcycle, in the army, has tattoos, and is just plain HOT.  Everything about Gabe is awesome and it’s so endearing to see how much he loves Alexis even though she gets on my nerves a couple times.  When Gabe was hurt I was hurt, when he was happy I was happy.  Gabe is just all around awesome and it makes me want to find a hot army man of my own.

                     This book definitely kept me on toes at times, there were some things I didn't see coming and I always enjoy that about a book.  Definitely a roller coaster of emotions going on at times, and I just wanted to reach out and slap Alexis at times, and others I wanted to do the same thing to Gabe.  I enjoyed the chemistry between these two it was definitely hot hot hot, and it makes me want to go out there find a man that gets me all warm and steamy.  The supporting characters in the book were just as important as the main characters and they really made the story more whole, adding new and exciting layers to the plot.

Cons

                The character development in the book was great, but the background details was pretty lacking for me.  I know that Gabe has a studio apartment and Alexis has an apartment but that’s all I know. I have no idea what their apartments look like as far as layout, furniture, decorations any of that.  It was weird to me that the book went into detail about a bar named Margie’s they went to in Austin, but when it came to the places they lived in there was very little detail. 

                The same can be said for the descriptions of what Alex and Gabe look like.  There is really no mention of their looks at all.  I know what Alexis looks like from reading the prequel and knowing she is Mexican but that’s about it.  The details of her looks is not mentioned at all, it barely mentions what color hair she has.  There is no description of how tall she is, what length her hair is, what shape her eyes are, and so on.  This is also true for Gabe I still have no idea what color his hair is, what color his eyes are, if he’s tall or short, his smile, there’s nothing.  I know he let his hair grow a little longer since the army but nothing else; I need more details about the main characters.  If someone read this as a standalone they would have no clue what the characters are support to look like.  I felt like there was more description of what Mike, Gabe’s friend looks like then him. 

Overall

                The book was pretty good, like I said in the review of Camouflaged (Hidden from Love, #0.5) that I usually don’t read books about authors I know very little about and not reading any of the reviews but I did with this one and I was pleasantly surprised.  I loved the characters, by the end of the book I felt like I really knew these people inside and out.  It was kind of hard to relate emotionally to Alexis and I think that’s only because she annoyed me a little at times, but I’d rather be annoyed with her than feel nothing at all. 

               

              The pace of the book was great, I never really got bored while reading and like I said there were a couple surprises throughout the plot and I really loved that the most.  The ending of the book was great, I didn't feel like there were too many loose ends or unanswered questions.  I do sense the third book in this series could be about Beth and Juan??  I could be wrong but I think that would be an interesting story.  This story definitely had me hooked it was a quick and easy read filled with lots of emotions and hot sexual chemistry.  Who would want anything more?   

                Also, I am a Jewish girl who lives in New Jersey I know nothing about the culture in Texas, let alone the culture and beliefs of Mexican Americans.  What I loved about this book was that even though I know nothing about this culture I could still really understand it, and I felt like I was being educated at the same time while reading.  I don’t like when authors talk about things they know little about and this book really covered the culture so beautifully that it was so obvious Selena Laurence knows exactly what she’s writing about.  It wasn't just Alexis’ parent’s beliefs that are talked about, it was also the colloquialisms and the actions of Ramon, and Beth, and Alexis herself that I felt like I learned a lot about their culture by the time I was done with this book.