Laura’s Review of A Reason to Live (Reason, #3) by CP Smith

Synopsis

WARNING: Author believes in soul mates and insta-love, proceed with caution if you're not a romantic at heart.

Love's greatest cure is salvation of one’s soul.

Shane Sherman has a problem. Well, two, actually. One has auburn hair and pale-green eyes, and the other? . . . Is a secret. One he doesn't want to talk about. But all that changes when Sage comes to town.

Sage Sloan is being stalked. So she runs to Trails End and the bravest man her sister said she'd ever met. Sergeant Shane Sherman.

Sparks fly, tempers flare, and bears misbehave as Shane and Sage find a way to coexist in Trails End. That is, until a killer comes to call. Then all bets are off. Shane isn't about to lose his saving grace.

This is the third and final book in the Reason Series. I highly recommend you read books one and two before "A Reason To Live."

Rated R for sexual content and language and M for Maxine.

What I Loved

          I think the better questions here is what didn’t I love about this book! The prologue really laid out a solid foundation that sucked me in instantly and had my heart break into pieces.  From that moment on there was no way that I could fall out of love with Shane.  He is truly an amazing complex character that makes you want to heal his soul and rip off his clothes all that the same time.  He is a man that has the world on his shoulders and is suffering enormous amount of guilt over the loss of one his soldiers.  I love alpha males that have a chip on their shoulder and rough around the edges but sexy as hell!  Shane is bossy, dominant, sexy, heroic, a little sad and all this made me love him even more.

       

           I absolutely the love the spirit and drive that Sage Sloan has throughout the entire book.  I loved when she wouldn’t back down whenever Shane got in her face and finally rips him a new asshole when he deserves it.   There were a couple times when my heart broke for Sloan because when it came to Shane she really had her work cut out for her.  Shane might be sexy but Sage is HOT, that has endless amount of love and friendship to offer.  I love strong female lead characters that can bring as much to the table as a man because it helps me get more emotionally involved in the story.  Sage was an easy character to love and root for from beginning to end.

Not So Much

          I really don’t have any major complaints; this was truly an awesome book.  There were some points where I wish there was a little bit more detail in the background and character description but this was a rough draft so those tiny holes will probably be filled in the final copy.  I do wish that this series wouldn’t end though, it’s such a great series with so many amazing characters that I just don’t want it to end!

To Sum It All Up!

          CP Smith has found the delicate equation of mixing comedy with suspense and then adding in tons of sexual chemistry and romance.  There were a bunch of times that I was laughing out loud and also times I had tears in my eyes.  No story involving a heroic alpha male would be complete without suspense and some close calls with danger and there were definitely tons of that as well.  I was enthralled from the prologue and when I was done reading I just wanted the story to continue forever because I loved these characters so much.

          I love stories that don’t just introduce you to a new love interest but entire families and towns because it just adds so much more character to the plot.  Trails End was written in such a way that I immediately want to pack by bags and move to Alaska, and I absolutely HATE cold weather.  There was a strong foundation established to build an amazing story from the beginning and the pace of the story was right on point.  I never felt like I was getting bored with the plot or parts were too wordy.  There was a lot of action that kept my attention and had me NEEDING to know what was going to happen next.  Of course there is a happily ever after which was bittersweet because