The Wrong Man (Alpha Men #3) by Natasha Anders #TheWrongMan

  The Wrong Man by Natasha Anders

Blurb:

No commitments. No expectations. No way this could possibly go wrong…right?

Former special-ops soldier Sam Brand is used to getting what he wants. What he wants is to unbutton the buttoned-down, sweet, and shy Dahlia McGregor. He’s hot to find her wild side. She’s eager to let him explore it. So he makes his proposition—no strings, no hurt feelings, and no promises—save for one: she’ll have the time of her life.

After a broken engagement, Lia’s looking to someday find the right man and settle down. That’s some day. Now it’s all about the night. A hot, meaningless fling with a magnificently weathered blue-eyed stud like Sam couldn’t hurt: he’s sexy, and sure he’s arrogant, but best of all, he’s here. In other words, he’s perfect…for now.

But when Sam is wounded in the line of duty and left in Lia’s tender loving care, all bets are off. Because the more time they spend together, the more it becomes clear: this “one night” deal is getting steamier and lasting longer than they counted on. It started as a fun little game. Is it possible they could be playing for keeps?


Phew....rating this book isn't easy. The first third of it, I couldn't stand our hero, Sam Brand. Honestly, this guy, while telling her the whole time that he is no guy for a relationship while knowing that our heroine Dahlia is looking for Mr. Wright and that she would be hurt, he never stops fantasizing about her and pushing her. Yes, they had a passionate night or two before but she says no and he doesn't even remotely accept it. Oh, yes, there are many excuses but in the end, it's just that - he doesn't accept her decision and keeps pushing her.
At about 40%, I got the first spark of something more from him. Don't worry, it's just a spark and it will take him a lot longer to become nice (when she has given in to his demands...) but finally, the last 20%, he turns out to be kind of nice. Alright, really nice and a bit cute. In between there are times when he is getting better and I start to like him but...

I really love Lia's family even though I don't exactly share her opinion that they are so very supportive of her. They love her and they want to protect her but I don't consider their actions as supportive.
Apart from that, her family is very welcoming and warm. I loved to read how Sam slowly falls for the small joys of life in a little city. Imagining the big bad-ass CPO (as in close protection officer) waltzing with...well... it's nice.

A rough ride for me, not easy for those involved either but in the end I sat there with a big grin on my face despite all that.
As I said, it is not easy to rate this book, I've read several other by the author already that I really enjoyed, this one and I, we have rather mixed feelings about each other.

★★★