Ashley's Review: Patriotic Duty (Duty & Desire Series #1) by C.J. Pinard

Patriotic Duty (Duty & Desire Series #1) by C.J. Pinard

Publication Date: July 28th 2013

Genre: Adult Romance

Pages: 206

Format: Kindle

Source: Free on Amazon

Read: September 14 to 18, 2014

Goodreads

 

 

~Summary~

 

Newly divorced party girl Cara Reid just wants to have fun. Much too young to even be a divorcee, she and her bestie, Miranda, set off to have fun and maybe a few casual hookups and live life. One night at a military bar, Cara meets Riley Forrester, a hot Army soldier who makes her melt with one look of his deep ocean blue eyes. But Riley is only staying the summer in California and then has to go back to Colorado when it's over.

 

Cara tells herself he’s just a summer fling and is determined to enjoy herself and let him go once the summer is over. But when Riley receives orders he wasn’t expecting, she’s forced to make a decision on whether she’s going to be there for him when he gets back, or move on with her life. What she wasn't expecting was to fall so hard for the beautiful soldier boy, and now she's faced with accepting her feelings or letting him go.

For readers 18+. Contains adult content.

 

 

~My Thoughts~

 

Knowing that the second one, Tour of Duty, is actually told from Riley's point of view makes me wish I read that one instead of this one! No offense to Cara, it's just that I didn't really connect to her and I much rather see it from Riley's side. I'm a sucker for military stories, as you should all know.

 

There's many reasons why I just couldn't connect to Cara and the main one was that she was a party girl. I wouldn't mind that if she wasn't a mother of a young child and had pretty much full custody of him. Every weekend she was out getting drunk, she felt a hangover from Saturday on a Monday, and I don't remember her ex having their kid every weekend but that's how it was. And apparently she's one that is used to one night stands, at her place. Even if your kid isn't there, why would you bring total strangers to your place? I sure hell wouldn't but that's cause I'm not a party girl that's up for one night stands.

 

I also didn't like how the child was like nonexistence, Cara talked about him (barely) but he wasn't there physically. If he was, it was for small parts. I get this is a romance and so the story should be surrounded by the love interests but if the main character is a full time parent, then put that in the story more. Make it feel real and not like she's a bad parent. When the  kid was around you can see she's a great one but when this book is mostly on the weekends, the child is apparently away and she's able to be with Riley. It just didn't feel balanced to me. Because of this she felt like a party girl and not gonna lie, she was with a little slut on the side.

 

It's instant attraction between Cara and Riley. Not many words are said before they're making out and Cara takes him home. Really? Her friend brings home his friend and after giving him a blow job she finds out he's married and tells Cara. You'd think Cara would ask Riley if he's married before sleeping with him? But she doesn't. I just couldn't connect with her. The story and Riley is what held me. 

 

And when Riley got deployed, Cara wasn't sure what their status was. Okay, I get she's new to this and all, but when he asks her to wait for him it would have been nice to not see her make out with other guys. I get she was in denial, I get she was still telling herself that what she had with Riley was just a summer fling, and that she was finding herself but it made me cringe when she was trying to get back to her old ways. I'm happy she didn't sleep with anyone after he left, so there's a bright side. And I'm glad at the end she finally found her way and they both lived happily ever after.

 

Overall, it was okay but I just couldn't connect or get behind Cara. Finding out what happened to Riley just tore at my heart strings and won me over at the end. I so badly want to read the second one, I think it might be more romantic from being behind Riley's eyes. No, I'm pretty positive it will be. I'm so dying to read Tour of Duty, when I get a gift card later this year I'm so getting it!

 

 

 3.5

 

Sweet Readings Everybody!