<i>Once a Marine</i> by Cat Grant

Once a Marine by Cat Grant

17 Oct 2011 1 Comment

by Lisa in authors, Cat Grant, publishers, Riptide Publishing Tags: Cat Grant, Riptide Publishing

Title: Once a Marine
Author: Cat Grant
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Pages: 175
Characters: Cole Hammond and Marc Sullivan
POV: Mixed: 1st person for Marc, 3rd person for Cole
Sub-Genre: Contemporary Romance
Kisses: 5






Blurb:

Discharged under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, former Marine major Cole Hammond is struggling to find a new identity. But PTSD casts a pall on everything, and his hard-nosed, homophobic father can’t even bear to look him in the eye. To top it all off, he’s pretty sure he’s flunking out of law school.

Marc Sullivan is a kind, sensitive romance author-slash-waiter with a thing for men in uniform. Cole’s not wearing his anymore, but there’s no mistaking the warrior Marc meets in the diner one rainy afternoon. Cole’s sexy smile and Carolina drawl prove irresistible, but Marc’s played this game before, and he always loses. Once a Marine, always a Marine, and if there’s one thing Marc knows about such men, it’s that they all leave him in the end. It doesn’t help that Cole’s practically closeted in public, or that he refuses to seek treatment for his PTSD.

But like any good Marine, Cole’s willing to fight for what matters. And like the characters in Marc’s stories, he’s certain that if only they try hard enough, together they can find their own happily ever after

Review:

How much a man has to suffer to reach his golden moment of peace and love? How much a man can wait until the man he is falling in love with is finally free of all his ghosts and guilt he is carrying within his head? A lot? Enough?… sometimes in life some things are worth an “everything and forever”. Cole and Marc found each other by destiny. Each one has what the other needs.

Cole is a brave, handsome man, one of those men from the South with manners taught by his mother. He is returning to college to study law after almost twenty years in the Marines. After a terrible situation in Iraq, a dishonorable discharge because of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, a PTSD that is driving him mad, a homophobic father, and losing his mother from a degenerative disease, he is lucky to have found Marc.

Marc is a former college professor, now busing tables at a diner to pay the bills while working his real job as a gay romance writer in his free time with hopes to soon be a known author. He already has a couple of published stories when he meets Cole. Marc has a thing for Marines. He himself is a Marine’s boy—although he has never known his father—but maybe that’s the reason he carries in his blood this high attraction for them. After two bad breakups with Marines, he is yet attracted to Cole and wants to give one more try. But he is disappointed after an awful moment with him the first night they were together.

From that moment, both men start a voyage in which each one is willing to open his heart to the other. However, each one, as well, have spaces the other is not allowed to cross. For Cole, it is his PTSD and for Marc, it is his writing.

Cole and Marc begin sort of a relationship. Nothing is said for sure, but we know they are falling for each other. They spend time together; the sex is hot (woohoo!), and they get to know each other more and more. Both share their secrets, their fears, theirs hopes. And little by little, they fall in love.

I loved both characters. Cole learns to open himself to others and grows emotionally along the way. He really sees and wants a future with Marc. Sometimes I want to have Marc near and smack him in the head for acting silly. But in the end, when one needs the other, both are there with their presence and support.

Once a Marine is, at the same time, a lovely and complicated romance. It’s a great story where we can see characters blossom for love, where the call of duty, a career, or the call of the family can be a struggle. Cat Grant, again, did a great job writing this book. I think it took a lot of work to write a story in both POVs. Well, that’s why she is one of the great authors. Maybe we can see more of this couple?? I only can hope.

I want to congratulate Riptide Publishing for the presentation of the book… fantastic. The cover is elegant representing Cole and Marc, I liked a lot to find the synopsis in the initial pages (very useful) and I loved very much the interior decorations (in this case a sword) to separate scenes from both characters in most of the chapters.

Reviewed By: Reggie

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