In the first book of the Bandit Creek series, small town doctor Abby is suffering from PTSD from her time as a highly skilled Army medic. To blow off steam and to feel better, she lights up dynamite and throws it in the lake.
Smitty belonged to the Special Forces division of the Marines, and he was assigned to Abby’s med unit as security detail. They became good friends while fighting for their lives in Afghanistan, so when he shows up out of the blue in her little town, she readily accepts his help. What she didn’t expect was for romance to bloom between them or for a mystery military sniper to target her.
Abby is a strong, snarky woman and hides her pain through humor. Smitty is levelheaded, protective, and just the friend she needed.
The story is told only in Abby’s POV and in third person, so the reader gets to understand her pain, regret, and self-contempt. I liked Smitty, but I couldn’t really connect with him. I didn’t feel like I got to know him, so duel POVs would’ve been nice.
The story focuses a lot on PTSD, which doesn’t make this a light read. There weren’t a lot of taglines, so sometimes I didn’t know who was speaking. There were also some typos, and I’m not talking about the use of British English.
Anyway, the sex scenes were hot. Abby and Smitty made for a great couple.
3 Stars ( )

I found this just that bit too short to really enjoy it. The length just left little time to really develop the characters or the plot and while I liked both Abigail and Smitty I found myself just not really caring. The romance was okay but it wasn't anything special and the bad guy was just random. There was no real build up or explanation of why the bad guy does what he does and I'm not really keen on loose ends - I like to know the whys and the hows. The story moved along fast enough but it was lacking the depth needed to make this an enjoyable read. ( )

I liked this book.

Positives: Just the right amount of character development for the heroine. It was laugh out loud funny at time I love JD.. I love the Post Traumatic Stress disorder but, i think both characters got over it a little too soon. Really they got over quite a few things just a little too quick!
Negatives: Why didn't Smitty come to town before. Why did the ghost really want to blow up Abby. The book was entirely too rushed.

And this is how I pictured Abby in the morning:
( )

Though this book is novella-length, it has a lot to it, and is a great read. Rowe's handling of PTSD is sensitive and nuanced; it gives a lot of depth to her characters, and plays quite a role in the story. The romance between Abby and Smitty is also very well done.

I'm familiar with Rowe's other work, and this one is of the same excellent quality. She's a fantastic storyteller. ( )