~REVIEW of Suzanne Brockmann's FOREVER BLUE~

 

Forever Blue (Tall, Dark & Dangerous #2)

Opening Line: "Lieutenant Blue McCoy was the point man, leading the six other men of SEAL Team Ten's Alpha Squad across the marshlike ground."

Carter "Blue" McCoy is the 2nd of Brockmann's Navy Seals to have his story told in the Tall Dark and Dangerous series and I have to say I am loving these men. Feeling a little bit like dessert these well written romances are short, super addictive and each just different enough that the stories always feel fresh. With delicious alpha male heroes, fantastic dialogue and just the right amount of suspense, action and melodrama to keep you coming back for more (sometimes even before dinner) While each of these can be read as a stand alone as with all romantic series they seem to work best when read in order due to the continuing or evolving story arcs.

Blue McCoy has just returned to his hometown of South Carolina to attend his stepbrothers wedding. He hasn't been back to Hatboro Creek since he graduated and joined the Navy and in all honesty doesn't relish being back here now especially since his stepbrother Gerry is marrying his high school sweetheart, the fluffy, perfect Jenny Lee. It's a little awkward to say the least. However awkwardness soon becomes the least of Blue's problems as later that night at a pre-wedding party he and Gerry get into a heated argument and by morning his stepbrother is dead.

Of course Blue becomes the primary suspect due to their very public fight and because Gerry's neck has been broken in such a way that only someone skilled in hand to hand combat could have done it. Soon witnesses are coming out of the woodwork and the whole towns convinced Blue's guilty, everyone that is except for his old friend and rookie police officer Lucy Tait.

I really liked the heroine this time around, usually I find Brockmann's females kind of bland and unmemorable but Lucy had spirit and personality. She's had a crush on Blue since she was 15 and he rescued her from some bullies, never quite able to forget him she`s learned all she can about the SEALs program and is aware of how Blue lives his life and what it took him to get there, she also knows he's not a killer.

As a rookie Lucy's first big assignment comes when she's made chief investigative officer to Blue's case. And despite the hero worship she's suffering and the palpable sexual tension between them Lucy is determined to play by the book to prove Blues innocence and find the real killer. But what will she do when she finds out Blue is not the hero she thought he was? And as for Blue well he's never had a friend who was his lover before, who knew that was possible?

Unfortunately with this instalment there isn't much interaction with the rest of Alpha Team but it's still a great story, complete with several car chases and a police pat down that will make you blush. Once again Brockmann's dialogue draws you in, making the whole falling in love within days theme plausible. The love scenes are soft yet still erotic (just without the dirty words and more imagination needed) Here we even get some underwater action, and just wait till this SEAL chokes!