Mandy is a wedding planner and Marcus is former SEAL and owns a garage with some buddies. He doesn’t date friends sisters and he only does a night or two. They are paired up, when they both sign up for Military Match dating service. Marcus is older than Mandy but age doesn’t matter to her. She has had a crush on Marcus and is not giving up this chance to be with him.
They come to an agreement, she plays his girlfriend for his grandmother and she gets one month with him. She knows she’s risking her heart but she goes for it anyway.
Girl meets boy. Boy plays hard to get but eventually gives in. Cute little dog. And sex in some wild places.
* Voluntarily read and reviewed this for netgalley *

I received a copy of A SEAL's Honor by JM Stewart from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was intrigued by the summary and really wanted to like this novel, but the storyline should have been pulled together better and the characters developed (less flat/one dimensional).

Not a book I would recommend.

Pretty much the usual. Girl had a crush on brothers friend when she was younger. They meet again and guy is astounded how she's changed. He doesn't do commitments, the "off-limits" is forgotten and they agree on a sex-only relationship for a period of time that becomes complicated when one decides to pull out of the deal when feelings have become involved.
The story is nicely enough done. The only differences usually are the characters themselves and Navy SEAL Marcus with Mandy were an interesting couple. And this plot does have it's surprises.

A SEAL’s Honor is book 3 in the Military match series. I thought it was a fun, engaging read. Enjoyed it. Will go back and read books 1 and 2.

You’ve heard this story before: girl has thing for guy who typically doesn’t do commitment, both get into an agreed sex-only fling for a period of time, girl convinces herself to keep it only physical, but fails, but takes it anyway because he’s what she wanted for so long. It all leads to a climax—sometimes literally—where someone breaks it off, which also happens to be a kick in the arse or an epiphany for the other party who then wakes up and grovels for something he/she had always wanted but denied.

It’s a formula that has worked in romance multiple times despite how often this has been repeated in different contexts, with the details and names differing. ‘A SEAL’s Honor’ is yet another iteration of this, so there are no surprises here, only in how J.M. Stewart steers her characters and the circumstances that shape the coming together of this particular pairing. Stewart however, does throw in some surprises here—and with assured writing that keeps the pages turning—with a steel-spined heroine as the driving force behind the action and a male lead who isn’t afraid to talk.

Older brother’s best friend or not, it was more than impressive to see Mandy Lawson taking charge, insisting on keeping her end of the bargain and pushing for what she wanted the whole time as she pursued Marcus Denali relentlessly the way the heroes in romantic fiction normally do—age gap, differences in outlook be damned. And in the end, it was Mandy who bailed on the arrangement as well, after realising she couldn’t have more than what Marcus was (not) offering. Still, with both protagonists talking an honest game, both Mandy and Marcus were easy to sympathise with—and even like, no matter who took point in steering the development of the relationship.

I did struggle however, with the ‘flip of the switch’ type of ending and this isn’t a struggle that’s confined to this story alone. Can someone’s decades-long belief of not ever being good enough or good in a relationship really change at the snap of the fingers, or after a good talking to? Can years of resentment and accumulation of emotional dirt just fall away when epiphany strikes? Romance stories don’t necessarily always provide a convincing way of showing this when it happens; romantic moments (typically accompanied by waves of emotion) tend to overshadow this niggling bit tends to stay a loose end.

‘A SEAL’s Honor’ nonetheless, is definitely a decent read. It faltered here and there for me, but the maturity of the protagonists was the biggest draw of it all.

It seems risky to meet a stranger like that.

I'm sorry about his sister.

there's a lot more sex than I was anticipating.

I think that Mandy is a great match for Marcus. She brings out his youthful side. He was worried about the age difference, but it really wasn't a factor. There were a couple serious parts, but most were fun and sexy.