Evie Baker recently returned to her hometown of Rochambeau...depressed, broken, and the newest hair washer at her Mom's salon. From her ambitions and the realization of her dream of owning a restaurant, free to create culinary masterpieces...to this. To add insult to injury, her childhood best friend and the man who horribly betrayed her young heart is back in town.Captain Matt Gerard is also coming back to Rochambeau a defeated man. Soon up for a hearing that will decide whether the death of two of his Special Forces teammates is his fault, Matt is heartbroken as well as a little lost feeling. Especially when he walks into the small town's salon and comes face to face with one of his biggest regrets.Matt and Evie had been best friends since they were little. Their friendship not only survived a myriad of childhood hardships...not the least being the death of Matt's mother....but seemed stronger for them. It began to dwindle when Matt started seeing other girls in a whole new light...and yet Evie still only had eyes for him. The breaking point was the night that Evie gave Matt her most precious gift, and he made a mockery of her for it...and left town to join the Army.Matt immediately wants to make up for his young and dumb actions, but Evie still needs to guard her heart. After all, it was her lover who stole her blind and ruined her restaurant. But Matt is persistent, and when Evie's past comes back to haunt her...and her mom and little sister, she is forced to lean on Matt for help. His experiences in intense tactical situations makes him the perfect guy to have along for the ride that she's getting ready to take. And she quickly comes to realize that one night of inconsideration doesn't make up the entirety of the man who used to be her best friend in all the world. I enjoyed this book. I expected to have a bit more action and intrigue than what was included, I think. I felt like the emotions and regrets of both Matt and Evie were sort of recycled and used again throughout the entire book, and it really dragged the story out. What action was included was fairly riveting. The love scenes were well done, definitely for a mainstream romance market, but still sexy. My favorite part was when Matt starts speaking his French bayou yumminess! Chere', indeed!! Especially toward the last half of the book, Matt's team gets some face time and we are introduced to the guys who likely get the next few books in the series.Overall, a nice Romantic Suspense...not too heavy, a bit stagnating in the middle, but ended on an exciting note with lots of room for series growth.Big thanks to Victory Editing and Net Galley for the arc in exchange for a review!
 - Lynn Raye Harris)
