Embattled Hearts (Lost and Found #1) by J.M. Madden – Review by Emily Walsh

Embattled Hearts
By: J.M. Madden
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Embattled Hearts (Lost and Found #1) by J.M. Madden was an steady, entertaining, military romance with a dash of mystery, that had my hooked.

My first read by this author, I didn’t know what to expect. The synops was intriguing, and the reviews positive, but military books aren’t normally my type of read, only because I am a serving member, and well, I don’t think I need to tell you why I tend to not go for these type of books. Picky isn’t the word.

Anyways, I have to say I was impressed with the research, and the knowing the little ins and outs of how the service world works. Though I am Canadian, the inner workings of most militaries are the same, especially when it comes to the way we interact with one another. I saw that, and that alone kept me reading.

As for our MC’s, I liked Jack right away. I believe that had to do with the dual POV. We get to see inside his pain, and know why he’s apprehensive, especially towards Shannon. Speaking of Shannon, there was just something about her that irked me just a little. I think, it had to do with how she was portrayed, small, needing to be protected, motherly, too freaking kind, and innocent. It was a little mary sueish, and very typical for these types of books when the leav male MC is a alpha male type. I’m not saying I didn’t like her as a character, it was just, she was too perfect, and I found it hard to connect with her.

Overall I did very much enjoy this read, the way the romance was developed was layered, and it wasn’t a insta-love situation, this is two people crushing and already knowing one another, but not knowing how to express it. I liked that build up, it added that needed layer, that almost made up for Shannon’s lack of character depth. The added mystery of whos stalking her was a nice bonus, and it gave them that chance to finally get passed the BS.

I hope you take my super high recommendation and my stamp of approval, that you will not only find something to love about this book, but you will be drawn in by its life like surroundings, its deep solid plot and, its interesting characters.

Happy Reading

• Review by @eawalshView all my reviews