Review: Burned

Burned by Sarah Morgan
Series: Miller Sisters #2
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Trainer and martial artist Rosie Miller’s zen is seriously compromised when Hunter Black—her former coach and lover—becomes her new boss. And with all the sexual energy still crackling between them, her poor little zen doesn’t stand a chance. So this time, Rosie is determined to play by her rules….

This was an incredibly quick read. I enjoyed it, but I think Sarah Morgan needs more page time to fully flesh out a story and characters. Hunter and …Rosie (damn, I just finished and nearly forgot her name) are a great couple that anyone can see belong together.

I had a couple of minor issues – the biggest one being the use of assault so the guy can rush in to the rescue, but still not enough to even really do more than make me frown for a moment.

I did appreciate how capable Rosie seems to be. I liked that she teaches self-defense classes, is a black belt in karate, and is studying Muay Thai. I liked that her attraction to Hunter was that she could be who she was, 100%, without holding back, and was comfortable with him. It wasn’t just the chemistry between them (which did light off crazy-hot sparks). It was how they were together. And the thing I loved about Hunter was that his past, despite being more than enough to turn most romance-heroes off of romance, didn’t do that to him. He was rational enough to realize that not all relationships are as unhealthy as his reference material. And smart enough to go after who he wants.

I’m not always a fan of a man making a choice for a woman, especially in a relationship, but I appreciated how that was handled here. It made sense to me, and maybe he didn’t handle it exactly the right way, but I think he did the right thing. Having guessed that was the reason he left (and I do love reunion romances), I was prepared to not be happy with the revelation there. But I was pleasantly surprised and ended up liking both characters more.

I think the only thing better here would have been more time for both of them, and me, to fall into the relationship. Of course that probably would have added more drama, and I do love that these short-stories are nearly drama free.