The Best Man: A Second Service Novella [Holly & Michael] by Adrienne Bell

This is the final novella in the Second Service Series. I must say, I found this one totally by mistake as I was looking for something else by Adrienne on Amazon's website. I was surprised I didn't find it on GoodRead (and actually added it myself). I read the Second Service Series a while ago and really enjoyed it so I was happy to get the final one out and hoping it would be as good as they were (As I was a bit disappointed with the two short novellas Adrienne published).

Sadly it wasn't as good as the previous ones in the series and it's not because it was so short it was for being a unbelievable.. Holly is a romance writer attending her cousin Alex's wedding (Alex and Beth being the first couple in the series). She doesn't know anyone except for her cousin but since she is on a writer's block she wishes the beautiful background would give her some ideas. There she meets Michael a sexy FBI agent in charge of the surveillance of the wedding. 

We actually met Michael before on the third installment. He is Morgan's ex-boyfriend who builds robots (and who Ty suggests join the FBI with his extremely developed electronic knowledge). I always saw him a sweet geeky type who loves action or rather a challenge... I have my problem seeing him as the sexy confident agent.. I'm not sure "enough time" had passed for him to become so sure of himself and SO direct when it came to Holly. 

Holly on the other hand felt totally unbelievable, not for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or for trying her best to help (well, in the end it was totally unbelievable she was willing to risk dying just to help out...) it was the fact that without her the whole mystery wouldn't have being solved (or discovered actually..). She is a writer, yeah it means she has a good imagination and maybe sees details better, but the things she figured out, and the fact that all the other 4 agents we know as well as all the other agents DIDN'T figure out makes this one totally unbelievable. 

I wish I would have liked this one since the other ones in the series were great! But sadly this was a fail for me. Both the romance and mystery part were ruined for me on account of the main characters, and also as a finishing novella there wasn't enough of the characters from the first one which isn't such a shock as this one was too short to have a building of a relationship, a mystery and revisiting main characters all in 70 pages..

Additional Details: Kindle Ebook, 72 pages, 12 December 2014 / On GoodReads

 

 

ABOUT THIS SERIES

 

Second Service is a Contemporary Romance series by Adrienne Bell.
There are 3 short novellas in the series (of about ~150 pages) each tells the HEA of one of three men - Alex, John and Ty - who used to serve in the same Navy Seal Team. The 4th and final short novella in the series is of Alex's cousin and joins all three couples in a final shot and another short romance.

Each short novella is action packed but also funny and very engaging. While the love flourishes quite quickly when everything that's going on it's really fitting. 

The main characters feel genuine, the men tough but human and VERY sexy and the woman are sweet and lovable, very believable in their traits and also in the fact that they are no beauty queens. Also, while the women deal with terror they are NOT used to, they endure it in their own way. Even when shedding tears they show toughness and capable of handling things on their own. 

Recommended! [ Though I should say that I didn't really like the ending novella of Holly and Michael. ]

Books:
1. The Wedding Trap [Alex & Beth] (published 2 July 2013) ★★★★★
2. The Agent Next Door [John & Erin] (published 20 May 2014) ★★★★½
3. The Trouble with Temptation [Ty & Morgan] (published 27 September 2014) ★★★★★
4. The Best Man [Holly & Michael] (published 9 December 2014) ★★★