Cowboy Seal Homecoming by Nicole Helm

Looking at the title of this romance novel you may be thinking a few things:

1. Oh great, another Cowboy romance novel.

2. Oh great, another Military romance novel.

3. Oh great, another Cowboy Military romance novel.

4. YES, another Cowboy Military romance novel.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I’ve got nothing against Military romance novels.  Hell, they’re one of my favorite subgenres.  Cowboy romances on the other hand are not typically the novels I seek out as a reader.  I picked up Nicole Helm’s Cowboy Seal Homecoming with some hesitation.

I ended up pleasantly surprised.

Alex Maguire never thought he’d go home again.  The perfect soldier, the perfect leader, he’s spent his whole life running away from Blue Valley, Montana—but when a tragic accident bounces him and two of his men out of the SEALs, there’s nowhere left to turn but the ranch he used to call his own… and the confusing, innocently beguiling woman who now lives there.  Becca Denton’s like nothing he could have imagined.  She’s far too tempting for her own good, but when she offers to help turn the ranch into a haven for injured veterans, he can’t exactly say no.  He’ll just need to keep his distance.  But something in her big green eyes makes Alex want to set aside the mantle of the perfect soldier and discover the man he could have been… safe and whole within the shelter of her arms.

This book had all the makings of your average, every day romance novel, but I was happy to see the idea for a rehabilitation ranch thrown in there.  It made it something different.  The effects of life after the military aren’t often explored in romance novels and it was rather refreshing to see an alpha male struggle as Alex and his friend did.  Alex was all alpha, but he was still a man in a dark place who needed to reach out for the olive branch Becca was offering him.

Becca was quite a character as well.  She brought some uniqueness to the table with her childhood illness, nervous nature, inexperience, and wacky nature.  I thought she was a great counterpart to the overbearing Alex.  She was innocent without being annoying about it and once she broke through her initial awkwardness she turned into an empowered, sexually confident woman.

I will say that if you’re not a fan of the somewhat cheesy romance novels where the main focus is the relationship (i.e. no outside drama, no suspense, no mystery, nada) then this probably isn’t your scene.  However, if you love the romantic notions of cowboys and the moody men associated with military romances then you’re going to love the first book in what’s sure to be a fun series (the other men Gabe and Jack are even more surly and complicated than our friend Alex).