By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Dale Mayer

Welcome to Hathaway House.
Rehab Center. Safe Haven.
Second chance at life and love

Navy SEAL Denton Hamilton has checked himself into Hathaway House, hoping for a fraction of the results his friends have gotten at the rehab center. Now missing a rib, muscles and a portion of his stomach, as well as suffering from PTSD, Denton would be happy to have his physical self healed. He’s not so sure he’ll ever get his mental health back, and finding a woman who’ll have him now—as his friends have been lucky enough to do—is out of the question. Who would be willing to love a man like him?

Administrative Assistant Hannah Forsythe helps Dani run Hathaway House. A loner at heart, she’s drawn to Denton’s struggle and dismayed at his belief that no one could ever love him. But when an ill-advised observation she makes has unexpected consequences for Denton’s recovery, Hannah’s only choice is to separate herself from him to help him progress without her.

As time passes, Hannah wonders if her choice has cost her everything she’s ever wanted or whether Denton can work through his feelings to give them both their happy ending at Hathaway House.

I truly meant to have caught up with this series before this book came out, unfortunately I wasn’t able to. However I never let that stop me from reading the latest of a series.

Hannah is Dani’s assistant and she is almost as overworked as Dani. Her duties are varied and she is the one who welcomes Denton to Hathaway House and gives him all the information he’s going to need. A bit overwhelming but also everything is on the tablet and phone he is issued. There’s also a folder with much of it.

Hannah also helps with the animals in the Vet Clinic downstairs. There’s a new addition that appears to be a walk-in, that causes a bit of commotion.

This is a favorite scene.

Hannah had the title of administrative assistant, but really she was a jack-of-all-trades. She was a cross between Dani’s assistant and the substitute front receptionist, plus she did some bookkeeping. And truth be told, she was good with that. There was certainly nothing boring about this job.

Her phone was ringing as she walked behind the front counter.

“Hey, Hannah. Do you have a moment?”

“Sure Stan, I’ll be right down.”

She hung up the phone and checked to see where Chickie was. He was curled up in his bed, looking darn tired. She decided to leave him where he was. He had done the rounds this morning with her, and he was certainly entitled to a nap. She grabbed a coffee cup, filled it and headed downstairs to see Stan.

The vet clinic was a mess. Several dogs in the reception area were struggling with their owners. In the center of the chaos was a cat, glaring at everybody.

Hannah stared at the cat. “So who’s this guy?”

“We’re not exactly sure.”

Hannah looked at the vet’s receptionist. “What? Didn’t he have an appointment?”

Rebecca stood behind her desk. “No, and I didn’t see who he came in with either. I have no idea. He doesn’t look to be injured in any way.”

Stepping between the dogs and cat, Stan crouched down. The cat took one look and jumped onto Stan’s shoulders. Stan laughed. “Well, he’s a friendly fellow.”

“Very.” Hannah studied the cat for a moment. “He’s not scared of the dogs, and he seems to like the noise.”

Stan glanced over at her with a knowing look. “You’ve been trying to get a therapy cat upstairs since forever.”

She shrugged sheepishly. “It seems hardly fair that we have therapy dogs, but no cats.”

He nodded. “We’ll have to give this wonderful cat a checkup before we can let him around the human patients. But I was thinking of you and upstairs.”

She stroked the feline, who seemed to like all the humans so far. “He’s a beauty. He’s almost bobcat size, isn’t he?”

Stan nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised if something wild was in his heritage. He is really big.”

She gently scratched behind his ears, and the huge cat’s rumble filled the room.

“Good Lord,” Stan said. “That’s quite the engine.”

She smiled. “You have to check him out real fast, Stan. I could use him upstairs.” She turned to look at all the dogs sniffing the cat. She smiled. “Looks like you have a full day as it is.”

Stan nodded, lifted the cat off his shoulders and handed him to Hannah as his temporary assistant. “Isn’t that the truth?”

Hannah stepped out of Stan’s way as he led one of the dogs with its owner into a treatment room. The cat gracefully jumped from Hannah’s arms and onto the reception desk. Hannah smiled at the big cat, busy inspecting Rebecca’s workspace.

“Is it usual to have them this calm at the clinic?”

Rebecca shook her head. “No. Usually they come in hissing at everything in sight.”

“Well, this guy is certainly not doing that.” Rebecca stood and picked up the cat. “I’ll take him to the back. That’ll help the dogs calm down.”

Hannah nodded and watched as the huge cat stared at her, his eyes glowing until he was out of the room.

She turned to the other people sitting in the waiting room. “Did any of you see the cat arrive?”

Two people shook their heads.

“No, suddenly he was just here. With all the chaos with the dogs, I didn’t notice where the cat came from,” the older woman replied.

Hannah looked down the long hallway. “It’s possible he came in from the barn area.” She headed that way to look, but the stalls were all empty, and the doors were closed. Mystified, she headed upstairs. She popped into Dani’s doorway and explained the scenario.

Dani laughed. “So the center is so good that animals are coming in on their own now, are they?”

The two women laughed, and then Hannah returned to her office. They never knew what the next unusual scenario would be at this crazy job. And she wouldn’t change it for anything.

Her cell phone rang within minutes of her sitting down. She groaned. “Good thing my workload is easier today.”

She glanced down to see the caller was Denton. “Denton Hamilton, what can I do for you?”

His hesitant voice came through. “I hate to be a bother, but I’ve tried calling Brock and Cole, but neither call appears to be going through.”

She frowned. “That’s odd. I’ll bring the numbers down myself, and we can double-check them.” She grabbed her checklist and headed toward Denton’s room.

He sat on his bed, his legs hanging over the edge. He had switched to shorts, perhaps for some of the medical tests or physical therapy or just to feel more comfortable. But to see his calf mangled like that, she fought back a wave of sympathy. His foot was also completely covered in scar tissue, and it appeared to be missing part of a joint. She glanced at his face and realized he had watched her reaction.

He kicked out his bum leg. “What do you think?”

She shrugged and sent him a gentle smile. “I’ve seen worse.”

He looked at her, his gaze searching her face until he realized she was serious, and he relaxed. “I guess I don’t have to hide it, do I?”

She shook her head. “Never. Please do not hide anything. Find a level of comfort, and learn to live with it. You can relax. We’ve all seen much worse injuries. We’ll do the best we can to help you get back to a normal life.”

He smiled. “And part of that is contacting my friends.” He held out his phone.

She checked to see if she’d switched some of the digits. “I’m so sorry. I’m mildly dyslexic, and phone numbers are sometimes a challenge.” She carefully brought up each of the numbers, then checked her list, and together they watched as she put in the right numbers.

“Try that now.” Inside, she winced at her mistake. She hadn’t done that for a while. But when she got tired or busy, her brain automatically switched numbers on her. It was frustrating.

Denton tried Brock first, and when the man answered, she watched happiness bloom across Denton’s face. He waved at her and mouthed the words, Thank you.

She nodded, gave him a smile and turned to leave. Behind her, she could hear him chatting with Brock. There was such love and friendship in his voice, and she was happy for them.
Dale Mayer. Denton (Kindle Locations 203-255). Valley Publishing Ltd.

Hannah also has slight dyslexia and that becomes the beginning of her friendship with Denton when the numbers in his phone for his friends Cole and Brock don’t work.

I love the progression, both for Denton as a patient and for him and Hannah as a new couple. These two are great together!

I really have to catch up with Brock and Cole now. I feel like I’ve missed a lot. Oh and I wonder what happened with the walk-in cat…I hope it finds a permanent place here at Hathaway House.

5 Contented Purrs for Dale!

Dale Mayer

Dale Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author best known for her Psychic Visions and Family Blood Ties series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Second Chances, SKIN), her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life and Charmin Marvin Romantic Comedy series).

She honors the stories that come to her – and some of them are crazy and break all the rules and cross multiple genres!

To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series. All her books are available in print and ebook format.

By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Dale Mayer

One damaging relationship in his life refuses to end when the woman insists it’s not over between them for her. Marsha makes Macklin’s life hell…until she turns up dead and the evidence points straight at him.

As the new detective on the Coronado Police force, Alex is determined to make a good impression on her superiors and colleagues. That goal is thwarted by Macklin, who’s the chief suspect in her murder investigation–and someone she longs to know a whole lot better. Whether she wants to or not, she can’t let herself foolishly forget that his last girlfriend now occupies an ice-cold bed at the morgue.

During his thorough interrogation at the precinct by the sexy-beyond-belief detective, Macklin finds himself furious…and intrigued. Seems, alive or dead, Marsha is determined to make his life miserable. Alex intends to find out the truth, and, as an elite warrior himself, he admires her grift and ethics in pursuit of the answers. Damn that she’s the first woman in a long time he’d love to get to know better.

With no other option, Macklin has to help the detective solve the mystery–hopefully before Alex has no choice but to charge him with murder.

When we met Macklin we got some hints as to his ex and the wild things she did. In this book we find out all about that relationship and how truly weird she was.

As Mac prepares to return to duty Corey, Ryder and Caitlyn are out for coffee when they are approached by the police. Apparently Mac’s ex Marsha has been murdered and he is the number one suspect.

Mac goes in for questioning and finds himself intrigued by Alex, a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a very long time.

This is a favorite scene.

Macklin snorted. “I now live by a couple rules. One of those is, don’t if you think they’re crazy. Because obviously I’ve lived that.”

She barely held back a smirk at his first comment.

“The second is, I don’t go out with girls unless I know them really, really well.”

The second surprised her. She studied the man carefully. “No one-night stands? No short-term weekends? No girls overseas?”

At each question Macklin shook his head. “No,” he said flatly. “When you’re up against somebody with a serious problem like Marsha’s, it makes you very hesitant to move forward.”

She nodded. “Do you know any of her friends? Relatives? Enemies? Who might’ve hated her?”

Mac’s response was instant. He shook his head. “I’ve never met anybody else in her circle. I never met any family or other friends. The fact that she’s done this to me means she very likely did it to somebody else, which would make that other person a likely suspect.”

“Which also puts you exactly in the suspect seat as well.”

He nodded his head in acknowledgment. “Which is why I’m here. But I did not kill her.”

“Something else makes you a whole lot guiltier than you may like.”

He leaned across the table, his sheer size intimidating. But it was the cold clarity in his gaze that made her swallow hard. “Explain,” he said in a very soft voice.

Rather than explain, she pulled one of the crime scene photographs from the file and placed it in front of him. Written in blood at the site of Marsha’s murder was his name. He leaned back, swore, and said, “Wouldn’t it be just like that bitch. The last thing she does is incriminate me. As if she couldn’t make my life bad enough while she was alive, so she has to make sure she keeps the torture on after she’s dead.”

He turned his gaze to the far corner of the room, his mind occupied with what he’d seen. His shoulders sagged, and he turned to look at Alex and said, “I shouldn’t have said that. I think she was probably mentally unstable, but maybe that wasn’t her fault. I’m sorry she’s dead. I’m sorry that, in her lifetime, she couldn’t get the help she needed. But I still didn’t kill her. And whoever wrote my name could’ve been her killer.”

“Which is why I’m asking the next question.”

He waited, his gaze unwavering.

“Who hates you enough to see you get charged with murder?”

He pinched his lips and stared for a long moment, but she didn’t drop her gaze. She searched his eyes for the truth. She didn’t see any deceit. She saw no lies. No hesitation, no searching for answers or a plausible excuse.

“I don’t know. I’ve been in the military a long time. I was off on medical leave for three months this year. I don’t think I have anyone personally who hates me. However, if a terrorist happened to be on American soil who knows about me, he could easily have targeted me. The problem is, he would’ve been after everybody else in my unit too.”

She tapped her finger on the folder, thinking about that. “Give me the names of the men in your unit. And who else met her.”

Mac gave her six names without hesitation.

“If you think of any more, let me know. I’ll run down these names, verify your story, and take it from there.”

He looked at her and asked, “Am I free to go?”

She nodded, and then her smile fell away. She knew he wouldn’t appreciate the next hit. “I need you to stay in town for the moment.”

A thundercloud swept across his face.

She expected that and looked for any sign of loss of control.

But instead he groaned and said, “Fair enough. But please hurry up. I’m finally cleared medically to go back to work next week.”

She stood and said, “I’m working on it.” Alex shook his hand and walked him back to the waiting area. Caitlyn caught sight of Alex, lifted a hand, and waved. Alex let her guard drop, and she smiled at her friend and waved back. She stood for a long moment and then realized she was attracting attention.

She turned and headed back to her office.

Why the hell did the most interesting man she’d seen in over a decade end up being a murder suspect?

Just her bloody luck.
Mayer, Dale. SEALs of Honor: Books 14-16 . Valley Publishing Ltd. Kindle Locations (2521-2555). Kindle Edition.

Alex has more than one case though, there’s also been a spree of break-ins in military housing. The strange thing, nothing was taken and the occupants had mostly just been scared by the intruder who ran.

Of course the guys won’t leave things totally to the police and Mac calls Alex with theories. The flirting is fun and the chemistry is palpable between these two. Alex just has to clear him, so maybe they can start something more.

Lots of twists and turns, and we see Mason in this one, although Corey is more involved. Breakfasts, lunches and a dinner bring Alex and Mac closer to a relationship that definitely has sizzle.

I can’t wait to read the next book in this series!

5 Contented Purrs for Dale!

Dale Mayer

Dale Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author best known for her Psychic Visions and Family Blood Ties series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Second Chances, SKIN), her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life and Charmin Marvin Romantic Comedy series).

She honors the stories that come to her – and some of them are crazy and break all the rules and cross multiple genres!

To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series. All her books are available in print and ebook format.

By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Dale Mayer

Ryder spent his career defending his nation and helping others… After he lost the one good thing in his life, he spent every waking hour trying to forget…

After a mission goes south and a friend is hurt, Ryder checks in at medical for an update on his condition only to find Caitlyn working there. It doesn’t take long for the same damn feelings to overwhelm him. She’s not his any longer, but maybe they can be friends…

Friendship is the last thing Caitlyn wants, but it’s a start. She screwed up – in a big way – and she’ll do anything to get her best friend back in her life. Even work overseas for a chance to see him. But when the outpost is attacked and medical supplies start to go missing they have something bigger to worry about.

When she’s kidnapped, all bets are off and both Ryder and Caitlyn have to find out what’s really important before they lose it all … and each other.

Caitlyn made a big mistake not contacting Ryder after a spectacular weekend that ended with his declaring his love for her. She’d walked out but she did so because she was overwhelmed. Now so much time has passed and she’s made another big mistake by getting Mac to take her to a barbeque where she thought she’d be able to talk to him. Instead he left to avoid her.

A military nurse, Caitlyn is once again deployed, she’s also where Ryder and his team are assigned. Although she is in the same camp, running into them isn’t easy with tensions so high in the area.

Mac is injured on a mission and Ryder discovers Caitlyn is on base. Not happy with that but sort of understanding that she wanted to be close to Mac.

When the base is attacked, Caitlyn is injured, but doesn’t realize it until the rush is over. With a concussion and stitches she is sent to rest for twenty-four hours. Ryder some how finds himself watching over her, he couldn’t stay away.

This is a favorite scene before he’s called out again.

It was Devlin who gave him the sagest advice. “Walk forward because it’s right for you. But don’t avoid going back and saying goodbye because you’re scared.”

Startled, Ryder looked at him. “I’m not scared.” What a concept. He figured Devlin might’ve been joshing him. But when he took that serious, hard look straight on, he realized Devlin could see a whole lot deeper than Ryder wanted him to. He shrugged, repeating, “I’m not scared.”

There was silence from all the others.

He protested. “Why would I be? It’s not like she’s in my life anymore.”

“Then go tell her that you’re leaving. We’ll wait here.”

The men literally stopped. He glared at them, shrugged and said, “Fine.”

He walked back the short distance to her quarters and stepped inside. He saw her face light up before she recognized recognized who it was, and she sank back.

Pain punched him in the gut. “Not quite who you were expecting?” he said, trying to mask the bitterness in his tone. “The guys seem to think I should tell you that I’m heading back out in a couple hours, but, from the look on your face, they need not have worried as you don’t care.”

“That’s not fair,” she protested. “I’m happy to see you. But you didn’t look like you wanted to see me. So of course I stopped smiling.”

He snorted, not totally convinced.

She frowned. “How bad is it out there?” She swung her feet around and sat up.

“You’re not returning to work, so it doesn’t matter.” Seeing the lost look on her face, he sighed.

“I still want to know.”

“We’re reinforcing the allies’ numbers until their own men arrive. They took a major hit yesterday.”

“We took a hit at camp. So I’m sure they were hit much harder.” She touched her stitches. “Maybe I should go back out.”

In two steps he was at her side. He grabbed her by her shoulders firmly but gently. “Like hell,” he said, biting off his words. “Stay here and get better. Then go home.”

She stood, thrust her chin up and glared at him. “Like hell,” she repeated his wording. “I’m here to help. I’m not hiding away in my tent if my services are needed elsewhere.”

The two of them, nose to nose, gazes hard against hard, glared at each other until finally she sagged. “But at the moment, I don’t think I’d make it.”

He let his hands fall away. She collapsed back against her bed, pulling the covers against her shoulders. shoulders. “You guys go take off. I don’t need you anyway.”

He frowned, not liking the hurt tone in her voice. “You’ve done well without me. I highly doubt you’ll miss me now.”

She snorted. “Like you know anything.”

He’d already walked several steps away, but, at her words, he turned and looked at her. “Was there something I should know?”

“Would you believe me?”

“If you told me the truth, I would.” He shoved his hands on his hips and glared at her. “I know you were in my bed. We had the best weekend we could possibly have wanted. I told you how I loved you. How I’ve always loved you. Yet you walked away, and you kept on walking. Obviously you didn’t want any more of me or what I had to offer because you never once picked up the phone and called me.” He upped the wattage of his glare. “How’s that for the truth? Or do you have something to add?”

Devlin’s voice called from outside. “Ryder, we’re leaving now. Let’s go.”
Mayer, Dale. SEALs of Honor: Books 14-16 . Valley Publishing Ltd. Kindle Locations (499-526). Kindle Edition.

Caitlyn needs to find a way to explain everything that went through her mind after his declaration of love. However with things heating up in the area, they never seem to get the chance for the privacy needed for that discussion.

I couldn’t put this one down, so much going on and so much pain both emotional and physical. Both wanting more but cautious. I really loved the slow build and the patience Ryder shows.

I am already reading Macklin, as it’s next in this three book collection.

5 Contented Purrs for Dale!

Dale Mayer

Dale Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author best known for her Psychic Visions and Family Blood Ties series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Second Chances, SKIN), her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life and Charmin Marvin Romantic Comedy series).

She honors the stories that come to her – and some of them are crazy and break all the rules and cross multiple genres!

To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series. All her books are available in print and ebook format.