By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Heather Long

Beautiful, I love you. No ands, ifs, or buts. No beating around the bush. Will you marry me?

From the first proposal on the playground when we were five to the one two weeks ago, Coop has always been there for me.

Baby Girl, the only thing I’ve ever wanted is you. Forever.

Protector. Best friend. Lover. Jake’s a part of me in a way I can’t define. Even when we were apart, I knew we would find each other.

This is my love song for you, Angel.

Music is Ian’s love language. He doesn’t just wrap me up to keep me safe from the world, he pulled me into his. He shared his love and the knots that bind our hearts are beyond anything I could have imagined.

From the day I met you—you were the one, Babe. The only one.

Archie’s my hero in some ways, he pushes and he demands. At the same time, he savors and teases. He’s a builder and a fixer. I had no idea that the day he arrived was the day the last piece missing in my world would lock into place.

Marry us.

My name is Frankie Curtis, the four men I love more than anything else in this world want me to marry them. They want forever.

They want me.

If you haven’t read the other books in this series. STOP! Go back and read them, they are so very important to the progression of this relationship.

I knew this day was coming, I was anticipating it and wanted it. Now it’s here and I find myself sniffling. This is the final Untouchable book. This is Frankie, Coop, Archie, Ian and Jake getting their HEA. I am sobbing…and smiling.

I loved the opening to this book with them sky-diving. Mind you I would never jump out of a perfectly good airplane, but with them it was just another fun adventure. They do a lot of crazy things but they do it together and that’s what has made this series so perfect.

There’s a lot to be done, graduating, where to live after, planning the wedding and making sure everything is legally perfect.

I loved their family meeting to decide some of these issues, it is one of many favorites.

Here’s a peek at it.

We finished eating and then moved upstairs to our living room. Frankie curled up on one corner of the sofa, fresh wine glass in hand.

“New York,” she said finally, then glanced at us. “We stay here? Whether we live in the city or the Hamptons or Archie gets to build us a house in Westchester.”

Jake laughed and I grinned. Archie didn’t even look remotely humbled by the declaration. “I like it. And I love the idea of building us a house. We don’t need to move yet. We’re good here. But eventually, we’ll want a place to expand.”

“Agreed,” Bubba said. “Which means Coop can work on his master’s here, and we can discuss where we want to have the wedding.”

“I still say we elope,” Archie kicked back on one of the chairs and put his feet up. Jake was scrolling through movies, more to just do something than looking for real. However, we would end up watching one. “Tell no one, go get married, then come back and plan a huge party and make it a commitment ceremony or a reveal party, you know?”

“As much as I kind of like that idea,” Frankie said. “We still have three problems with that.”

“Give them to us, Babe. We can’t fix the problems without the parameters.”

A smile flashed across her face, alleviating some of the earlier melancholy. “There’s the legal issue of five people getting married.”

“We’re working on that,” Archie said. “Legal we can handle. The ceremony itself is for us, and it’s our emotional commitment.”

“Goddamn,” Jake said, then gave a low whistle of appreciation. “You’ve really grown.”

“Yeah, fuck you too,” Archie said with a smirk. Everyone laughed, even Frankie. Bubba slid over and picked her right up before settling her in his lap. When the tension drained out of her, I nodded. That was what she needed and Bubba must have felt it as she curled into him.

“Back to the wedding,” Bubba said. “We need to pick a date, a place, and who we want to officiate. Then we need to decide how formal we want to be. Do we want to say our own vows?” Bubba focused on her. “Do you want to walk down an aisle, or should you be the one at the front while the four of us walk to you?”

Oh… hey. “That’s not a bad idea,” I said. “When it comes down to it, we are the ones who pursued you.”

Frankie chuckled. “You also made me untouchable.”

“Hell yeah, we did,” Jake said with more than a little pride. “I’m still sorry that hurt your feelings, but I’m not sorry we kept the schmucks away.”

“While I’m certain she has long since forgiven us,” I jumped in. “Let’s not pick at old wounds, shall we? What were the other problems, Beautiful? You said the legal issue is one.”

“The name issue,” Frankie said. “Do we want to change any names? I mean— Frankie Curtis Brennen Benton Rhys Standish is a bit of a mouthful.”

“You can handle it,” I teased. “You handle all of us just fine, and I speak from experience.”

She flushed, but she also laughed.

“Lose the Curtis,” Archie suggested. “Then you’re Frankie Brennen Benton Rhys Standish— Mrs. Standish for short.”

There it was, the wild smile on his face and the gleam in his eyes. I got it. The idea of her being Mrs. Brennen was definitely appealing, but Archie wasn’t wrong. If we went with all the names…

“Okay, legal issues, name issues,” Jake said, ticking them off. “What’s our third problem?”

Lifting her head, Frankie studied all of us. I braced for it, because whatever it was, we’d fix it or tackle it together.

“Kids,” she said slowly. “We’ve really not talked about it since… the new year. Do we want them?”

“Hell yes,” Archie said. “Eventually. When you’re ready.”

“Agreed,” Bubba and Jake said almost in the same breath. But I caught the look she sent me. The one that said help.

“Beautiful, we’re not in a rush. Bubba’s twenty-two, we’re twenty-one, almost twenty-two. We’re not graduating for another few months, and then I’m going after my master’s degree while you take over the world, and Bubba writes the soundtrack for two evil geniuses who will be creating all the neat new tech. We have time. We want kids— when the time is right for it. What do you want?”

She sighed as Bubba rubbed her back. “Being a mom scares the hell out of me.”

“Frankie,” Jake leaned in to catch her free hand, “you are not your mother. You have never been your mother. You have that big ass heart, and you have all four of us. We’re going to love every single child we make, no matter whose sperm wins the race…”

I rolled my eyes. Really? Making sperm into a competition.

“… you’re going to be an amazing mother. Your kids are gonna be so fucking lucky to have you. That said, nothing happens until you’re ready. If that day doesn’t come, well, there’s nothing wrong with having the freedom to be naked any time of day and fuck like rabbits on the sofa if we want to.”

It was Frankie who rolled her eyes. “You guys will do that anyway.”

“Yes,” Bubba agreed. “We will. The point is that we make the decision together. No one is doing this alone. Whether it’s you taking on a more pivotal role at Standish or Coop getting licensed— those two trying to build the next best thing without blowing anything up.”

“Hey,” Archie said. “We haven’t blown anything up in months.”

“We’re also not done with the test engine,” Jake said drily. “Yet.”

Laughter spilled out of Frankie, and she tucked her head against Bubba’s shoulder. He kept rubbing her back while Jake rubbed his thumb over her palm.

“I love our family,” she said softly. “I don’t want to lose this—”

“Then we don’t,” I promised. “We keep talking, we keep working together, we build the future we want. We do it together. That doesn’t mean we won’t have hiccups or stumbles. But we pick each other up, we steady each other, we pick up the slack when someone else needs it.”

“What he said,” Jake agreed. “I love our family too. Fuck it, if names are an issue, I say we all change our names to something so we match and the only mouthful you have to deal with is us.”

That set her off laughing even as Archie groaned.
Heather Long. Farewells and Forever (Kindle Locations 363-414).

Watching Frankie, Cooper, Jake, Ian and Archie grow into maturity has been quite the journey and as I turned each page, I saw that growth become so much more.

Hank, has really become her father even after all those years of not knowing. Kelly, Chloe, Craig and Alec have just added more to the idea family. I loved the scenes with Frankie and her siblings especially the talk with Alec.

Even Eugene and Patience had to grow in these books, as grandparents they certainly messed up early on.

Eddie, well I think he’s the one who really changed the most. I got a kick out of him and Hank.

Rachel, oh how I love her!! She’s the ultimate best friend.

Jeremy and his friend Ann are cute as can be, and I loved Archie’s meeting with them.

Then there’s the guy’s families, oh how much they’ve come to understand with their son’s unconventional relationship.

There are new places, new adventures, a return to a favorite place and of course there’s scenes that practically melted my kindle.

It’s hard saying good-bye to this series, but these characters live on. In my heart, in some books Heather has planned, and in the Epilogue and bonus scenes at the end of this book.

Bravo, Heather! This series will always be a favorite.

5 Contented Purrs for Heather!

Heather Long

USA Today bestselling author, Heather Long, likes long walks in the park, science fiction, superheroes, Marines, and men who aren’t douche bags. Her books are filled with heroes and heroines tangled in romance as hot as Texas in the summertime.

From paranormal historical westerns to contemporary military romance, Heather might switch genres, but one thing is true in all of her stories–her characters drive the books.

When she’s not wrangling her menagerie of animals, she devotes her time to family and friends she considers family. She believes if you like your heroes so real you could lick the grit off their chest, and your heroines so likable, you’re sure you’ve been friends with women just like them, you’ll enjoy her worlds as much as she does.