“Navy SEAL’s Match” by Amber Leigh Williams is a Harlequin Superromance that is part of the ‘Fairhope, Alabama’ series and features Gavin Savitt, whose military service left him with both physical and emotional wounds. The unexpected contacts with his best friend’s sister, Mavis Bracken, help him deal with some of his challenges, but this may not be enough to keep him from repeating his pattern of fleeing from those who care about him.

This contemporary military romance has one of my favorite tropes, a wounded hero, and the author does a great job of depicting not only his challenges but some of the impact on those who care about him. I love Mavis’ quirky personality and her unconventional approach to various problems but I thought her handicap was a little glossed over and I was a little troubled about some of the blowback the pair had to deal with from those who should have been supportive. I understand the protective instincts, but I thought some of the actions were excessive and some of the following scenes seemed to be a little rushed. The parental issues that the hero has to deal with are creepy and didn’t seem to flow well with the rest of the story, even though they explain elements of Gavin’s pattern of behavior. The paranormal aspect of the story imparted an interesting twist, but I wish it had been expounded upon more.

Nonetheless, this story had a great combination of humor, romance, and a couple of appealing animals, and I was quickly invested in the relationship between the main characters as well as entertained by several of the secondary ones. This tale is part of a series and can be read as a stand-alone story but I have to wonder whether some of my reservations about the pacing come from not having read the previous books and being unfamiliar with much of the backstory. I like the author’s characters and I will be looking for more of her stories.