Everyday, Average Jones by Suzanne Brockmann

Backtracking a bit on my way to reading Suzanne Brockmann's Tall Dark and Dangerous series, I picked up Everyday, Average Jones which is the fourth book in the series and the story of Lt. Harlan "Cowboy" Jones. It's so weird how Brockmann keeps these stories so separate from each other, not giving away anything that happened in the previous books.

The book starts as the Alpha Squad inserts itself on a rescue mission. They are picking up three hostages at a US embassy. One of the hostages is Melody Evans, who has disguised herself as a man to avoid being tortured or abused. When the team has to split up, Harvard and Cowboy team up to take Melody with them to safety. Melody immediately bonds with Cowboy with an underlining of attraction that blooms as soon as they reach safety.

Jump seven months after the fact and we have Alpha Squad getting ready for the FinCOM/SEAL counterterrorist training that is the backdrop to Harvard's romance. Since the team has been relocated to Virginia for a while, Cowboy decides to call up Melody, who lives in Massachusetts, regardless of the fact that she asked him to never contact her again (this after spending 6 nights of pleasure in his arms). He has not been able to get her out of his mind and has spent the time as a lost puppy searching for home, so this assignment gives him the perfect excuse to call her.

Melody has also been remembering Cowboy, but for a whole different reason. She is pregnant. When Cowboy calls she has no idea what to do and tells him to basically stay away, but Cowboy has other plans and shows up in Appleton, MA to find a very large, Melody. Being teh guy that he is, he is determined to do the right thing and marry her but she puts the stop to that idea. Now he has to find a way to convince Melody that he is just your Everyday, Average Guy. Not even in his dreams is this guy average! LOL!

The story was cute and Jones was one of the dreamiest of the team, but he also shows how very young he is. He really didn't want to get married and it was obvious that Melody knew it, so she was in no way going to let him sacrifice himself. But them she was also being pig headed by not wanting him involved in any aspect of her life. That was not going to happen! So the back and forth got on my nerves a bit, but it was still a sweet story.

Grade: B-