3.5 StarsThe Valentine's Arrangement immediately appealed to me for a couple of reasons. One, I find there to be something so absolutely sexy about tattoo artists. Second, I really have never seen the appeal in a "man in uniform" and I wanted to experience it. Throw those two things together and hey, maybe sparks fly, right?I can say sparks flew. I can't say that they blew up into some uncontrollable bonfire. The Valentine's Arrangement is not quite that type of book.Ronnie has been wronged, in pretty bad way. Because of that, she has developed a tough skin and it takes some heavy doses of determined shrapnel to penetrate her barriers. "You can stop fucking me in your mind now."Kale meets Ronnie when he wants to be inked for the first time. He didn't know he would be falling into the world of a 'saucy, outspoken and stunning' firecracker of an artist. He also didn't think he wouldn't be able to get her out of his mind. Kale doesn't do relationships. He does deployments and he doesn't think it fair to get involved with a woman when he can't put her first. Cue it... 'awwwww'.Yep, Kale is a keeper ladies. "You changed something inside me, something I didn't ever think I would want, or feel- but you did, and now I can't go back." Kale is only home for a short respite and wants that respite to be full of Ronnie in his bed. He manages to worm under her armor enough to get her to agree to a 'sex only' deal until he leaves again for Iraq. But that arrangement doesn't go as either of them had planned.This is real sex. It's hot but it is somewhat tame. If you look for a kink factor in your sexy books, look away. You won't get it here. You will get a bit of an adorable love story between a couple of reluctant lovers. There is some added drama thrown in that I could have done without but the sweet factor mostly made up for that. You'll get a story that I can imagine a bunch of military wives/girls can relate to . You'll get a story about a real life type hero and real life type scorned woman just trying to find a love that fits.Like I said, it may not blow you away but it will probably still gently pull on the heart strings and bring a smile to your face.
