Sometimes heroes are fat heads. They will face bullets, knives, deadly mountains but the run as fast as they can from commitment. Viktor Zavodny was one such hero. As a navy SEAL, he faced all brands of enemies out to kill him and his team but he ran from Aiden, the man he loved for years, as fast as he could. I enjoyed this action packed story. The pace never lagged and it was good to see some of the guys from Ms Scott's Sanctuary series. If you've missed the Sanctuary series, it's a must read. I liked the relationship that Monika and Viktor had and the way that Viktor stepped in as a father figure for Ben. Aiden was a little too patient with Viktor in my opinion. I'd have hung his overly macho ass out to dry when he left after recovering from his injuries and hung my hat up with Sam. It wouldn't have made a great story but it would have been a sensible one. This story is longer than most of Ms Scott's books and I hope the trend continues throughout the series. Definitely worth the time to get caught up in the easy writing style and the signature HEA. ( )

R.J. Scott is, I admit, one of my "go-to" authors. She's the one I know will give me what I want; easy to read, interesting characters that grab me, romance, hot sex and a great story. I love her style to put it more bluntly perhaps. These are the kind of stories I can lose myself in and relax with. And again she delivers in this one.

Aiden and Viktor are just what I hoped for. Added to that is the bonus of a mystery that needs to be solved. Pure escapism, and just what I was looking and hoping for.

Of course I'd like more... but then I'm greedy and I'm never quite ready to let these guys go off on their own lol. ( )

‘A Reason to Stay' is a great start to what promises to be an exciting new series by RJ Scott, focused on military men and the guys they fall in love with. While not a ‘Sanctuary’ book, there are some similarities, and even an appearance of a guy or two from that series. It’s not a problem if you haven’t read any of them, since all the information you need is contained within this novel, but if you haven’t, and you end up liking this one as much as I did, then buy and read the 'Sanctuary’ series, I think it is well worth it. But back to ‘A Reason to Stay'. It’s much like a murder mystery, starting with two dead bodies, then quickly escalating to a bigger problem. There are tough men, and the two main characters have a history together, some of which we get to see. One is more stubborn than the other, and the way they battle it out is incendiary. Get ready for some major emotions, denial of true feelings, and explosive action all over the place – both in and out of the bedroom!

Aiden may be a tough sheriff’s deputy, but deep-down he admits he has feelings—particularly for Viktor — even if he wishes he didn’t. It started with Viktor being his first secret love over one summer in high school, when neither of them was out, only for Viktor to rebuff his affections and sign up to join the Navy with the express goal to become a SEAL. Fourteen years later they have another brief affair when Viktor comes home to his sisters to heal from severe injuries — only for Aiden to blurt an “I love you” and Viktor running for the hills. Aiden tells himself he has had it that time, but then Viktor reappears two years later when his nephew is mysteriously wounded and found in the snow next to a dead guy at the foot of the local mountain. Aiden finds out he is just as vulnerable to the man as before. They argue, they fight, Viktor admits nothing, and Aiden tries to ignore his feelings as best he can. It takes a joint expedition up the snowed-in mountain that puts both their lives at risk for Aiden to face the truth.

Viktor, Viktor, Viktor. This SEAL is a very tough nut to crack. It took me a while to understand what Aiden even sees in the man. He is gruff verging on brutally cold, does not admit he has any feelings at all, for anyone, and thinks his purpose in life is to be a big, bad SEAL and blow stuff up. He does love his sister and his nephew and comes to their aid as quickly as he can when the trouble starts. He is suspicious, cleverly connects a few dots, gets his SEAL buddies and some connections from Sanctuary involved—in short, he is Mr. Action Man himself and does anything and everything to figure out what is going on to get his nephew into such trouble. He’ll even work closely with Aiden if that is what it takes. The one thing he will not do is admit he has any feelings for Aiden (it’s all just physical, according to the propaganda in his head), and it took me a while to figure out he does, he just has no clue what to do about them. He has a lot of growing up to do, that much is certain.

If you like mysterious goings-on with deadly consequences, if two men who are too tough to admit they love each other sound like an exciting addition to all the mystery-solving going on, and if you’re looking for an intense, emotionally charged read that is as tension-filled as it is hot, then you will probably like this novel. And the relief at the end? It’s all worth it. I certainly hope there will be more books in this series — and soon!


NOTE: This book was provided by Love Lane Books for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
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First off, the cover snob in me would be remiss by not starting off by saying HOLY COVER WIN! *sigh* Aren't they both just dreamy? I loved having such clear pictures of both MCs going in. Yeah, some see that as being lazy, but it was perfect for me in this case and in my mind set at the time. And that delicious blurb had me jumping-up-and-down excited for months before the release date. I can't get enough of my beloved Law Enforcement officials and the Military Men make me crazy in the best possible way. Putting the two together is what I like to called a M/M Romance "Perfect Storm."

[b:A Reason To Stay|20559181|A Reason To Stay (Heroes #1)|R.J. Scott|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1389873413s/20559181.jpg|38991816] gives us a Navy SEAL, MC Viktor Zavodny, and a Sheriff's Deputy, MC Lieutenant Aiden Coleman, both on the rebound from each other and thrown together in the hopes of solving a case. This leads to some absolutely delicious friends to lovers to enemies confrontations:

He caught Aiden as he attempted to say something, and it was so easy to press the attack and lick inside Aiden’s mouth. For a split second, he sensed a shift in Aiden and his tongue tentatively tangling low groan of pleasure in his throat, but as quickly as it started, the kiss ended. Aiden shoved him away, and Viktor watched as Aiden wiped his mouth dramatically with the sleeve of his coat.

“Fuck you, Zavodny,” he snapped.

Viktor let his arms fall loosely to his side. “Or I could fuck you,” he said.

He never saw the punch coming.

Oh, the tension remained quite high between our boys for a good part of this book and it was crazy-hot to read and watch them dance around each other. *fans self*

Now, you will have to read the book to see which MC was in the right and which was in the wrong, or if it was equal miscommunication, or what-have-you as far as why these two obviously hot-for-each-other boys weren't together, but when the time came for the two of them to "see the light" and re-couple, I was sadly disappointed. Everything in my eyes to that point was just perfect, but that moment was ruined by a quick resolution with no apologies and no groveling *pulls hair out* and a couple of quick blow jobs. *sobs* (No! That's not romantic! That's actually not even hot!) It didn't work for me and left me cold. Bummer, because everything else about this book had me waving the FUCK, YEAH! flag.

I really, really enjoyed this book, but did get caught up on the resolution. I am still going to recommend it to M/M Romance fans. I know I'm a bit of a softie and I needed a bit more groveling before these two reunited, but I know the great majority of you will love this book and really dig the friends to lovers to enemies to friends to lovers to enemies, etc. story line. ( )