#Review: The Colonel's Daughter by Amy Andrews - 3.5 Wine Glasses

Title: The Colonel’s Daughter
Series: Men of the Zodiac #8
Author: Amy Andrews
Format: Paperback & eBook,198 pages
Published: August 10, 2015 by Entangled: Indulgence
ASIN: B0122RZTFY
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Source: Netgalley
Reviewer: Kimberly
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Wine Glasses

Sign: Scorpio

Ivy Danforth is out from under her Colonel father's overprotective control, and she's making it count. Big time. She's taken the summer off to travel through Australia with her bestie and experiencing all that life has to offer—when you’re not under constant military surveillance. She wants to end her summer with some sexy fun, and she has just the hottie in mind.

Seth Rodrigo is ex-Special Forces working undercover and keeping an eye on Ivy as a special favor to her father. All he has to do is not give the game away and reveal who he really is. And especially not give into the hunger that's burning through his careful control...

Then they're forced into protective custody. Alone. Together. For four days.
And this time, the Colonel's daughter isn't taking no for an answer... 

Kimberly’s Thoughts:
Ivy has a couple months to escape her over protective father and live her life the way she wants to. Working as a bartender, she gets a taste of life and finds herself attracted to one of the bouncers. Dean is more than a bouncer however, his real name is Seth and he is working undercover for Ivy's father. The Colonel once saved Seth's life and as a favor he is watching over Ivy. When Ivy witnesses a drug dealer's execution, Seth's bodyguard duties ramp up. Ivy and Seth end up spending some one on one time together and Ivy pushes for it to become high quality time. Seth wants to tell Ivy the truth but with their safety in question and Ivy's father breathing down his neck, he is stuck between a rock and a very hard place.

The Colonel's Daughter was a little bit of right book at right time for me; it was a quick read, engaging, and sexy, all things I was looking for. That being said, the first half worked immensely better than the second. The story starts right out the gate with some flirtatious looks from Ivy and Seth trying to remain aloof and then Ivy witnessing a murder. Our couple ends up in protective custody stranded in a hotel for a couple days. While we do have Seth lying to Ivy about his true identity, I liked how the author showed his visible struggle with it and how he refused to have sex with Ivy until she knew his true identity. They spend a couple days expanding on their initial insta-lust with talking and learning about one another. These moments have Ivy making small and not so small sexual advances and teasing towards Seth peppered in between.

Seth had more depth to him than the average alpha guy of these types of stories. His background painted a lonely stoic boy who believably grew into a stoic distanced man. His responses, talking to Ivy, and overall personality were a treat to read. Ivy's desire for freedom was a little much to take at times; she had a tendency to come off as bratty. The reasons her father had for fearing for her safety were legitimate and in turn made Ivy dismissing him seem petulant and even younger than her 23yrs old age. Together, I liked their flow and dynamic, they were at turns cute and sexy.

As I mentioned, I really liked the beginning but the second half almost seemed like a rehash of the first. Seth and Ivy have to hide out again, except this time at Seth's house and Seth is still trying to fight his attraction to her. The action plot points also don't really stand up to inspection, why did Seth have to wear colored contacts, they're in danger because a drug dealer put a hit out on them, no wait!, people connected to Ivy's father's line of work are being targeted, err wait!, it's a misguided co-worker? A little too many hands in the cookie jar made Ivy and Seth's circumstances seem a bit fantastical.

However, if you focus on strictly Ivy and Seth's relationship, how they interact with each other, you won't be disappointed. There was an ease to the author's dialogue that will have me looking up her other works. I haven't read the other books in the series and it didn't lesson my enjoyment of this one at all. If looking for a quick steamy read with a heroine who is still experiencing some growing pains but a very likable hero, the writing here is quality for a quick grab up.