Title:  Terms of Surrender
Series:  Rocky Mountain Romance #2
Author:  Sheila Seabrook
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  October 2, 2013
Publisher:
My Rating:  5 stars
Source:  Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

A woman in need…
ER nurse Harley Jane Davis has dedicated her life to helping others. Now she’s the one in trouble, and the only person she can rely on is Gage Toryn—the man she’s secretly been in love with for years.

A man on the edge…
Gage would do anything for Harley, except give in to the hungry passion that sparks between them. He’s hiding a terrible secret, one guaranteed to destroy any chance at a relationship. And even though Harley haunts his dreams and makes him want to be a better man, he knows she could never love him if she learned about his ugly past.

Family, future, forever…
When a situation with Gage’s brother endangers Harley and his nieces, Gage offers them refuge in his home—and the battered pieces of his heart. But can he overcome his fear of commitment and open up about the past? Or will his secret destroy his last chance to have a relationship—and a real family—with the only woman he’s ever loved?

Read on for my thoughts on Terms of Surrender.  No true spoilers, promise.

We first met Harley and Gage as secondary characters in Always Remember.  This is their story, and what an adventure it truly is.  But this one is going to be tricky in not giving away spoilers – so, this review might be shorter than usual because of what I don’t want to say.

Harley landed herself in a heap of trouble just by helping a neighbor.  The aftermath of that afternoon will shake her up for awhile, and then along comes reluctant knight Gage on this trusty steed.. ok, a rusty truck but still he’s there to lend a shoulder, a place to stay and comfort.  What he cannot offer is his heart.  There is a family issue that he despises and is afraid of at the same time.  Harley has been half in love with Gage for a long time, but she’s seen that it’s not likely to go anywhere – but a girl can dream.

Harley’s twin sister, Hannah was married to Gage’s brother, Mike.  They had spunky, adorable and full of mischief twin daughters.  But since Hannah’s death, Mike can not bear to even look at Harley and his emotional state of mind over his wife’s death is reaching a horrifying breakdown.  After a potentially dangerous incident, Harley and Gage bring the twins back to his home and plan to temporarily take care of their nieces.

Gage is discovering that having the equivalent of a family around day after day isn’t as difficult as he had feared, in fact he kind of enjoyed it all.  But all is not smooth going with Gage’s mother and father, or with Mike and the tensions are rising, soon an emotional explosion will rock everyone.

Terms of Surrender is an emotionally charged story.  We have mischievous twin girls, who are around 4 years old – yeah, into everything, whirlwinds, never meaning true harm but they’re kids and they get into stuff that they shouldn’t.  The story involves the ways that their grandfather and their father react to them being kids full of mischief.  At the heart of this is the safety of the twins and Harley.  And the growing feelings between Gage and Harley, a few very steamy scenes and over all two people falling in love in the middle of chaos.

I truly wish I could allow myself to be less vague – but I don’t want to tell you the story, I want you to read it because it is truly a laugh out loud, say “awww”, be afraid for characters, cheering on a love meant to be and understanding that kids will be kids… and deserve patience and love – nothing more… kind of story.  I’m sure you can find reviews that will tell you more, like on Goodreads, but not here.

I do hope you take a risk and pick up Terms of Surrender.  It’s a lovely, charming and engaging story of life – how it gets out of control and how to trust yourself enough to love someone.

Available in paperback and for the Kindle