Skin Deep (I-Team 5.5) by Pamela Clare

Title: Skin Deep
Author: Pamela Clare
Series: I-Team 5.5
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense
Source: Personal E-book purchase
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Sexual Meter: Sex scenes, acts of sensuality
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Broken on the inside
Megan Hunter has worked hard to get back on her feet, leaving the nightmare of her teenage years behind. The last thing she wants or needs in her life is a man. But when she is attacked by someone from her past, a scarred stranger intervenes, saving her life and that of her little girl. Looks can be deceiving, for despite the man’s rough appearance, she feels safe with him. And for the first time in her life, she knows the stirrings of desire.
Broken on the outside
Nathaniel West paid a high price serving with the Marines in Afghanistan. He returned to his family’s ranch in the Colorado mountains to heal—and be alone. Disfigured as he is, he has put all thoughts of sex and romance aside. But something about Megan brings him back to life, heats his blood, makes him feel like a man again. As danger pursues her, and the truth about her past is revealed, he vows to protect her—and to heal her wounded spirit.
But confronting the past is never easy—especially when it’s carrying a gun. Megan will have to learn to trust Nate to survive and to claim a passion that is much more than … Skin Deep.
Includes a Bonus Story, Marc & Julian Make a Beer Run
Ride along with Marc, Julian, Zach, Gabe, Reece, Nate, and Joaquin as a beer run turns out to be more than they bargained for.

I saw this book as I checking out the lendable books that were available from my Nook Friends. The premise of the story sounded so good that I just had to have it. I’ve read one other book in the I-Team series and I really enjoyed it very much. If you haven’t checked out this series I highly recommend it.

We actually meet Megan in an earlier book in the series, one that I haven’t read yet and I actually didn’t know this until I was reading reviews for this book on Goodreads. Megan has her own set of demons that she’s dealing with most of them stem from events that happened to her when she was younger. Megan is also a single mother who is trying to do right by her little girl Emily. But Megan does have 1 big problem and his name is Donny.

Nate West is a former Marine who is dealing with the burns that came from an IED. He has always admired Megan from afar but when Megan is attacked in the parking lot on her way to pick up Emily from pre-school he steps in and rescues her. After reading a little bit about Nate you learn that he’s been “burned” by women before and he really wasn’t ready to through his hat in the ring yet when it came to dating but Megan saw past his burns and he eventually gets over himself.

The romance between Nate and Megan starts off pretty slowly and escalates pretty quickly once Megan takes Nate up on his open invitation. I really enjoyed all the secondary characters that are in the book very much. Every character adds a little something extra to the book to make it just that much more appealing. The drama and suspense kept building through out the story as well. The only issue that I had with the book was you know at the beginning of the book who the bad guy is. That slightly detracted from the story for me.

Rating: B