My heart broke for Avery. She has a fear of people leaving her. And Holden is guilty of doing just that over and over again. If only she'd tell him of these fears. Then at least he'd know how she truly felt for him. I tell you what though, I was worried about the ending. Phew is all that I'll say.

Read the Entangled Brazen line only if you’re prepared to see the recycling trope after trope with tons of heat. I can’t remember how many lazy afternoons I’ve whiled away this way and for quite a bit of them, I’ve still had a rollicky good time because they’re such easy reads. ‘One Week with the Marine’ slots into one of this particular shelf with ease because it’s just that: absolutely predictable with a woman fearing love and commitment and her friends-with-benefits guy wanting more, but a fun one nonetheless with the road blocks and obstacles that you expect.

Avery's panicked ways of creating distance got somewhat extreme, along with the repetitive self-recriminating statements of how she didn’t want to commit yet couldn’t find it in herself to hurt her good friends. There’s more than a touch of All McBeal-like neuroticism in Avery though and some of it felt like a person who simply couldn’t (or didn’t want) grow up when needed to, beyond her mummy-issues that she’d been using as excuses for too long.

I liked the fairly unusual idea that Holden and Avery were long in a deeper than friend-with-benefits type of relationship for years whether they wanted to admit it or not and they’d really belonged to each other before the status-quo changed permanently and on paper. Holden’s aim to get it officially stamped—with Avery squirrelling away every time he wants to bring up this topic—makes the chase frustrating because neither could really get up to speed when it seems as thought they’re in the wrong gear all the time. But the ending and the conflict are practically written in stone. One pushes; the other runs. It comes to a head when Avery finally realises that she needs to start adulting with the help of a friend.

Thankfully, for Avery, marriage isn’t quite in the cards just yet; the story ends with a doable compromise for both parties and a HEA that is realistically written. But since the Brazen line is a quick ‘pick me up’ so to speak, ‘One Week with the Marine’ is a decent read, just not a stellar one. If this is really is the start of a series, I’m already curious to see what else Allison Gatta has in store for for the sequel.