ARC provided by the Publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
1 star rating. I didn't like this book.

Collin is raising his nine month old daughter Chloe with the help of his wto friends Gavin and Max. As his girlfriend had died while he was deployed, he had been in the Marines. Collins world was now Chloe - his peace, his rock. The sanity of being a dad outweighed the occasional insanity of Collins best friends Max and Gavin..Collin had met Gavin and Collin in basic training. Collin, Gavin, and max played Rugby. After the game Jonathan asked Collin if he was going to O’Paddys with the team. Gavin said they would be there.Than added Max was watching Chloe so they could go out. Normally Gavin preferred a quiet house to a loud barThe three of them all had something they were good at. Max was a people’s person and had the ability to make people laugh and feel comfortable. Gavin was the one who worked to take care of others - to keep them safe and healthy. He was an EMT and ex medic from their days as Marines. Quiet but honorable , someone who would always have your back. Collin did the best he could with what he was given. Anything else was just details . Addison/Addie felt she could use a blindfold and earplugs as she witnessed first one Rugby player after another party at O’Paddy's. Her best friend was McKenna/Kenna who was getting wasted quickly. Paul was McKenna’s ex and she was messed up over their break up. Paul had told McKenna she was weak. Addison had been avoiding issues like her rent being due in three weeks and she had been jobless for two days. The preschool Addison had been working at just shut down with no explanation or notice. She would never ask Mckenna for a loan and her parents had all but forgotten she existed. She would get through this Addison had no choice. What Addie needed right now was to find something to bring in a steady stream of cash to pay her rent, other expenses and the last. Addie had seen about fifteen men from a rugby team there.She focused on the man in the center of the group. Krnna said “ that’s sure a lot of man” talking about number six. Kenna said maybe she needed one of those to get her mind off Paul who was her ex. Addie than said Kenna need to go to Maine with your family and maybe avoid men all together. Find some inner peace. Than one of the rugby players hit the side of Kenna and she slid off the stool the man helped her back up. Another half hour was all Addie had left on her watch,Kenna was flirting with the guy who had helped her with she fell but for the first time since Addie had been hanging around kenna for about two years the wasn’t taking the bait.Kenna gave up and asked Addie if she was ready to go. Than Kenna said she had to go to the bathroom but it would be weak to have her best friend go with her and Paul was wrong Kenna wasn’t weak. Than a guy came up behind Addie and said he wanted to talk when Addir turned around it was number six. Addie said she had to find her friend than she saw Kenna walking toward her with the help of the guy that made her fall earlier. He said he found Kena outside the bathroom taking her dress off. Addie let the guys help her get Kenna home than rudely disced them right after. Addie’s job search had not been going well the only thing she had found was a job at Waffle House. Than a girl she had liked who worked at the coffee house she went to told Addie ashe had the perfect job for her. So Addie had an interview to be a nanny but when she went to the house she found out Collin-number six that she had disced after he and his friend had helped her was the person who needed a nanny for his sweet little girl. Bit when Collin seen Addie he said no right away. Even though Addie had a teaching degree for children. He couldn’t have someone taking care of his daughter while he worked that he wanted in his bed. Addie hurriedly left.
I really enjoyed this book. I loved Addie and Collin together . I did like how collie acted toward Addie at first but he changed his attitude after a while. I loved watching the relationship grow between them grow. It wasn’t an instalove/lust thing. Although they had a hot chemistry between them. This was a predictable but for me that didn’t take away from the book. I loved seeing the different POVs , sometimes that doesn’t work in a book but it did in this book but it did in this one. I think Collin and Addie should have worked things out sooner between each other. I choked up at times whole reading this book. I think it should have had less fdra,ma in this book. I loved the relationship that Collim and Gavin and Max had. So close and they immediately joined together to help Collin raise Chloe and do whatever needed to be done. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this book and i recommend it.

3.5 stars

This was a fun, entertaining read with some sweet and sexy mixed in. I liked the chemistry of the main characters in the beginning and the animosity between them as well. I loved the Three Men and a Baby feel the story had. That was great! I loved the male bonding and camaraderie between Collin and his friends.

I thought this was a light read and the writing was really good. It was fast paced and had good progression with some ups and downs. The descriptions were good but sometimes the flow was a bit off for me. I enjoyed the first half more than the second, for some reason I wasn’t enjoying the main characters as much. There’s a lot of back and forth tension that got to be a bit much for me but I did enjoy the emotion of it all.

Overall I though it was really good read. One of those stories that's entertaining, fun, and easy but I didn't have a real sense of urgency to finish. It was good and I enjoyed it but I wasn't completely captured. I did like all the guys and thought it was a great introduction to a series making me curious about the next two books.

All in all a great, enjoyable read. Cute and fun!

Seriously? I loved this book! It is funny and heart-warming, sweet and frustrating and those characters? Well, they are simply amazing!

This was one of those books that I read and very soon reread because I loved those people and their stories. I mean, how could one not fall for Collin and his sweet daughter? And Addison? She is a very complex and very strong character as well but you still feel that you have to protect her. Her family? Wow. What a bunch of ... ooops. At least, Collin, has a nice family to make up for her bad one but most of all, he has those two amazing friends and roommates who watch out for him and who help him care for his daughter - pink Rugby jerseys included.

Following Addi's and Collin's story, I fell in love with the whole lot of them and I am so looking forward to the next books in this series. I just have to know more about Gavin and, well, then there is Max and his obvious, uhm...let's call it a ...problem with Lia, Collin's sister. And of course there's also McKenna, I'd like to know a bit more about her and I'd love to see her fall in love again. But perhaps, well, it might be a bit better or even safer, if she wouldn't try for romance or romantic surprises, as those have a tendency to become a bit dangerous at least when she plans them....

To cut a long story short - I really loved reading this book and can definitely recommend it.

Did not post review, but was part of a spotlight blog tour - https://romanticreadsandsuch.wordpress.com/2017/02/07/spotlight-reckless-hearts/

I wanted to like this story but I couldn't get past how badly he treated her. I got that he tried to explain it away to himself but he was still awful and the fact that she kept coming back made it worse (even with her token resistance). I personally also don't get the short, incomplete sentences in the dialogue. I don't know if it is some new urban thing (I'm also not a fan of the MC, mobster, criminal, etc romances) but it makes it difficult for me to get into the hero... maybe I'm showing my age here :) I'd be willing to try something else by the author, but probably not this series (even though she really made me curious about the rest of this trio of guys!)

Just what I needed! I liked most things about this book, except maybe for the ending, which fell flat for me.
The characters, the writing style, the plot, it was all really well written. I definitely recommend this book.

A modern twist to Three Men and a Baby in this story of friendship, love and commitment. I love the ex-military brotherhood and rugby cocktail. It keeps you on your toes, is fast paced and has great chemistry. A book that leaves you squeezing your loved ones and ready to dive into the next book. I wonder which character is next!

A beautifully written story with the finest HEA I have ever read. The author has created characters who are flawed, each in their own way, but are a family, not all related by blood, who bring strength to the group as a whole. There were perfect moments between the characters that leave you with overwhelming impressions.

In Collin and Addison you'll find a sexy, fun...often times just plain humorous...intense, and over powering love. In Colin you have the epitome of the alpha male, in Addison you have his perfect compliment in her persistent independence. Together they are explosive, encompassing all their loved ones in the heartwarming fallout.

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and Netgally, I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

Not appropriate for my HS students, but I will recommend to my adult romance reader friends for sure.

I wanted to like this book; I really did. It had so much promise--the Three Men and a Baby premise (OMG, I loved that movie!), the opening scene where Collin finds his rugby jersey has turned pink in the wash, the idea of a forbidden nanny/employer romance (The Sound of Music, anyone?)--but sadly, it just didn't live up to it in the end. Baby Chloe wasn't much more than a plot moppet, character reactions were all over the place, and gosh darn it, a whole lot of stuff just didn't make sense. I put this one aside a half dozen times to read something else, hoping that it would be better when I came back to it.

It wasn't. Which is too bad, because you just know that Collin's BFFs Max and Gavin are bound to have their own books (Max's is next, if the epilogue is to be believed), and normally I'd be all over that. But this time? Can't. Do. It.

Sigh.

Rating: 2 1/2 stars / C-

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

4 Stars

Reckless Hearts is an enjoyable contemporary romance. It is the first title in the Reckless Hearts series. This title revolves around the budding enemies to lovers romance of Addy and Colin.

Colin is a brooding, gruff, moody alpha with a soft heart. He is raising his young daughter with his two best friends whom he served with in the marines. Colin is a complex character and flawed. At the start of the book he's an ass, but as the book progresses he grows on you and becomes quite endearing.

Addy is strong and smart. She hasn't had an easy life, and meets Colin when she is really struggling. I loved the bond she shared with Colin's young daughter.

Addy and Colin, have incredibly strong chemistry and their story is sweet, sexy and emotional. The banter is incredibly entertaining, especially between the secondary characters with our hero and heroine.

I look forward to reading the other titles in this series.

An interesting array of characters in Reckless Hearts had me eager to read how they matured and progressed from troubled, somewhat directionless, characters to characters with purpose and the ability to face and overcome conflicts constructively.

Chloe, nine-month-old daughter of Collin, is the most delightful part of the story. She is like the sun that the other characters orbit around. She seems to be the one thing in all their lives that brings happiness.

Addison, Chloe’s nanny, and Collin are the hero and heroine of Reckless Hearts. They are drawn to each other sexually but never seem to quite connect mentally, spiritually, or with deep emotion—and I didn’t get the feeling trust was established.

Their sexual encounters are somewhat like exhibitions in some instances—in pickup bed at drive in movie, on a slide in public park, etc. The sex scenes are often, not very romantic, and somewhat repetitive.

Collin and Addison mature in some ways, but some of the conflicts in their lives are not resolved, even though they have arisen often in the story.

The other characters, Colin’s sister Lia, and his military buddies and friends Max and Gavin, are pretty much the same conflicted characters at the end of the story as they were in the beginning. The many loose ends when the story ended made the story seem incomplete.

The story is told from Collin’s and Addison’s point of view with the author announcing the change in POV every time. This style of writing made me feel like an observer rather than being in the moment with what is happening with the characters.

I would have loved more in-depth knowledge of these interesting characters and fewer sex scenes.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Mary – ☆☆☆☆
Addison Booker is a day care worker who is recently unemployed. And if she doesn't find a job soon, she will be homeless too. She loves working with children but there are only a few options in the small town where she lives. While out one night with her BFF McKenna, they see several sexy men that are part of what looks like a rugby team. When one approaches Addie, she is ready for a fight to get him to leave her alone. But he is the one she has been watching all night.

Collin Montgomery and two of his buddies are former Marines and they are raising his daughter. After his girlfriend, Amy, died in a tragic car wreck while he was still overseas, he has so much guilt because he wasn't home at the time. He doesn't feel that he deserves to be happy, he just needs to raise his daughter right and the way Amy would want him to.

When Collin meets Addie at the bar, the sparks fly and he can't stop thinking about her after she speeds away. And when she shows up for the nanny position, he blows it way out of proportion, because he knows it will be hard for him to keep his hands off her if she is close to him.

Can Addie make Collin see that they are meant to be together? Will Collin release the guilt he feels before it is too late for him and Addie? Will his buddies have to knock some sense into him before he screws things up for good?

This is a good story and I wanted to love it but there was something, and I can't put my finger on it, but something seemed to be missing for me. It kept me interested at times, but didn't pull me in and make me want to stay for every word.

One thing, and this is a pet-peeve of mine, when an author is writing about the Marines, it must be capitalized. This is a thing for me, being raised a daughter of a Marine. I know that most would not think anything about it, but it bothers me.

Anyway, this is a first for me from this author and I can't wait to see where this series might go with the buddies and Collin's sister.


Ruthie – ☆☆☆
2.5 stars

There is a sweet and meaningful story in between the pages, but somehow the writing doesn't quite let it shine. My biggest problem was the somewhat frenetic style of writing. I gave Addison a break, as she was young enough, and certainly immature enough, to behave in such a way – but men who have been to war? And suffered loss, and bringing up a baby? It was stretch too far for me.

We get snippets of the side characters, and seeing the book release schedule, I assume that they will each get their stories. Maybe because of that, we only get some of their story, but it can seem disjointed and lacking in continuity. I guess only when the books are available will that become clear.

We are all different, and just because it didn't work for me, doesn't mean that you will not enjoy it, so do give it a go and see what you think. It has some funny scenes, and Chloe is inevitably cute.

Reckless Hearts is the first novel in the series by the same name written by author Heather Van Fleet. This is the story of a twenty-six-year-old single father, Collin Montgomery, raising his eight-month-old daughter with the help of his two best friends, Max Martinez and Gavin St. James. All three men are former Marines and they've become a rag-tag family of sorts, along with Collin's younger sister Lia. But as much as they all loved baby Chloe, the need for an actual regular nanny was becoming clearer. However, the last thing that Collin expects is his sister to bring in the very same woman that he hasn't stopped thinking about since they met in a bar. Having twenty-five-year-old Addison Booker around him all the time under his roof wasn't a good idea, not when he was spending his time thinking about having her under him instead. Having the woman you're lusting over as your daughter's nanny is a terrible idea...except Addy's perfect for both Chloe and Collin. She clearly adores Chloe and knows what she's doing, but can Collin really hold back on his feelings for Addy, considering he's falling fast and hard for her already?

This book was confusing at certain points, with details about the characters changing from one thing to another. Take for example all three men living together in the same house, yet there's a part in the story where Gavin talks about his house, meaning a completely separate abode. There's also Collin's deceased ex-girlfriend--Chloe's mother--and the depth of his feelings for her. Sometimes he says he loved her, but then he later makes it come off as her pressuring him because she said something about her own feelings first. I get that Collin and Addy are supposed to end up together, but there's nothing wrong with Collin actually having truly loved someone else prior to Addy coming along. I also, honestly, didn't really see these two clicking. They were bickering and then itching to get into each other's pants, but I didn't feel a connection between them. For as much as I was tickled over Addy having Filipino heritage--though bibingka is considered more as a heavy snack than dessert--I found her to be wishy-washy and annoying. The story was drawn-out far more than was necessary. 2.5 stars go to Reckless Hearts. ♥

Loving the single dad angle! Great characters. The drama was a little over done between our couple but when they finally figured it out, they were very enjoyable to read.

Leigh's review:

A storyline of burly ex-military guys, living together and taking care of a baby, has all of the elements needed to be an adorable story. But while the premise of this book was cute, as a whole it fell short of the mark for me. There was no one part of it that reached out and grabbed me and held my interest. Unfortunately, I really struggled to finish this one.
My largest issue was that I wasn’t crazy about the heroine and didn’t feel a connection between Addison and Collin beyond a sexual one.
Addison just seemed cold to me. Her childhood with unloving parents was discussed, as well as her reliance on herself to survive. And that could certainly make any person stand-offish. But for a woman that was supposed to nurturing and love being with kids, she did not give me the warm fuzzies. From the start her and Collin had a contentious relationship, where all they seemed to do was bicker and hurl insults at one another. It wasn’t foreplay or full of sexual tension, which would have worked. It was just tiresome to read. By 50% into the story, Collin and Addison were clearly attracted to one another, but I was having a hard time understanding why. They went from one misunderstanding to another, issues that could have been resolved with a brief conversation, and it frustrated me to no end. Collin came across as a good guy and I just wanted him to find someone that matched him. He kept referring to Addison’s personality, but I never saw it. All I saw was a woman that seemed to take insult easily and didn’t want to open up.
As for Collin, Max and Gavin, the three friends and roommates, as well as Collin’s sister Lia, they were all sympathetic characters in their own ways. They all carried around their own baggage. But I felt that I was hit over the head with their issues rather than having it be just one facet of their personality. Everyone had such deep rooted issues that it always seemed as if there was an undercurrent running beneath the surface in every interaction. I think that the author was doing this to set up future stories, but unfortunately my interest in everyone was lost by the end of the book.
I typically like my romances a bit darker and this one was on the sweeter and emotional side. So, it may appeal more to someone else than it did to me. Unfortunately, it just didn’t connect with me the way I had hoped for such a cute premise.

I wanted to love this book, but I just couldn't cosy with the characters. I think Collin was pretty much a jerk throughout the first half of the book. I guess same goes for Gavin. Max , I think was supposed to be the happy-go-lucky manwhore. Addison let the guys walk all over her and kept going back for more. Eventually, everyone seemed to calm down and get with it, which is what I finally really liked. I've never read this author before, but I liked her and I'm definitely going to try the next book in the series.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Give me more of this series NOW. Van Fleet hit a home run with me. She managed to introduce me to three guys- Collin, Max and Gavin, baby Chloe, nanny Addison and make me want more.

Was it perfect? Nah. Collin drove me batty here and there and Max and Gavin both need their heads examined but all in all, this one really worked for me. I'm looking forward to the next book to see how Van Fleet brings this crew along.

Three man and a baby ! What a great starting point for a romance novel! Collin Montgomery is a single father, raising his nine months old baby daughter, Chloe, with the help of his two friends, Max and Gavin. Those guys are wonderful, they always have each other’s back. They are ex-marines and have been back in the States since Chloe’s mother accidental death. Their life revolves around Chloe, but they urgently need the support of a nanny.

Addie Booker has recently lost her job and urgently needs cash. Her first interactions with Collin are tense. Addie is all bite and attitude, and Collin can be a jerk at times, with his snarky remarks and grumpy attitude. I loved how their story progressed, nothing was rushed. The pacing and story flowed very well. They have a lot in common and make a great team, as they slowly open up to each other. Their witty banter made me smile all through the story!

Collin has been going through a lot and is still mourning Chloe’s mother. Even if he is attracted to Addie, he feels guilty and isn’t sure he can emotionally handle getting involved with another woman. Addie is independent and is an all or nothing kind of person. Those characters are totally flawed, but they belong together. Their emotional connection runs very deep. They have both found their home and family.

I enjoyed this book, the blurb and cover piqued my interest and once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down! The writing is strong and the characters are well-developed and likeable. If you are in the mood for a charming, humorous and sexy read, look no further and try this book!

I would give this book 3.5 stars. It was a good story but kind of choppy writing.
The premise is an ex-marine that's raising his daughter with 2 ex-marines after his daughters mom died. They realized that they needed to hire a nanny to help raise their daughter. And Addision would be the perfect candidate except for the chemistry between her and Collin.
All Collin can think about is how to get Addision into bed.
A cute mildly steamy read with great characters, awesome friendships, and romance.