Book Summary:
Ryan Kendall is broken. He understands pain. He knows the hand of violence and the ache of loss. He knows what it means to fail those who need you. Being broken doesn’t stop him wanting the one thing he can’t have; Finlay Tanner. Her smile is sweet and her future bright. She’s the girl he grew up with, the girl he loves, the girl he protects from the world, and from himself.
At nineteen, Ryan leaves to join the Australian Army. After years of training he becomes an elite SAS soldier and deploys to the Afghanistan war. His patrol undertakes the most dangerous missions a soldier can face. But no matter how far he runs, or how hard hefights, his need for Finlay won’t let go.
Returning home after six years, one look is all it takes to know he can’t live without her. But sometimes love isn’t enough to heal what hurts. Sometimes people like him can’t be fixed, and sometimes people like Finlay deserve more than what’s left.
This is a story about war and the cost of sacrifice. Where bonds are formed, and friendships found. Where those who are strong, fall hard. Where love is let go, heartache is born, and heroes are made. Where one man learns that the hardest fight of all, is the fight to save himself.
At nineteen, Ryan leaves to join the Australian Army. After years of training he becomes an elite SAS soldier and deploys to the Afghanistan war. His patrol undertakes the most dangerous missions a soldier can face. But no matter how far he runs, or how hard hefights, his need for Finlay won’t let go.
Returning home after six years, one look is all it takes to know he can’t live without her. But sometimes love isn’t enough to heal what hurts. Sometimes people like him can’t be fixed, and sometimes people like Finlay deserve more than what’s left.
This is a story about war and the cost of sacrifice. Where bonds are formed, and friendships found. Where those who are strong, fall hard. Where love is let go, heartache is born, and heroes are made. Where one man learns that the hardest fight of all, is the fight to save himself.
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~SASSY MUM REVIEW~
This story leave you speechless feeling warm hearted with never ending tears. That sore spot in your chest when you finish a book which i felt leaving you not wanting to pick up your next book until you have recovered.
A beautiful captured story about 2 people who meet at a young age and grow up together as a family. Over several years their friendship grew into a strong attraction for one another however Ryan's goal in life stops them from from anything further. Ryan's decision however is for the better for himself after such a tragic upbringing by his own family. Making one hard decision for the better but also leaving behind something that you want.
After several years are past, Ryan and Finlay's brother Jake returns from war with Ryan in tow. With 6 years of no contact with one another, how do you move on. Easy.........
As the story is unfolded, I believe the story itself leaves its own mark on the heart after reading this book. The story is jam packed full of emotional that will send you through the highs and lows of pain and loss but also brings a sense of friendship, and family when you need them the most. You certainly need a warning label on the cover to ensure 2 boxes of tissues are required because you are going to need them.
These books in particular are the ones that are added to the Top of your favorite lists as more memorable. This one certainly has for me.
A beautiful captured story about 2 people who meet at a young age and grow up together as a family. Over several years their friendship grew into a strong attraction for one another however Ryan's goal in life stops them from from anything further. Ryan's decision however is for the better for himself after such a tragic upbringing by his own family. Making one hard decision for the better but also leaving behind something that you want.
After several years are past, Ryan and Finlay's brother Jake returns from war with Ryan in tow. With 6 years of no contact with one another, how do you move on. Easy.........
As the story is unfolded, I believe the story itself leaves its own mark on the heart after reading this book. The story is jam packed full of emotional that will send you through the highs and lows of pain and loss but also brings a sense of friendship, and family when you need them the most. You certainly need a warning label on the cover to ensure 2 boxes of tissues are required because you are going to need them.
These books in particular are the ones that are added to the Top of your favorite lists as more memorable. This one certainly has for me.
This is one of the first novels I have read from Kate McCarthy and I'm certainly looking forward to reading more of her work. Brilliant.
*5 EMOTIONAL STARS*
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~EXCERPT~
Later that
morning after their workout and shower, Jake fell asleep on the couch. Feeling
at a loss with nothing but time on his hands, Ryan wandered down the hall
towards Fin’s room. She was sitting at a little study nook in the corner,
laptop open with one foot resting on her chair. She was wearing a tank top and
a little pair of shorts. Leaning up against the doorframe, he couldn’t tear his
eyes away from those long, delectable legs.
As though
sensing his presence, she turned in her chair. He forced his eyes upwards,
catching a sexy flush fill her cheeks at his blatant perusal.
“Morning, Ryan.”
She took off her black framed reading glasses and tossed them on the desk.
“Morning, Fin,”
he replied.
Against his
better judgment, Ryan pushed away from the door and walked farther into the
room. Fin hadn’t changed at all and neither had his desire for her. His heart
kicked over when she met his eyes. He knew everything he was feeling right now
was written all over him, but he couldn’t seem to shut it off.
Her eyelids
fluttered closed and she whispered, “Why now?”
Ryan took a deep
breath. “I don’t know,” he replied honestly.
He shouldn’t
still be feeling this way after so many years. Why was he doing this to her,
and to himself? It was better for everyone if he stayed away like he was
supposed to.
“I’m sorry. I
shouldn’t have come. I’ll go stay at the barracks.” He turned to leave.
“Ryan!” she
called out. Scrambling out of the chair, she grabbed his arm as he was halfway
out the door.
“Fin,” he
warned, looking down at her hand pointedly.
She took a step
closer and he breathed her in, her scent like jasmine on a hot summer’s day. He
was surprised when he looked into her eyes and saw anger burning hotly in their
depths.
“Six years, Ryan.
Do you know how hurt I was, each day passing by and getting nothing—not even a
note or an email? I didn’t just lose you. I lost my brother too. Both of you
left me, and I was okay with that. I understood that this was what you needed
to do, so I moved on. I built a life that doesn’t include you. That was what I had to do.” She paused and raised a
shaky hand to cup his cheek. “I’d have given you my entire heart if you’d only
asked, but it’s not yours now. It’s not yours.”
Ryan closed his
eyes, agony for losing what was never his rose in his chest until he felt
strangled by it. He placed his hand over hers, holding it there until she
tugged it away.
“You’re right,”
Fin told him. “You should stay on the barracks … but I don’t want you to. Damn
you, Ryan,” she whispered fiercely. “I don’t want you to.”
Ryan used his bulk to crowd her against the
wall until there was no room for her to move. Leaning one hand against the
wall, he grabbed her hip with the other. Her breathing rose rapidly and he
leaned in, ducking his head until their mouths hovered a mere breath apart.
“Why can’t I
force myself to leave?” He rested his forehead against hers and closed his
eyes. “I hurt too. For six years I fought every day not to think of you, and I
lost, because every day you were all I could see. You were the best thing in my
life—so sweet and innocent, and so goddamn tempting.” His hand strayed from her
hip and slid down to grip her ass. He swallowed the groan. “I stayed away so
you could move on.”
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~PURCHASE LINKS~
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~BOOK PLAYLIST~
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~ABOUT KATE MCCARTHY~
Kate McCarthy grew up in a small town outside of Port Macquarie, Australia. Raised in a house just a short walk to the beach, Kate enjoyed the peaceful, relaxed atmosphere and friendships that come from being raised in a friendly, small town area.
She now resides in Brisbane, Australia, a city in the state of Queensland where she works as an accountant, along with a sideline wedding cake business and her writing.
She is married with two children, has two dogs and house in the suburbs, and a pile of friends and family dotted all over the country that help keep her sane.
When she’s not busy running after naughty kids, filthy dogs, crunching numbers, piping buttercream and writing books, you can find her curled up in bed in the early hours of the morning reading new books and re-reading old favourites. Her favourite books are the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward in which she longs to eventually join the brotherhood and change her name to Phierce Mutha.
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~GIVEAWAY~
Giveaway Prizes:
Signed Copies + Ryan's dog tags (pic attached below), ebooks, gift cards
I have not read anything from Kate yet but have her on my TBR list. great giveaway!
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