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Left Alive #1: A Zombie Apocalypse Novel                                                                                  Rush

Mona Lisa Eyes (Danny Logan Mystery #4)                                                                                   Cry of the Peacock

Blood of Others                                                                                  Fear of Falling

Hired Bride (Beaufort Brides Book 1)                                                                                 When You're Ready (The Ready Series B...

From Gods (Descendant Prophecies Book 1)                                                                                 Tangled Beauty (Tangled, Book 1)

Samson's Lovely Mortal (Scanguards Va...                                                                                Children of the After: Awakening (boo...

Imhotep                                                                               Malevolent (Cases of Lieutenant Kane...

Cosega Search (The Cosega Sequence Bo...                                                                                This Time Forever (Mickelle Book 1, R...

More Than Friends Collection: Contemp...                                                                             Rock You (Fallen Star Book 1)

The Way We Fall (The Story of Us Book 1)                                                                              Only Time Will Tell (Clifton Chronicl...

The Rose and The Thorn (MacPherson Br...                                                                              Where Angels Tread (Kensington Family...

Claudy Conn's Bestselling Regencies (...                                                                              Waltz Back to Texas (Lost in a Boom T...

Hopeless                                                                              Never Never: Part One of Three

IN A BAD WAY

IN A BAD WAY                                               KARIN TABKE

In a Bad Way (Bad Boys of the Bay, #4)
What happens when Mr. Suit and Tie meets Ms. Wild Style? A chemical reaction that leaves them IN A BAD WAY! 

A missing stripper sister, the Russian mob, a smoking hot FBI Agent and the enigmatic woman who lies at the center of it all, is as crazy sexy as it gets. 

Isadora Fuentes will do anything to find her missing sister, even slip on a bikini and serve drinks at the strip club where her sister worked. But when Andre, the Russian giant who runs the joint, instructs Izzy, aka "Wild Style," to strip for a federal agent and make a compromising video, Izzy balks…until Andre hints he has information on Izzy's sister—for the price of the tape. 

Special Agent Flynn Ryker is a loner by choice, but when his buddy gets engaged, he shows up at Surf’s Up Strip Club in San Francisco for the bachelor party of a lifetime. What he doesn’t expect is his immediate attraction to a saucy little stripper named Wild Style. When she attempts to slip him a roofie and videotape him in bed, Flynn has two options: Haul her pretty little ass in and arrest her or go along with the sting and see where it leads… 

Working together to solve the disappearance of her half sister, Isadora Fuentes and Special Agent Flynn Ryker may disagree on tactics, but there's no denying the sizzling chemistry between them. Will the secrets they hide from each other ruin their chance for love? 

"Whatever they had went beyond sex. He didn’t have to touch her to feel their connection. It thrummed like a live wire around them. When they came together, Jesus, the way she made him feel. Like Superman. He’d never felt anything like it." ~Flynn Ryker 
"Izzy and Flynn share a phenomenal connection, the sexual tension between them virtually vibrates off the pages. Ms. Tabke writes sex scenes that make you feel like a voyeur. In a good way! Whether flirty and slow to build, or fast and needy, they culminate in a knock-your-socks-off crescendo every time....If this were a paperback copy, mine would be dog-eared all over the place and the spine cracked to hell. Once again, Ms. Tabke has written a book I couldn’t put down." ~ IslandDeb, extreme-delusions.com 

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
Agent Flynn Ryker is taken by a stripper named pink as he sees her the night that he is at the club for a party for his friend who is getting married. A man who does not do relationships or anything past the night he does not even spend the night, have breakfast, shower with them, and no one female has been to his house. He cannot take his eyes off of her and as he is getting ready to leave he notices that she has slipped a drug into his glass of water, so he decides to go along with it and see where this takes him. When they get to her place and she finally get to the point of stripping him he realizes she is trying to make a video and then he wakes up. After a few moments of talking they are back at each other and during the hot love session he realizes she is a virgin and she tells him to continue and then he is hooked and the drug is Pink aka Izzy, Isadora Fuentes, and she is more complex than he can even imagine and he spends the night and that is the beginning of breaking one of his rules right after the next one. When he finds out why she is working and the surfs up and realizes she won’t quit he helps her. As much as you are following with the story about the Russian mob it is really what is going to happen between the two of them and how she has completely destroyed his life but in a good way. It just takes him a while to figure it out. Plenty of hot steamy bedroom scenes to keep anyone going. A good book. Read it to see if Pink gets her agent. I got this book from netgalley.  I give this 5 stars.

FOREVER THIS TIME

FOREVER THIS TIME                                MAGGIE McGINNIS

Forever This Time (Echo Lake #1)Forever This Time is the story of Josie Kendrew, who returns to her tiny Vermont hometown after ten years' absence when her father has a stroke, and Ethan Miller, her jilted high school sweetheart, who's taken her place as the CFO of the Kendrew family business: running Snowflake Village—a "Santa's Village"—style amusement park.

Josie, now a successful therapist with a Boston practice, isn't sure how she feels about being back in Echo Lake. In some ways, things have changed a lot; Ethan's got an MBA, seems to have something going with Molly, her childhood best friend, and he even owns the beautiful Victorian they'd always talked about buying together. But in other ways, the place is exactly the same, with reminders of the heartbreak that drove Josie away lurking around every corner. When Josie's "Little Sister" Avery died of cancer at the age of ten, the grief nearly destroyed her, and ultimately inspired her choice of career. It also caused a hurt so deep she knew she couldn't stay in Echo Lake, surrounded by memories. And she's not going to stay now; as soon as her dad's health improves, she's headed right back to Boston, to her therapy practice and her quiet apartment. To her lonely, safe life.

As for Ethan, he's not all that pleased to see the woman he once loved. It took a long time to pick up the pieces Josie left behind, he's proud of the work he's done to bring Snowflake Village into the 21st century, and he's worried that if Josie finds out about his project to honor Avery's memory, she'll get the wrong idea. He's not planning to make it easy for Josie to come back, and he's not going to pretend that all is forgiven. They can't just pick up where they left off… right?
 

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
Josie Kendrew is back in Echo Lake Vermont because of a phone call she got from her mother saying her father had a stroke and is in the hospital. She left the town three years ago after her little sister from the big brother, big sister program passed away from cancer. The grief from her death plus her life at home she felt she had to get away, and that included the one person she loved and was looking forward to marrying. With his injury and not going to college, but staying to work with her father at the Snow Lake village, a Santa theme park open 365 days and everything Christmas she saw herself becoming her parents especially her mother and that was not a pretty sight. Now back she was helping her mother who she did not recognize by helping the one person she did not want to see Ethan Miller, the boy who is now a man 6’2” and still has his hair and actually looks better than she remembered. She is though back where she thought she would be 10 years ago working at the village, and by helping Ethan has her doing most everything that she hated as a girl growing up there. Some of the stuff I thought was mean after a while and hurtful especially one item, but she still did it. Her friend Molly which was in town even though she got a business degree was still pissed at her and did a few mean things to her. But the older people the ones that helped her as a kid growing up were still there for her and helping her now that she was back. The big question was is she going to stay this time? When she finds out what Ethan had been doing besides the park she is impressed and disappointed in herself for not believing in him more when they were 18. It was not Ethan who showed her but Molly, but she was being mean about it at the time. As she comes the grips with wanting to stay, and wanting to go back to Boston, and her practice. She finds herself torn what to do? Read the book I find out. A good story. I got this book from netgalley.  I give this 4 stars.

SECTION 60: ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

SECTION 60: ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY   ROBERT M. POOLE

Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery: Where War Comes HomeWhile On Hallowed Ground chronicled the history of the cemetery, Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery is the powerful contemporary biography of a five-acre plot where many of those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan have been laid to rest alongside service members from earlier wars. 

Gifted writer and reporter Robert Poole opens the story with preparations for Memorial Day, Arlington's biggest event, when thousands of families come to visit those buried in the 624-acre cemetery, legions of Rolling Thunder motorcyclists patrol the streets with fluttering POW flags, and service members place miniature flags before each of Arlington's graves. What emerges is a portrait of our national cemetery as a living, breathing community, and a narrative about how improvised explosive devices, suicide bombs, and enemies who blend in with local populations have changed the nature and aftermath of conflict. Several of the newest recruits for Section 60 have been brought there by suicide or post-traumatic stress disorder, a war injury newly described but dating to ancient times.

Using Section 60 as a window into the latest wars, Poole recounts stories of courage and sacrifice by fallen heroes, and explores the ways in which soldiers' comrades, friends, and families honor and remember those lost to war-carrying on with life in the aftermath of wartime tragedy. Section 60 is a moving tribute to those who have fought and died for our country, and to those who love them.
 

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This is a very well researched book with some awesome stories in it. The author also goes into the Old Guard and the hours they train and practice for a funeral, drilling, folding the flag , proper spacing and being line for the rifle salute to name a few. There are 56 soldiers and over 60 horses, and they still follow the tradition started from the civil war. The Marine Corps. Who have their Barracks at 8th and I Streets, S.E. IN Washington, where they have held the ground since 1801. They practice with trash cans loaded with weights doing the slow marching in the dim recess of a basement parking lot, making sure everything is exact. The Marines recruit anyone over six feet tall, and then put them through a rigorous training before they are even allowed to do a funeral. They must bench press 225, seat- press 135, curling a straight bar with 115 pounds, and deadlift 315. The Marines have three men per side for each burial and the other branches have four. This is pride in doing more with less. There is also a very new tradition called “The Ladies of Arlington” who stand in for the family if no one is there, now they make contact with the family and help with what is going on that day. Each story is very moving and the author being able to speak to the members families was really a plus for this book. In a book I read earlier this year tilted the ‘The Reaper” about a Ranger sniper Nicholas Irving, he speaks of a day when they came under attack and were in battle for 20 hours before anyone could be med i vac out. One Ranger was Cpl. Benjamin S. Kopp. A 21 year old Ranger who died in 2009 but it was days later before they heard about his death, and they were also told that he saved some one life by organ donation. That was all you found out in the book. In this book the author meet a 61 year old woman. Meikle had never meet Koop or anyone from his family. But she traveled from Illinois to section 60 four years later because she is doing great and she would not be alive if it was not for that Army Ranger. Meikle’s friends made it to service and put it on speaker phone so she could hear. She got his heart another man got a kidney. A part of the story that I thought was strange. Was she has now started to have a craving for green beans and she did not like them before the transplant. Talking to his mother it happened to be his favorite food. She now does speaking engagements about organ donation, she has become a friend to his mother. This is just one there are many, many more and each one is very moving. Weather it is a Seal and then each member coming up and pounding their Trident into the casket I cannot imagine the sound that make. I am sure if people look into their families they just might have someone buried there. I have an Aunt and an Uncle who were both Marines and my uncle fought in Vietnam, and wanted to be buried there when he passed. So this was a great book for me to read and the stories were great. I got this book from netgalley.  I give this 5 stars.

CLOSE TO HER HEART

CLOSE TO HER HEART                             CJ CARMICHAEL

Close To Her HeartDani Carrigan, the academic of the Carrigan family, has always relied on logic when making important life decisions. But when she discovers she’s pregnant—and that there’s a chance her baby may be born “not perfect”—deciding what to do isn’t so easy.

It would help if the father, Adrian Carlson, department head at the University of Washington in Seattle where they both work, would pop the question. But the widower seems more interested in protecting his six-year-old daughter than committing to his new relationship with Dani.

The last time Dani felt so alone and scared was when she was sixteen and her mother died in an accident at their family ranch, leaving Dani to raise her younger sisters with precious little help from her distant and disapproving father. She felt so inadequate then. But is she any more prepared to be a mother now?

Support comes from an unlikely source. Dani always saw her next-door neighbour and friend, divorce attorney Eliot Gilmore, as a charming, handsome, playboy-type. But with each challenge Dani faces, from pregnancy, to delivery and beyond—Eliot reveals himself to be more of a man than she ever guessed. Is it possible that in all the years she’s known him, Eliot hasn’t been playing the field—but waiting for her?
 

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This story begins with a young girl working at the University Washington and is hoping that her widowed department head would see her as someone long term instead of just fun to be with. He was always saying he must take it slow because of his six year old daughter. Friends around her told her to move on but she felt they were a good match and he made her believe just enough that he would want something more with her. When summer break comes he goes to France with his daughter, but before he leaves he can’t wait to sleep with Dani. While Adrian is gone she finds out that she is pregnant and now is hopeful that their relationship will turn into marriage. But wait it gets better. When she goes to his house she gets a surprise and finds out that he is engaged to the nanny, and he tries to play it off of course she leaves without telling and when she finally does she has also finds that the baby has the markers for possible Down syndrome. He wants her to get an abortion which she says no to. The consent is her neighbor Eliot, who is a divorce attorney and they spend more time together getting to know each other and she finds out that he has liked her for a while. She has always thought he was a player but then finds out what really was happening. The drawback to the story was her always wanting to go back or wanting to go back to the professor, not realizing that he was a scum bag and really just an abuser with a degree. Overall a very emotional book and good story. I got this book from netgalley.  I give this 4 stars.

ROBERT PLANT: THE VOICE THAT SAILED THE ZEPPELIN

ROBERT PLANT                                           DAVE THOMPSON

Robert Plant: The Voice That Sailed the Zeppelin(Book). Robert Plant: The Voice That Sailed the Zeppelin follows the iconic singer through his heights of fame with classic rock giant Led Zeppelin, his second life as a multi million-selling solo artist, and his more idiosyncratic pursuits. A wealth of former associates lend their voices and recollections to an account that steps far beyond the tried and tested tales of Zeppelin's life and times. This all-new biography details Plant's early years as an unknown in Birmingham, England, with fresh depth and insight. It likewise tells the Zeppelin story from new and unexpected angles, focusing on Plant's contributions to the band's success and on the toll/effect of that success on him as a performer and an individual. After drummer John Bonham died in 1980 and Zeppelin broke up, Plant went solo two years later, in time becoming the only former band member to maintain an unbroken career to this day. His single-mindedness in meeting this challenge might well be his greatest personal attribute, enabling him to push forward without regard for his past or any related expectations. Dave Thompson shows how it is Plant's determination alone that ensured Zeppelin reunions would not become a routine part of the classic rock furniture, as he created a body of work that in so many ways artistically rivals what he recorded with the band.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
Growing up listening to Led Zeppelin I saw this as an opportunity to see some of the back story about the band. There was some information about that, but not so much as the detail of making each album. There was some mentioning of some of the concerts and of course their life style. What I did not know was how long John Bonham and Robert Plant knew each other and his death along with losing a child just shortly after his passing. Took away the music inside of him. Also not hearing anything from Jimmy Page also led to the disbanding of the group. He just didn’t want to be around music. This was a very insightful part of the book for it took a few years for him to get back into music and the book goes into his solo projects successes and failures. The one constant he had was the Zeppelin music. He or they owned their music which really was saying something for the record industry. So the new remastered Cd's that were released earlier this past year was done by him and an engineer and I must say are very good. Overall I liked the book but I still like and listen to their music.I got this book from netgalley.  I give this 4 stars.

WIN BY SUBMISSION

WIN BY SUBMISSION                                MELYNDA PRICE

Win by Submission (Against the Cage, #1)To win her heart, he’ll be in for the fight of his life.

After an illegal kick during a CFA title fight fractures Cole Easton’s spine, doctors say there’s nothing more they can do for the bitter Vegas fighter. They say it’s a miracle he can walk, if that’s what you call his crutch-dragging limp. Unwilling to give up on him, Cole’s manager sends the injured fighter to the best physical therapist he knows: his niece, Katie Miller. When Cole arrives in the small town of Somerset, Wisconsin, he quickly discovers his sly manager may have had reasons other than rehab for sending him to this frozen tundra.

After a year of running from an abusive ex-boyfriend, Katie has returned to her hometown to care for her father, who’s recovering from a stroke. When Uncle Marcus calls in a favor, she reluctantly finds herself taking on a rancorous MMA fighter, broken at the height of his career. He’s insanely sex-on-a-stick hot—and everything she loathes in a man.

If Cole thinks his fighting days are over, he’s dead wrong. To save Katie from her past and to win her heart, he’ll be in for the fight of his life.
 

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
Cole Easton is a MMA fighter and has just won the title and while he is celebrating his opponent hits him in the back which brakes a bone and puts his fighting career in jeopardy. With mostly anger at his opponent and the federation because they did nothing to stop him from fighting again. His manager decides to send him from Las Vegas to Minnesota. By going to Minnesota he will be working with his trainers niece who is a physical therapist but went back home because her father had a stroke and she wants to help him recover. What he does not realize is just who much help Katie Miller needs in helping to get her life back on track. After being in an abused relationship for years she finally left the guy in the middle of the night and called her uncle for help because the guy had taken control of bank accounts, and everything else. She left with a little cash and just the cloths on her back along with emotional scares, and physical that will last a life time. Her uncle of course is Marcus, Cole’s trainer, manager, and it takes him awhile to figure out why he was sent out to see her. She is an excellent physical therapist, and the first women who has stirred feelings inside of him that he has never felt before. She is attracted to him as well but her past is holding her back, and when she makes progress she becomes more self-conscious when he sees the scares that her ex gave her that can only be seen when you are intimate. They become closer but he still cannot tell her the L- word though he wants to he is afraid that it will scare her. Then to make matters worse her ex has tracked her down through family and friends and when he finds out that they are together, even though they aren’t Cole tells him they are dating and she should be upset but she is happy. The ex then steps up his terror, but they become closer. When it looks like everything is going to be okay because she goes back to Vegas with him. They get in a fight and she leaves to go home thinking everything is alright because he is in jail not knowing that he made bail and is out looking for her. You will have to read the book to find out what happens, but it is very exciting. I must say this was a very intense story at times and you can really feel for what women who are stalked must be going though. A very good book. I got this book from netgalley.  I give this 5 stars.

THE FIGHTING 30TH DIVISION

THE FIGHTING 30TH DIVISION      MARTIN KING,MICHAEL COLLINS,DAVID HILBORN

The Fighting 30th Division: They Called Them Roosevelt's SSIn World War I the 30th Infantry Division earned more Medals of Honor than any other American division. In World War II it spent more consecutive days in combat than almost any other outfit. Recruited mainly from the Carolinas and Georgia and Tennessee, they were one of the hardest-fighting units the U.S. ever fielded in Europe. What was it about these men that made them so indomitable? They were tough and resilient for a start, but this division had something else. They possessed intrinsic zeal to engage the enemy that often left their adversaries in awe. Their U.S. Army nickname was the “Old Hickory” Division. But after encountering them on the battlefield, the Germans themselves came to call them “Roosevelt’s SS.”

This book is a combat chronicle of this illustrious division that takes the reader right to the heart of the fighting through the eyes of those who were actually there. It goes from the hedgerows of Normandy to the 30th’s gallant stand against panzers at Mortain, to the brutal slugs around Aachen and the Westwall, and then to the Battle of the Bulge. Each chapter is meticulously researched and assembled with accurate timelines and after-action reports. The last remaining veterans of the 30th Division and attached units who saw the action firsthand relate their remarkable experiences here for the first, and probably the last time. This is precisely what military historians mean when they write about “fighting spirit.” There have been only a few books written about the 30th Division and none contained direct interviews with the veterans. This work follows their story from Normandy to the final victory in Germany, packed with previously untold accounts from the survivors. These are the men whose incredible stories epitomize what it was to be a GI in one of the toughest divisions in WWII.
 

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
The 30th infantry started out as a National Guard unit made up of mostly farmers and men from small towns from North & South Carolina, and Tennessee. They had a lot of knowledge of trucks, tractors and other equipment when it came to repair. They were also mostly hunters so they were excellent marksmen, and good around weapons. There nickname was “Old Hickory”, the Germans called them “Roosevelt’s SS”. They were also in combat in Europe more days than any other unit but got no recognition for this. Some thinking is that because they started out as National Guard Unit. Originally the 30th was created July 18, 1917, for WWI. When WWI ended they had been awarded ½ the medals given out by the U.S. and British forces, also 12 Medals of Honor were awarded to the unit. The 30th arrived in France 4 days after D-Day to replace the 29th that was decimated on Omaha beach. They would spend 282 days involved in intense combat. They were made up of 743rd Tank Battalion, 823rd Tank Destroyer Battalion,230th field artillery Battalion, 197th field artillery Battalion,105th Engineer Battalion, 105th Medical Battalion, 113 Field Artillery Battalion, 117th, 119th, 120th , Infantry Regiments, and I am sure I am missing a few. The author takes you through from their first day and all of their battles. With interviews, and or letters from veterans from the respected units. Some of the information comes from actual records from the 30th action reports. There is a story of a unit coming under attack by friendly fire because no one expected them to be that far ahead. In this one of these attacks over 100 men were killed along with General Leslie McNair. They suppressed this information at the time because they did not want the information to get back to the B-24, and B- 17 crews that made troughs runs. This was not told until years later. This is just one story like that there are a few more. They also were the Unit that installed or had phones installed on the backs of tanks so they could communicate better with the crew inside. They also had a field observer with them from the artillery unit from day one so they could direct fire more act curtly. What really made this book for me was the personnel stories that went along with the different chapters, and how these young men were able to adapt in the face of some hellish fire and still overcome. An excellent book. I got this book from netgalley.  I give this 5 stars.

THE HURRICANE

THE HURRICANE                                       R.J. PRESCOTT

The Hurricane (The Hurricane, #1)Emily McCarthy is living in fear of a dark and dangerous past. A gifted mathematician, she is little more than a hollow, broken shell, trying desperately to make ends meet long enough to finish her degree. 

Through an unlikely friendship with the aging, cantankerous owner of an old boxing gym, Em is thrown into the path of the most dangerous man that she has ever met.

Cormac “the Hurricane” O’Connell is cut, tattooed and dangerous. He is a lethal weapon with no safety and everyone is waiting for the mis-fire. He’s never been knocked out before, but when he meet Em he falls, HARD. Unlike any other girl he’s ever met, she doesn’t want anything from him, but just being around her makes him want to be a better person.

They are polar opposites who were never meant to find each other, but some things are just worth the fight.
 

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
Cormac “Hurricane” O’Connell, is a boxer, fighter who has never been knocked out before. That is before he laid eyes on a waitress named Emily McCarthy who worked at the café that he and his trainer would go for breakfast, Daisy’s Café. From the first day that he saw her was actually before he entered the café and he was sitting on a park bench and noticed her walking from the bus stop to the café and stopping to talk to a few homeless people and giving a few what little money she had and then going inside and coming out with some coffee so they could get warm after the cold night. This more than anything touched his heart because he knew what it was like to have nothing. When he finally went inside and sat at her area he could barely order something to drink let alone talk to her. He felt he was not up to her standards, not knowing that from her past she did not feel worthy herself. Working and going to school to finish her degree in math were her only to goals, yes she thought he was attractive but she felt even if she wanted to she would not have a shot at going out with him, and then he spoke to her and they were both nervous. Every day he shows up at the café and sits at her station he even runs off other women who are after him even after a fight. Slowly they begin to talk more and when he asks her to go with him to a party she declines. Later that day her to college friends talk her into going to that same party with them and when he walks in and looks at her they ask her do you know the Hurricane and she says yes. He thinking that she is with the guy friend from school gets jealous, and she finds this out later that night, and she also finds out that he likes her a lot. Later Danny gave her a job at the gym to take care of his books, taxes, and collect the dues everyone owed. When she walked in the first day and the Cormac working out she was impressed with his size and just overall body. Later when one of the guys started hitting on her and making her feel uncomfortable he ended up knocking him out in the ring and had to stay later for extra work. After spending more time together she was getting closer to him and after he showed up to her place one night and passed out on her bed she was hooked. He then got her coffee and doughnuts the next morning for being a jerk. She though was hooked. After they were together for a while she finally told him about her step farther and how he abused her and raped her. She left the town she grew up in has been frightened that he might find her. He then made sure someone from the gym was always walking her home at night if he could not. This is a very good book and has very good characters and an excellent story line. The epilogue is good as well. You really need to read it to find out if this couple can make it. I got this book from netgalley.  I give this 5 stars.

WELCOME BARBARA LONGLEY AUTHOR OF: "THE TWISTED ROAD TO YOU"

Welcome
Barbara Longley
Author of:

She choked out a laugh and pointed to her swollen face. “You can see what happened with the last guy I trusted.
          “I understand,” he said, his voice gruff. “I haven’t been so lucky in the trust placing department myself.” His mouth tightened into a hard line, and his Adam’s apple bobbed again. “But you can trust me, Carlie. I swear that I will do everything in my power to keep you and Tyler safe.”



Rad-Reader:  How did you come to write about this storyline?

Barbara:  The series began with an associated press release I read a few years ago, about a convoy of US Troops who were accompanying Iraqi officials to Mosul, a known hotbed of insurgents. They were hit by a roadside bomb and lost five soldiers. That got me to thinking about how difficult it would be to survive something like that while your buddies didn’t. Then I began doing a lot of research about the issues facing our returning veterans. I wanted them all to have their happily-ever-after, even though we know that isn’t always the case. Suicides are at an all time high for our veterans.

Rad-Reader:  Wesley Holt was a tortured soul as were those that he worked with.  How did you come to lumping the ex-wife’s betrayal in with the PTSD?

Barbara:  Each issue my veterans have dealt with are actual researched events that occur on a daily basis. Many of our troops get a “Dear John” letter while deployed, which adds to their stress and causes depression. Wes was dealing with that betrayal during a critical mission that went bad. His wife’s betrayal didn’t cause his PTSD, but it certainly didn’t help matters.

Rad-Reader:  Why was it so hard for him to detach the two events from one another?

Barbara:  Transference is a thing. Emotional triggers often cause a ripple effect. PTSD actually alters brain chemistry, heightening stress reactions to stimuli. Did I mention my daughter is a clinical psychologist? She is a major research resource for me! She did her masters on PTSD, and her PhD dissertation on a related topic.

Rad-Reader:  Wes had one glimmer of sunshine each and every day at his dinner hour which was breakfast for everyone else.  What was it that made him work those hours to begin with and what was it that made Carlie stand out to him?

Barbara:  For individuals coping with PTSD, nightmares are common. For whatever reason, for many individuals, nightmares happen more frequently during the nighttime, and they find it easier to sleep during the daytime. I’ve also read that blood pressure medication lessens the frequency of nightmares.

Carlie always had a smile for Wes. She was intuitive enough to recognize his need to sit with his back to the wall and facing the door. There was also a physical attraction between the two of them. Routine is important for individuals coping with PTSD, and Wes could depend on Carlie for what little he was able to let in where she was concerned. That smile, their attraction, his same table every morning that she reserved just for him . . . he needed that as much as she needed his quiet, gentle strength and presence every morning. They were made for each other, but it took a crisis to put them together where they belonged. 

Rad-Reader:  What prevented him from at least trying to make friends with her?  He had several women as friends.  Why not Carlie?

Barbara:  Well, he worked nights and she worked days for one thing. They didn’t hang out with the same people for another. But more important, Carlie had crawled into a cave of isolation, and Wes had built a concrete bunker around his bruised heart. Both of these individuals behaved in ways wounded people often do. It’s not so easy to let new people in when trust is an issue. Even friendships can seem risky. Wes existed within a circle of fellow vets. He knew them through the VA center, through group and through work. Cory, the heroine in book #3, is Wes’s sister’s best friend, and he grew up with her. Everyone in his circle is familiar, while Carlie is not. As much as he’s attracted, he’s also reluctant, as is she.

Rad-Reader:  Carlie noticed Wes too when he came in as everything her ex was not.  What was so endearing to her about Wes?

Barbara:  Wes is one of those guys who doesn’t have a mean bone in his body until someone he cares about is threatened; then, look out. Carlie has developed instincts when it comes to judging character. Her ex was volatile, unpredictable and violent, while Wes is steady, predictable, compassionate and protective. He’s also a hunk of good looking male, as far as she’s concerned, anyway.

Rad-Reader:  Was Carlie afraid of Wes?  His background in the service, his height, and his PTSD?

Barbara:  She’d heard about veterans in the throes of a flashback or nightmare attacking loved ones, so there was that caution, but fearing him personally? No. He’d been nothing but caring and protective where she and her son were concerned.

Rad-Reader:  Was Wes afraid of Carlie?  Didn’t she have her own PTSD?  Also, her having a child?

Barbara:  He was definitely afraid of her, but only because he feared having his heart broken again. He’d always wanted a family, and he and Carlie’s son connected from the get go. He understood her background and admired her for overcoming her troubled past. He saw her as an amazingly strong woman and a great mom. Both Carlie and Wes are a little older than our typical H/h, and I think that makes a difference.

Rad-Reader:  Why did Wes have his dog and where did he get it?

Barbara:  That’s explained in the book. Wes gave his word to a dying army dog handler to look after his four-legged partner. The dog had died as well, but he didn’t tell the handler that, because the guy needed that snippet of peace. Later, when a retired TEDD was available for adoption, Wes gave Rex a forever home to honor the young man who had died, whose primary concern was the welfare of his TEDD.

Rad-Reader:  Why did Wes work at L&L?  Was he truly hiding his feelings for Carlie for the year that he had first seen her or was he only fooling himself?

Barbara:  Wes worked at L&L because he enjoyed the work and the companionship. He had his pension, but he wasn’t the kind of guy who could sit around doing nothing, you know? Of course he was fooling himself where Carlie was concerned, and he buried the feelings she evoked. As she did for him. 

Rad-Reader:  Was Wes going off his instincts to protect, per his training, when he went to go check on Carlie or was it more and he was just fooling himself her too?

Barbara:  He was absolutely reacting on highly honed combat instincts. Remember, Carlie was his constant. He could always depend on her, and when she wasn’t there, his gut told him something was wrong. He knew it in his bones, and he was right.

Rad-Reader:  What song out now would best describe/reminds you of your book?

Rad-Reader:      Sam Hunt "Take Your Time"

                                            


Barbara:  I don’t have a song for this book, but the hero in book #2, THE DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES, was entirely based upon a song by Eli Young Band, called War On A Desperate Man. Listen to that song and read the book, or even the first chapter of that book, and you’ll see what I mean. Ryan Malloy is my favorite hero to date. He’s such an onion! Layered, complex, creative and intense. If it hadn’t been for Noah’s sister, Paige Langford, Ryan wouldn’t have survived. He liked his whiskey and he played a game of Russian Roulette a little too frequently. Killed his couch one night . . .
I like this version with Cory Brown so intense. So...



Rad-Reader:  Where can our readers find you online?  (Websites…)


Barbara:  https://longleyb.wordpress.com/

Barbara,
Cannot thank you enough for not only this interview but for this book.  I totally enjoyed it.  It had two intense parts to this storyline but so worth the read.  There was so much to this book you can't even write enough in an review to give it it's props. You are now a part of this crazy family and we are so glad that you chose us as one of the ones to talk to about your book.  Welcome back anytime. Thank you!
Char
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