Review: A sad state of affairs...
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 23, 2014
Reza Iaconelli, an Army Sergeant First Class, is a functioning alcoholic who has been sober since returning from his last deployment and trying to remain so. He is a good man with physical scars and battle trauma. He is haunted by nightmares of the ghosts of those that did not make it home and sports tattoos that are a memorial to them. His sole purpose is to train his men, to teach them what they need to know to keep them alive. There were those he failed because of his own pains, because of his addiction and now there are those he is failing because of he does not understand the problems of those that have not yet been to combat and appear to be slackers. When searching for a missing man Reza meets the newest shrink, a very sexy woman, who attracts him in a way he does not expect, who makes him long for what he feels he does not deserve. She questions his actions and sees things about him that he tries to keep hidden.Emily Lindberg, an Army psychiatrist, wants to make a difference, wants to understand what the troops go through but not having been in combat makes that difficult. It is harder to treat a patient when you have not walked in their shoes and army leaders don't make things easier or want to understand what the troops are going through. When she meets Reza, a gorgeous powerhouse of a man that takes her breath away she makes a deal with him to learn what the men have to deal with. She can tell that he really cares about his men but is narrow minded on the pains of some of them. As she learns from him he also learns from her and there is no denying the chemistry between them.This book deals with the topics of suicide, mental health, and alcoholism in our country's armed forces. The author paints a sad state of affairs in how our soldiers are treated or rather not treated after returning home from deployments to active war zones with their souls damaged and how those just starting out are not given the support they need to become good soldiers.The underlying element throughout this book is sadness. There is no warmth and joy in this tale, but it does end in hope for at least one. Being a military romance the romance was seriously over shadowed by the heavy topics. The hero and heroine were both likable and compelling characters. This book definitely needed a second epilogue, to let us know how the couple fares in the future. The ending though hopeful was a bit ambiguous. We are left to wonder if the couple really did get their HEA or was it just for a brief moment in time. We are also left to wonder if the tragedies that occurred in this book made a difference to the Army machine.ARC provided by the publisher.