Review: A Definite Must Read for Christmas!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 28, 2013
Find this review and more at Lusty Penguin Reviews!Gifts of Honor, a contemporary military romance anthology by Stacy Gail and Rebecca Crowley, contains heart-wrenching stories of love, second chances, and forgiveness.Stacy Gail’s “Starting from Scratch” tells the story of injured Army Ranger Sully Jax and his wife, Lucy Crabtree. Returning from his last tour of duty with retrograde amnesia, Sully remembers everyone from his past, everyone except his wife, Lucy. Sully, definitely an alpha male, takes defending his country seriously which makes him hero. But, Sully is human too, and when he divorces Lucy, he hurts her even more than when he announced his last tour of duty. Sully is a complicated character because he still feels drawn to Lucy and inadvertently hurts her every time he sees her. With all of Sully’s struggles, you can’t help but fall in love with him. Lucy is a strong-willed character who truly loves Sully and misses him dearly even though he is home, which just drew her character to me. Gail, with her graceful writing style, beautifully and realistically shows the struggles of both characters—Sully with his lost memories and Lucy with her memories intact. Sully and Lucy are an endearing couple, and the stunning and absolutely wonderful way Sully gets his memories of Lucy back as well as his heartfelt apology will bring tears to your eyes.Rebecca Rowley’s “Hero’s Homecoming” is the story of Captain Chris Walker and Beth Tate. Captain Walker returns from Afghanistan blinded by a suicide bomber. Chris and Beth had an intense four-day relationship before Chris went out on his last tour. Even though they continued to stay in contact with each other, Chris breaks off communications with her and ends the relationship with a terse two sentence e-mail after his injury. No one is more surprised than Beth when Chris calls six months later, needing a ride from the airport. Beth fell head over heels in love with Chris during those four days. As angry as she is, Beth’s loves runs deep, and she cannot leave Chris alone at Christmas. Beth doesn’t feel pity for Chris and does her best to learn how to help him while allowing him to remain independent too, which I just loved about her character. Battling in his own way, Chris comes to terms with his injury and his future, which is an amazing thing to see. Even though everyone knows that Chris is a hero, Chris is unable to see it. Beth eloquently shows Chris why he really is a hero, which brought a huge smile to my face. Better still, when Chris fully realizes what Beth went through while he was gone, his exquisitely heartfelt speech brought tears to my eyes.Two captivating stories, two memorable couples, and two perfect endings make Gifts of Honor an irresistible anthology that is a definite must read for the Christmas season.I received an eBook copy of the book for the purpose of an honest review. I was not compensated for this review, and all conclusions are my own responsibility.