Review: Great Tale of Healing, Hope and the Stirrings of Love in this Novella-Length Story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 21, 2013
A Thanksgiving spent on a Marine base in Afghanistan between a grieving sister of a Marine and the Marine Captain that gave him his orders brings, healing, hope and something more.Jana lost her brother while he was deployed overseas.  His loss has left her family coping with their grief in various ways.  She comes up with a way to both gain closure for her own grief and do something for the men and women who served with Robbie.  She's on her way to deliver and cook Thanksgiving dinner and care packages to the Marines of the base where Robbie served.  What she doesn't expect is the crush of emotions being there does to her.Captain Charlie Sparks is not prepared for Jana when he sees her.  He was the one who sent her the letter about her brother and they continued on with a regular correspondence.  He thinks its a bad idea for a civilian, especially one as emotionally fragile as Jana, to be there in the combat zone, but once she's there he can't really regret it.As Thanksgiving closes in, Jana is caught up in food preparations and seeking out those who knew her brother, but she is also caught up in Charlie.  Thanksgiving now has new meaning for her as she spends the holiday with the Marines.It is a novella and doesn't have a lot of room for development and plotting and yet, it is all there and done so well.  I enjoyed getting both characters' perspectives and feeling right along with them.  It didn't hurt that Charlie and Jana were good together and for each other.  It's always a good sign that the only issue I had with this story was that I wanted more.  Kudos also for the story taking place around such a truly meaningful holiday that enhanced the story so much.The story can be read as a stand alone or part of the the Always a Marine series.  I loved the letter to the readers in the forward that will give new readers to the series an understanding about the series as a whole and a better idea of why the author took on the series and related military projects.  I can recommend the story to those who enjoy poignant yet spicy military romances in a novella-length book.