3* Second Chance Stars

I was immediately drawn into the story of Captain Thomas Cooper, who is fighting on the streets of Iraq and Kate Harper, who is an Army Trauma Nurse. They encounter each other under very dangerous and difficult circumstances. Decisions will be made by both of them, which causes a lot of tension and anger between them and those close to them.

The slow burn chemistry between Cooper and Kate was realistic and sexy. The secondary characters were interesting and likeable, except for Kate’s husband Neil who was weak and selfish.

This is a story full of hope and being strong enough to overcome what life has suddenly dealt you. It has a beautiful cover too.

Thanks to HQ Digital and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Long Walk Back.

I absolutely loved this modern family saga. Kate is married and has a teenage son called Jason. She takes a posting as a field doctor. One of her patients is casualty Captain Cooper, he is ready to die from his injuries. However against his wishes Kate operates removing one of his legs. Kate then gets an emergency call to go back home. her husband and son have been in a car accident. Jamie is now paralysed and receiving treatment in the same hospital as Captain Cooper. Kate takes a job there as a physiotherapist and tries to get her son to speak to her again. He hasn't spoken to her since the accident. She bonds with Cooper and sparks fly. Is there a future for the three of them together as a family?

This book started off very well but slowed down towards the middle. Keep going and it is well worth reading

Kate is a surgeon, wanting a challenge she goes to war as an army theatre surgeon. She leaves behind her husband, Neil and her son Jamie.

Captain Thomas Cooper, faces challenges every day - but this is the life he has chosen and the army is his family. Nothing and no one else is going to change that. Until one fateful day.

Cooper and Kate meet.

Cooper knows his own mind. He knows whether he wants to live or to die.

Kate knows her own mind and everyone must live.

But what if you go against someone's wishes and give them a second chance when they didn't want it?

Second chances can then lead to more chances, one action causes several reactions.

Will Cooper benefit from the action that Kate took?

This book is hard-hitting from the beginning, if you want to get a close up on war and its devastating effects then you get this with the opening few pages. What is hard to believe is that an author that you know on the whole to have written women's fiction comes back with a book so far removed from a 'rosy' world normally created in such genres. It hits you right between the eyes - and I loved it.

So much is packed into this book, I couldn't begin to try and unpick it as that would spoil it for anyone else picking it up to read. Character driven with two very pig-headed, stubborn, driven and strong personalities that leapt off the page for me. I thought Cooper was great and I recognised the military ethos that is ingrained in some of our servicemen and women no matter what circumstances they are thrust into.

Kate, I wanted to slap at various times not because of the portrayal of the character but because of it. Well written, I constantly questioned as to whether I was meant to feel sorry for her or not? Was the situation she in unique or did bad luck seem to follow her around? I was not expecting the twist and once the background to an event was filled in, I perhaps felt something else for her. I just couldn't make my mind up about her and whilst some readers might find that annoying, I enjoyed the uncertainty of it all.

A different read, a bit of an emotional rollercoaster - but worth it to the very end.

A love story about second chances.... Of sorts...

Kate is an army surgeon, Cooper is injured and brought to her, requiring amputation of his leg. Kate does the surgery without his consent to give him a second chance at life. Kate has her own personal problems, her son is paraplegic, her husband absconding and Cooper is her second chance at love.

My first book by Rachel Dove, I liked the way she has started the book, the introduction of the two main characters, out in the battlefield was realistic and adds colors to the scene. The conversations between Cooper and Kate in the beginning were extremely explosive and that added to the pitch of the book. The story soon moved to their attraction and their love.

Cooper as the male lead, was just so dreamy and strong. The bitterness he initially has on losing a leg is extremely honest and to the point. The author, Rachel Dove then went on to add layers to his persona. From bitterness to anger to determination to hope and finally to courage. Courage to stand up both literally and figuratively, courage to declare his love and courage to stand by his woman and her child. There are so many nuances to Cooper that I was awed by the author's writing.

But then everything stops there...

I didn't like the female lead, Kate. She started so positive and daring, working as a team till the relationship started. Then she went back to her one dimensional facet. I never understood her reasons for her actions. A woman who has seen the war casualties, who has seen combat, whose son is a paraplegic on a wheelchair, suddenly loses all her courage, and I somehow find it hard to believe. She has an almost on-off attitude towards Cooper. And that guy was a Saint to take all that.... Do I need to point out how much I love Cooper???

The rest of the story works as a typical love story boy meets girl ——> they fight ——> they make up ——>they live happily ever after.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher HQ Digital and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

Absolutely loved this book!
Army sugeon Kate has to make a life changing decision for Cooper, in essence saving his life whether he likes it or not.
Next time they meet is in a rehab centre back in the UK, they both have issues they need to deal with but can they ignore the chemistry between the, and have a second chance at a happy life?

4.5 - Broken soldiers... Mute Boys... And shattered lives. Stars!

Rachel Dove takes a step away from her easy-going Chick lit reads, and gives an emotive and well thought out story about a man and a woman who come together under the most horrific of circumstances, and builds a relationship around them dealing with their lives in the aftermath.

IMAGE.

Both Captain Thomas Cooper and Trauma Surgeon Kate Harper are what I would call strong personalities, they have the confidence of people who know what they are good at and that they do it well. But when that crutch of familiarity is taken away through events out of your control how does that once confident person rebuild themselves back up into an alternative version of who they were? Into a person that can then fit in with the new reality that their life is, especially if they weren’t sure they wanted the chance to begin with…

"This was always going to happen… I could feel it the first day we met."

I am not going to say too much about the story line with this one. It starts in the theatre of war, but then the bulk of it plays out back in good old Blighty. The author steps back a few times to give the full back story, especially in Kate’s instance, and because of that and in the way things are spaced out, you don’t really get the full picture of everything that has happened until the latter stages of the book. I didn’t mind this, and to be honest there are enough clues there that you can kind of assume what the roundabout reasons are for certain things.

"I’m all in."

Can’t lie I was a little surprised at this book, I have read both of the authors recent Chick-lit offerings (main reason I decided to read this to be honest) and found them utterly charming and enjoyable reads. But The Long Walk Back is a completely different type of read, it’s a little dark and gritty, the issues explored aren’t ‘dumbed-down’ to make them less shocking, and I liked that the author didn’t take the easy route in that way.

A lot of thoughts lived in the dark corners of my mind these days…

This would have been a five star read for me, but for a couple of things, the random couple of instances in the latter stages where the writing jumps to first person POV didn’t work for me, I didn’t really feel they were needed with the way the rest of the book was written. I also found the flow of the second half a little scrappy at points and lacking a little of the smoothness that the first half had. Nothing major in the scheme of things as this was still an excellent read, but if those two issues had been ironed out it would have been a full five stars from me.

All in all, I would say this is a book that is worth giving a chance to, if you have read this authors past work, you are in for a surprise, if you haven’t I still think you will be, but for me it was good to see that she can create, craft and tell a story in two totally different ways, and do it well.

An enjoyable romance with a wounded warrior and a female doctor. Several serious issues are addressed in the story, namely patients’ rights, medical ethics, marriage and divorce and life-altering injuries in beloved ones.
I liked the complexity, the fact that it’s not merely a romantic story and the author’s British/European perspective on soldiers and military intervention.
I felt the story dragged a bit in the middle.
Now, I would love to read Jamie’s story.