My thanks to the Publishers via NetGalley for a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

I was drawn to this book by the cover and the premise of the story. This book would have been the perfect read for this time of year. I read this book at the beginning of November and finished it a few days before remembering all those that have passed away in wars and conflicts on Remembrance Day. Unfortunately, the book isn't published until 30th January 2025, so you have all got a bit of time to wait until you can engross yourself in it..

Remembrance Day from Wikipedia.

Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in the line of duty. The day is also marked by war remembrances in several other non-Commonwealth countries.

This is a dual time frame story that is centred around the conflict in Afghanistan and the years afterwards. It features a love triangle between two soldiers, Danny and Carl that are friends and a young female nurse Sarah. As their lives are thrown together Carl and Sarah form a connection, but Carl soon realises that Sarah is a childhood sweetheart of Danny's. Carl makes a decision that he is better keeping his distance from Sarah, as he respects his relationship with his army colleague Danny.

As their lives are thrown together again, how will Carl and Sarah cope with what fate has in store for them?

This was a deeply emotional read, that centred around the characters of Danny, Carl and Sarah , both during the conflict in Afghanistan and in the ensuing years once home following the conflict. Unless you have been involved in similar situations, you have no idea how you would cope with the trauma of what you see and what happens to you, your colleagues, your friends or the people that live in the Country that you are fighting in.

This will be among my top books of the year and will stay with me for some time. Thanks for writing this story for us Lisa and I look forward to reading more books by you.

1.5 stars

1.5 stars.

I was interested in reading this book. The cover and synopsis drew me in, but unfortunately, I found it difficult to connect to the story. The style of writing wasn't quite right for me.

I felt it should have been made clear, trigger warnings before reading it, and dealt with many sensitive issues that were triggering.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC and share my honest review.

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from Netgalley. This was an incredibly well written and deeply moving novel. Carter sensitively explored themes such as grief, PTSD, and life in and after the military with realistic, likeable characters who I felt deep compassion for. I absolutely rooted for Sarah and Carl.

I went out of my comfort zone when choosing this book (I normally enjoy WW1 and WW2 fiction but thought I'd try a more recent war fiction title) and boy am I glad I did.

What a fantastic book which kept the reader guessing right until the end as to who the 6th Poppy would be for. It had me on the edge of seat when life got a bit much for Carl but I was rewarded with a happy ending! Living in Yorkshire I particularly enjoyed his time at home and out on the Moors with the dogs as could picture myself there.

My only negative is that it would have been good to have learnt more about life in Camp Bastion and the patrols and work carried out by the Army.

I will certainly look for more titles by this author and would highly recommend this book to other. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and of course Lisa Carter for writing such a good book and allowing me to read an Arc copy.

Beautiful love story! I couldn’t get Carl or Sarah out of my head after I finished! Very beautiful love story. 5:5