The Military Wife (A Heart of a Hero #1) by Laura Trentham

  

The Military Wife by Laura Trentham

Blurb: 

An emotionally layered novel about family, loss and what it means to be a military wife.

Harper Lee Wilcox has been marking time in her hometown of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina since her husband, Noah Wilcox’s death, nearly five years earlier. With her son Ben turning five and living at home with her mother, Harper fights a growing restlessness, worried that moving on means leaving the memory of her husband behind.

Her best friend, Allison Teague, is dealing with struggles of her own. Her husband, a former SEAL that served with Noah, was injured while deployed and has come home physically healed but fighting PTSD. With three children under foot and unable to help her husband, Allison is at her wit’s end.

In an effort to reenergize her own life, Harper sees an opportunity to help not only Allison but a network of other military wives eager to support her idea of starting a string of coffee houses close to military bases around the country.

In her pursuit of her dream, Harper crosses paths with Bennett Caldwell, Noah’s best friend and SEAL brother. A man who has a promise to keep, entangling their lives in ways neither of them can foresee. As her business grows so does an unexpected relationship with Bennett. Can Harper let go of her grief and build a future with Bennett even as the man they both loved haunts their pasts?
 

This book, wow. I made the mistake of reading it while I was waiting for my appointment at my dentist's. People looked a bit amused when I snickered and giggled or full-out laughed but they looked positively alarmed when I started to sniffle and to wipe my eyes...and I thought that I was so sneaky and inconspicuous. Well, that's what I thought till I looked up and found,...well. Okay, just note - don't read this book in public. Never.

I loved this story so much. Harper Lee's stubbornness, her way of looking at those around her, the way she cares for each and every one, her passion, her love for her son and...this love that sneaks up on her unexpectedly. And Bennett, whose life was definitely not made of unicorns and rainbows but of a lot of shitty stuff. Bennett who opens up to her, Bennett, who was Noah's best friend and who still can't get over his death and the circumstances.
I laughed so hard when I read about Harper's mum, om my.., she is amazing and unique and totally weird - in a very good way. And of course, there are also the other characters like Darren and Allison, for example, who are very likable and whose troubles and whose pain really got to me.
Of course, losing Noah wasn't a ride in the park either, neither for Harper nor for Bennett. I loved to see those two become closer and to see them share their worries and to see them heal. To see Bennett move forward, to trust in others, to open up and to reach out to others to help them...wow.

So, just - don't read in public and don't forget to bring a bunch of handkerchiefs, you'll need them. And right afterward you giggle and snort and, well, you'll fall in love with this book as much as I did.

★★★★★