One Year Home by Marie Force-Review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 6, 2019

He came home a hero and lost the only woman he’s ever loved…

John
I have no idea how to survive without my beloved Ava. She had no choice but to move on with her life during my six-year deployment and has now married Eric. I hate him for taking her from me. I’d prefer to wallow in my depression and heartbreak, but the whole damned world wants a piece of the SEAL Team leader who helped capture the world’s most-wanted terrorist. I need help handling the relentless requests, and when Ava sends her new sister-in-law to manage the media circus for me, I’m prepared to hate her on principle. Her brother took my Ava. What else do I need to know about her?

Julianne
It takes five seconds to realize Ava’s ex is going to be the most complicated and difficult client I’ve ever had, but the opportunity to represent the most celebrated man in the world could make my career. I’m determined to do the job, even if I dislike John from the moment I meet him. And I like everyone. So much so that my brothers worry about me being exploited by those who would take advantage of my unwavering love for others. But John… He’s in a class by himself, and his bitterness is a festering wound that I begin to wish I could somehow fix for him. The more time we spend together, the more our mutual disdain morphs into something that feels an awful lot like desire. There’s no way I can want this man, or so I tell myself, and when Eric finds out I’ve developed feelings for the man causing trouble in his new marriage, well…
That’s going to be a hot mess.

•••••••••

REVIEW: ONE YEAR HOME by Marie Force is the follow-up story line to the author’s FIVE YEARS GONE wherein a soldier returns from war, five years after disappearing without contact. This is Captain John West, and publicist Julianne Tilden’s story line. Although ONE YEAR HOME can be read as a stand alone I recommend reading FIVE YEARS GONE for backstory and cohesion.

Told from four first person perspectives (John, Julianne, Ava and Eric) ONE YEAR HOME follows four people interconnected by our story line hero. Six years earlier Captain John West disappeared, in the wake of the attack on a US Cruise ship, leaving a broken hearted Ava Lucas struggling to make sense of what happened and why. Fast forward five years wherein John West returns home, a shell of his former self, only to discover that the woman he loved had fallen in love with someone else. Now one year later Captain John West is tasked by the US Navy to become the face of recruitment playing upon the public’s sympathies for the hero who helped take down a terrorist organization. But all is not well in John West’s life as he struggles to move forward without constantly looking back. With the recommendation of his former lover Ava, John will hire publicist Julianne Tilden, the sister of the man with whom Ava fell in love. What ensues is the acrimonious but building relationship and romance between John and Julianne, as they come to terms with loss, love, heart break and second chances.

Meanwhile, Ava and Eric’s relationship is marred by issues of trust and deep insecurities. Struggling with thoughts of what was and what could have been Ava’s guilt and self-doubt threaten her marriage and the man that she loves.

John West struggles with the guilt of survivor’s remorse having lost his two best friends in the Middle East, but lies of omission that destroyed his relationship with Ava Lucas continue to haunt our hero’s life. Moving on from the past including the woman he once loved forces John out of his comfort zone and towards a new happily ever after with the woman assigned to keep the paparazzi at bay. Julianne Tilden fights her attraction to Captain John West, an attraction equalled by John’s desire for our story line heroine. Knowing to get involved with John is tantamount to professional suicide, a decision she will make before too long.. the $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The secondary and supporting characters are colorful and energetic: Julianne’s sister Amy, and John’s mentor Lieutenant Commander David Muncie. We are reintroduced to Ava Lucas and Eric Tilden (Five Years Gone), as well as Eric and Julianne’s brother Robert and his wife Camille.

ONE YEAR HOME is an emotional and heart breaking character driven story of loss, love, guilt and moving forward. John West’s life was never easy but losing his ‘brothers’ then the woman he loved kept found John focusing on what will never be. The premise is raw and real; the romance is sexy and sassy; the characters are broken and spirited.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy 

Marie Force is the New York Times bestselling author of contemporary romance, including the indie-published Gansett Island Series and the Fatal Series from Harlequin Books. In addition, she is the author of the Butler, Vermont Series, the Green Mountain Series and the erotic romance Quantum Series. In 2019, her new historical Gilded series from Kensington Books will debut with Duchess By Deception. 

All together, her books have sold 7 million copies worldwide, have been translated into more than a dozen languages and have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list 29 times. She is also a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller, a Speigel bestseller in Germany, a frequent speaker and publishing workshop presenter as well as a publisher through her Jack’s House Publishing romance imprint. She is a two-time nominee for the Romance Writers of America’s RITA® award for romance fiction. 

Her goals in life are simple—to finish raising two happy, healthy, productive young adults, to keep writing books for as long as she possibly can and to never be on a flight that makes the news. 

Join Marie’s mailing list for news about new books and upcoming appearances in your area. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter @marieforce and on Instagram. Join one of Marie’s many reader groups. Contact Marie at marie@marieforce.com.