Title: Fighting Redemption
Author: Kate McCarthy
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: December 2, 2013
Book Summary:
Ryan Kendall is broken. He understands pain. He knows the hand of violence and the ache of loss. He knows what it means to fail those who need you. Being broken doesn’t stop him wanting the one thing he can’t have; Finlay Tanner. Her smile is sweet and her future bright. She’s the girl he grew up with, the girl he loves, the girl he protects from the world, and from himself.
At nineteen, Ryan leaves to join the Australian Army. After years of training he becomes an elite SAS soldier and deploys to the Afghanistan war. His patrol undertakes the most dangerous missions a soldier can face. But no matter how far he runs, or how hard he fights, his need for Finlay won’t let go.
Returning home after six years, one look is all it takes to know he can’t live without her. But sometimes love isn’t enough to heal what hurts. Sometimes people like him can’t be fixed, and sometimes people like Finlay deserve more than what’s left.
This is a story about war and the cost of sacrifice. Where bonds are formed, and friendships found. Where those who are strong, fall hard. Where love is let go, heartache is born, and heroes are made. Where one man learns that the hardest fight of all, is the fight to save himself.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/Io98di
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1cUejLa
Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/
Smashwords: http://bit.ly/1fXiqez
REVIEW:
4 star review
I didn’t know how to take “Fighting Redemption.” I
cried through some of it and I was literally screaming for them to grow up
through a lot of it.
Ryan was a child when he became a part of the Tanner
Family. He became best friends with Jake at a young age. He didn’t feel like he
was wanted in his own home and the guilt of a tragedy weighed heavy on
everyone. The only thing that kept him
going was knowing once he was of age, he would be serving his country and take
care of people who couldn’t take care of themselves; but how could he leave the
person that he fell in love with when he was in the fifth grade?
Fin was the “nerd” that everyone picked on. She was
clumsy, she kept to herself and she didn’t see that world as others did. Ryan
was the guy for her and she knew it as well when she first “fell” into his
eyesight. There was something about him; something about his protectiveness that
drew her to him. They both tried to
fight their feelings and did an excellent job. They both moved on but life had
something else in store for the Tanner family.
The tragedy that they had to face tore Fin and Ryan
apart, but brought them back together. This cycle was a constant and they
fought through it. There was another battle that Ryan was facing and that was
tour after tour in Afghanistan. His love for the military was blindly tearing
his world and his family apart. Eventually they won the “battle” but at what
cost?
Survival was important to him in every way, shape and
form. He had to do this for so many people but most of all, he had to survive
for himself.
Kate McCarthy did a great job with the book. There was
a lot of love from the characters but the tragedy brings a lot of tears. There
were parts of the book that tore my heart to pieces and then other parts that
had me laughing. Kudos!!
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Excerpt:
Two weeks later, he packed his belongings and stole his way into Fin’s room. She wasn’t there, so he stretched out on her bed, hands tucked behind his head, eyes trained on the ceiling, and waited.
It was midnight when she came through the door, giggling as she read a message on her phone. Finished, she tossed it on her bedside table and froze when she caught him lying there in the dark.
He heard her breath catch. “Ryan?”
The lamp by her bed switched on, coating the room in a warm, cozy glow. Fin was illuminated, her skin golden in the soft light, her cheeks flushed with happiness.
“What are you …” She trailed off after meeting his eyes. He knew what she saw. He couldn’t hold any of it back—regret, heartache, and loss for something that had never been his.
“You’re leaving,” she choked out.
Ryan couldn’t speak. He watched her stride to the open window, its sheer white curtains billowing. Staring out into the night, she wiped away tears that spilled over and ran down her cheeks.
He blinked, his own eyes burning. “I’m sorry,” he said eventually.
Fin turned and walked across the room. Sinking to the edge of the bed, she stared down at her hands. “When?”
Ryan unlocked his hands from behind his head and reached for her, pulling her down beside him. She stretched out, tucking her head under his chin. Closing his eyes, he breathed her in, allowing his arms to wrap around her. “In the morning.”
Fin’s hand fisted in his shirt as she let out a sob.
“I have to do this,” he whispered hoarsely. He trailed his fingers through her hair and touched his lips to her forehead.
She started to wipe away the tears on her face, and Ryan took hold of her hand, stilling her. “You understand, don’t you, Fin, why I have to do this?”
Ryan needed to know that she understood he wasn’t leaving her, he was leaving his past, and trying to build a new future with the Army.
“I do.” She choked again and buried her face in his neck, sobs breaking free.
“Don’t,” he whispered thickly. “Please don’t cry. You have such a big future ahead of you. You’re going to do big things with your life. Don’t let anyone stop you from being who you need to be, okay?”
Fin nodded into his neck.
Ryan pushed back so he could look her in the eye. He wouldn’t be there to watch over her anymore, so he needed to know she would look out for herself. “Promise me, Fin.”
“I promise.”
Satisfied, he reached out and switched off the lamp. Thrust into sudden darkness, Ryan laced his fingers in hers and held her close. When her tears dried up, she drifted off into a deep slumber. In the early hours of the morning, he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, and disentangling himself, he left the room. Having already said his goodbyes to Mike and Julie earlier in the evening, Ryan clicked the door shut softly behind him and left the house, careful not to look back.
That was the last he saw of Finlay Tanner.
PLAYLIST:
Author Bio:
Kate McCarthy grew up in a small town outside of Port Macquarie, Australia. Raised in a house just a short walk to the beach, Kate enjoyed the peaceful, relaxed atmosphere and friendships that come from being raised in a friendly, small town area.
She now resides in Brisbane, Australia, a city in the state of Queensland where she works as an accountant, along with a sideline wedding cake business and her writing.
She is married with two children, has two dogs and house in the suburbs, and a pile of friends and family dotted all over the country that help keep her sane.
When she’s not busy running after naughty kids, filthy dogs, crunching numbers, piping buttercream and writing books, you can find her curled up in bed in the early hours of the morning reading new books and re-reading old favourites. Her favourite books are the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward in which she longs to eventually join the brotherhood and change her name to Phierce Mutha.
Author Media Links:
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/KMacinOz
Website - http://katemccarthy.net/
GIVEAWAY TIME!
I have not read anything from Kate McCarthy but I've heard this book is amazing. Hope to win! Thanks for the giveaway!
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