Home Sweet Home A Sweet, Texas Novella by Candis Terry blog tour #review #giveaway
This post was supposed to have run on Wednesday but illness prevented me from running it. Here it is today. My apologies to the author and tour company in my lateness.
Home
Sweet Home
A Sweet, Texas Novella
By: Candis Terry
Releasing May 19th, 2015
(Re-Issue with Additional Content)
Avon Impulse
Before Candis Terry’s wild Wilder
brothers met their matches, a soldier gets a homecoming in Sweet, Texas.
HE’S
GIVEN UP…
Army
Ranger, Lieutenant Aiden Marshall, fought in some of the most hellish corners
on earth and survived. Those closest to him, did not. When he returns home to
Sweet, Texas, he believes he’s broken and has lost everything-including his
soul. The only fair thing he can do is tell the woman who’s patiently waited
for him to come home-to move on with her life-without him.
BUT
SHE NEVER WILL
Sassy
waitress Paige Walker has no intention of walking away from the man of her
dreams. He gave his all for his country and served with honor. Now it’s time to
pull him from the darkness and give him hope. With a heap of love, the help of
the entire town, and a tail-wagging companion, Paige makes sure her hero knows
there’s no place like home sweet home.
"The inspiration for HOME SWEET HOME came from an article I’d read about a soldier who been forced to leave the pup he’d rescued in Afghanistan because it wasn’t allowed to bring the animal back to the U.S. In writing the story I realized that rescue animals are a huge part of the romances I write. Since I’m prone to rescue four-legged friends in my personal life I thought that maybe I could help in a bigger way. When I started looking into rescue centers I was overwhelmed by not only the number of animals in need but the generosity of the volunteers who often nurse these animals back to health so they can be adopted. The love and loyalty of an animal is unconditional and I’d like to see them have the opportunity to be loved right back. I know I can’t help them all, but I hope these donations will help as many as possible."
"The inspiration for HOME SWEET HOME came from an article I’d read about a soldier who been forced to leave the pup he’d rescued in Afghanistan because it wasn’t allowed to bring the animal back to the U.S. In writing the story I realized that rescue animals are a huge part of the romances I write. Since I’m prone to rescue four-legged friends in my personal life I thought that maybe I could help in a bigger way. When I started looking into rescue centers I was overwhelmed by not only the number of animals in need but the generosity of the volunteers who often nurse these animals back to health so they can be adopted. The love and loyalty of an animal is unconditional and I’d like to see them have the opportunity to be loved right back. I know I can’t help them all, but I hope these donations will help as many as possible."
Excerpt
“When did you
get home? Why didn’t your brother tell me? How long will you be home? Do you
want something to eat? Of course you do. Dumb question. Scratch that.”
Aiden
couldn’t help but smile as Paige fired off a volley of questions, then finished
them off with a random thought.
Just like old
times.
She’d always
been that girl.
The one who
had a million things going on all at once and tried to keep them all in order
inside her head. At times, she came off a bit scrambled even though, for the
most part, she had it more together than anyone he’d ever met. Aiden knew she
saw every day as a gift. She saw life as something priceless that should be hit
at full speed and explored twenty-four hours a day.
When they’d
been together, he’d managed to keep her in bed for several of those hours a day
just to show her that a lot could be accomplished in a prone position too. But
even then, between making love, she’d come up with a list of half a dozen
things she wanted to do that day, next week, or a year down the road. They’d
done a hell of a lot of exploring in those days, and even if he hadn’t been
able to keep up with her eagerness on the calendar, he managed to keep her
enthusiasm busy in other ways.
“A few days
ago,” he said, answering her first question, then followed up with the rest.
“Ben didn’t tell you because he didn’t know. And yes, I’d love a Diablo burger,
a double order of sweet-potato fries, and a marshmallow Snickers milk shake.”
It didn’t
take a rocket scientist to know immediately that she was hurt because he’d
taken so long to come see her. By rights, she should have been first on his
list. And she would have been, but he had obligations to visit Bobby’s and
Billy’s folks. And after those visits, he had barely been able to look at
himself in the mirror.
The wounded
look in her eye disappeared, and her smile reappeared. Apparently, she realized
too why he hadn’t come to see her first.
“Awww. Your
favorite foods.” She shifted her weight from one sexy hip to the other. “I’ll
bet you’ve been craving those for a long time.”
He’d been
craving her too, but that kind of thinking had to stop.
“Pretty much
since I boarded the plane for Afghanistan and left American soil.” Funny how
the moment you knew you couldn’t have something, you wanted it even more.
“Well, the
wait is over. You sit right there, and I’ll have Bud put your order on a rail.”
Her tennis shoes squeaked as she turned and rushed off into the kitchen.
With all day
in front of him and nothing to do, Aiden could watch her through the order
window, excitedly gesturing with her hands while she spoke with Bud. Still, he
couldn’t help wonder out loud … “A rail?”
The old man
with the bald head next to him nodded and grinned. “She’s puttin’
the hurry up on it for you.”
“Oh.”
Guilt wrapped
around Aiden’s throat and gave a hard squeeze. The faster Paige moved, the
sooner he’d have to deliver the news. She looked so damned happy to see him, he
hated to burst her bubble. Hated to hurt her in any way. But it had to be done.
No matter how badly he might think he wanted it to be otherwise.
“For a man
who’s got a pretty woman like that scurrying around to make time to be with
him, you sure got a grim look on your puss.”
The man
sitting next to him, Chester Banks, was well into his eighties. He’d had more
ex-wives than Disneyland had rides. Over the years, his nose had grown, and his
eyes had sunk. He probably weighed all of a hundred pounds soaking wet, was
bowlegged, and wore his Wranglers so starched, his arthritic knees could barely
bend. But Chester had no qualms whatsoever about chasing the ladies who were at
least six decades younger.
“Probably
matches what’s inside my head,” Aiden verified.
“Oh?” A
scraggly gray brow lifted, and a smile broke across Chester’s wrinkled lips.
“So you’re saying the lovely Paige is up for grabs?”
Rating: 3.5
Cover comment: Sweet
Book source: Edelweiss
Sweet, powerful, and moving, Home Sweet Home grabs at the heartstrings and doesn't let go until the very end. Paige is an immensely likable character. This small town waitress has waited for the love of her life to return and if he's not ready to start off where they ended things before he was deployed, she will wait. Aiden has witnessed some horrible things while fighting a war and he returns home a changed man. Suffering from PTSD, he also feels guilty for being the only one out of four friends to return. He also had to leave the dog he and his buddies raised from a puppy behind. When he sees Paige old feelings want to return but his guilt prevents them.
This was a quick paced, sexy read with plenty of heart. Watching the entire town join together to help out one of their own is especially touching. Since we get to hear from both main character's points-of-view, the reader gets a full picture of what each individual is going through. Aiden's inner battles are portrayed realistically and I had a sense of who this tortured man is. Paige is sassy with a heart of gold and a strong love for this man. Home Sweet Home is very enjoyable and I liked it.
About the author
Candis Terry was born and raised near the sunny beaches of
Southern California and now makes her home on an Idaho farm. She’s experienced
life in such diverse ways as working in a Hollywood recording studio to chasing
down wayward steers. Only one thing has remained the same: her passion for
writing stories about relationships, the push and pull in the search for love,
and the security one finds in their own happily ever after.
Giveaway
(Sweet, TX
series backlist: ANYTHING BUT SWEET, SWEETEST MISTAKE, SOMETHING SWEETER, SWEET
SURPRISE)
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