One Year Home

One Year Home was nothing short of heart-wrenching, gripping, raw, powerful and absolutely unputdownable! This is a MUST read that I just can't say enough about except READ THIS BOOK! John's story continues where Five Years Gone ends and will have you inhaling page after page of this beautiful story about finding the will to live again and a second chance at love!

One Year Home was a beautiful, heartwarming story. That pulled me in from the very first page. Thanks to Captain John West whose fragility, pain and heartbreak practically seeps from every page. That is until Jules appears and slowly helps to breathe strength, life, love, and happiness back into him, and gives him the happy ever after he so richly deserves. And I was utterly captivated throughout this story. Plus, I adored how John and Jules relationship developed, and how they stood together in the face of disapproval from certain members of Jules family. Who are all now Ava's family too not to mention I loved how Ava and Eric were not forgotten and that just because Ava got her happy ever after, didn't mean every she'd been through with John was wiped away. And all of those issues were perfectly blended within this story, and just added another layer to what was a beautifully written and emotional tale. That I would happily recommend, as it's one of the best books I read in 2019.

4.5 stars--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.