The Military Wife: A Heart of A Hero Novel

Harper Lee Wilcox married her first love Noah and has had to cope with the aftermath of his death in action five years ago. The only thing keeping her going is her young son, otherwise she is just going through the motions. A visit to an old friend, the wife of one of her husband's teammates, leads her to realise that many military wives and widows feel similarly dispossessed and directionless, their own careers and lives put second to the demands of the SEAL teams. Harper looks to invest the money she received from the Navy after her husband's death into a small business that could provide jobs to other military wives. Harper's decision to start a new business leads her to getting in touch with another of her husband's former teammates, Bennett Caldwell, who left the SEALs to run his own outdoor survival training business. How do you know when it's time to move on? Harper is a very relatable heroine, down to earth, normal, sassy. She struggles with her growing attraction to Bennett. To me her slightly contradictory reactions felt very real, the sort of illogical thought processes we go through in real life. For his part, Bennett struggles with his guilt at falling for his best friend's wife and the death of a man who was more like a brother. There's cute kids, huge dogs, lots of coffee, wilderness training, marriage troubles, sorrow, love, heartache, princess stories and hawt kisses. The novel is told from Bennett and Harper's points of view and with flashbacks to pivotal moments in both Harper and Bennett's interactions with Noah. I have to say I wasn't a fan of the flashbacks, it is kind of disconcerting when you are starting to get invested in a new romance to be interrupted with flashbacks to the start of the romance between Harper and Noah. Overall, I thought the blurb didn't really match the way the book went, maybe that was deliberate? But I really enjoyed it, I liked Harper and Bennett, I liked the character development and the plot. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

An amazing story of how the military affects the spouse, the family and the enlisted member. This story is told in a dual POV in past and present. I had a hard time putting this book down. Loved how Noah and Harper began their relationship and how it continues throughout his enlistment until he dies. The story also focuses on the life of Harper being a young widow and her best friend Allison, who's husband is suffering from PTSD. Then you have Bennett, who was Noah's, Seal brother whom Harper reconnects with. This story is full of emotions, loss, friendships, grief and learning to love again. The writing was amazing and drew me in from the first page. I highly recommend this book.