REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY!! In Love and War by Tara Mills (@Crimson_Romance, #GIVEAWAY)

 

BLURB:

Ariela Perrine refuses to consider a certain type of man. She watched how loving a self-sacrificing hero destroyed her mother and left her orphaned at a young age so yes, she does tend to go out with lackluster men with predictable results. But she's safe. And bored, at least until an accident brings the interior decorator face to face with an unforgettable pair of blue eyes, a playful smile, and his overly affectionate dog.

Oh yeah, journalist Dylan Bond makes her sizzle but dare she risk it? After all, he's just returned from Iraq - a war zone for crying out loud. With his assurance that he's back to covering domestic stories, her fears are allayed and their relationship hits the tarmac at a dizzying speed. But then an unexpected phone call lures Dylan back into danger for one final, coveted assignment and he falls off everyone’s radar outside the green zone. Sensing something’s gone desperately wrong, Ariela’s ready to make a deal with the devil to find him and get him back safe. As she searches for the man she loves, Ariela discovers that she’s far more resilient than she realized, but will it be enough to preserve her as the days of fear and panic stretch on?

Click HERE to read the first chapter!!

GUEST POST:

I am always excited when an author agrees to do a guest post!  It is a fabulous way to learn more about them!

Thank you for having me, Brandy, and allowing me to talk a little about In Love and War.  As a writer, the question I hear most often is, “Where do you get your ideas?”  Sometimes there isn’t an easy answer.  That’s not the case with this book.

I started paying attention to the gritty side of covering conflicts when the US went into Bosnia, but when Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and executed while covering Iraq, I was truly shaken.  Journalism is a calling; often thankless, certainly difficult, not to mention traumatic and heart wrenching. Yet brave men and women are driven to answer that call and keep the world informed, even when it puts them in danger.

That’s how Dylan Bond stepped into my consciousness.  He’s a hero with a noble heart and an unwavering sense of justice — a truly compassionate individual.  Who wouldn’t love a man like that?

Meet Ariela Perrine. With a past like hers, it’s understandable that she’d try to resist him.  Heroic risk-takers are on her untouchables list; underlined, and in bold.  But she’s not as immune to Dylan’s charms as she’d like to be. Internal and external conflicts arise and threaten the peace they find together.

In the end, they both need to come to terms with who they are and what they expect from one another. Compromise is key if their relationship is going to work. It isn’t easy, but it might be worth the risk.

REVIEW:

I was asked by the author to review this story and after I read the blurb, I was intrigued.  Ariela is an interior designer that I took to right away.  She admits she is flawed when it comes to relationships and I love that kind of honesty.  She goes out with men she is sure she can't get serious about so she doesn't have to risk being hurt.  We find out in the story that her father was a police officer and his death shaped her family and her life. 

Dylan is a journalist that is out to save the world or what he can of it.  He is floored when he meets Ariela and wants to investigate where this relationship is heading.  Ariela is hesitant to begin anything with him until he is stateside for good and I don't blame her. 

My husband was Army and I told him that if he had been active, we would have never gotten together.  Please don't hate mail me for that statement.  I dated military men for years before I met my husband and I have been the girlfriend waiting behind.  I just didn't want to do that to kids.  I have the upmost respect for military (a LOT of my friends and family are military) I just know that it takes a special kind of person to be in that relationship and at 21 when I met my husband, I wasn't that person.  I related to Ariela's fears for Dylan and the pain she felt when he went back to Iraq.  Their messages back and forth were sweet and passionate.  You could feel the love and longing.

I am not going to tell you the ending.  I don't like doing that with my reviews.  If I tell you the "meat" of the story, why would you want or need to read it?  I have to say that I freaking love MAX!  This dog is the comic relief that makes a story.  Ariela was going to fall victim to his charm eventually!

Take the time to discover Tara Mills and if you are not already a fan, you will be. :)

Comment on this post and one lucky person will win a copy of In Love and War from Tara Mills!!