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| Soldier's Heart by Tamera Lynn Kraft |
Blurb: Noah Andrews, a soldier with the Ohio Seventh Regiment can’t wait to get home now that his three year enlistment is coming to an end. He plans to start a new life with his young wife. Molly was only sixteen when she married her hero husband. She prayed every day for him to return home safe and take over the burden of running a farm.
But they can’t keep the war from following Noah home. Can they build a life together when his soldier’s heart comes between them?
150 years ago the history of America changed forever. Live 1863 through the stories of some of our finest writers – the passion, the romance, the tragedy, and the triumph.
My review: Parents should be aware that this would be more of a PG rating or even a PG-13 dependent upon how conservative a parent you are. However, that being said, this is a realistic look at how Post Traumatic Stress disorder can affect someone. In this case, Tamera Lynn Kraft is addressing specifically "Soldier's Heart" or PTSD caused by military service and surviving terrible combat situations. This is a historical not a historical romance as Noah and Molly were married when she was only 16 and he 20. Now three years later, he has finished his commission as Sargent and returned home to Ohio.
The young couple tries to begin their lives together while he is overcoming the terror brought on by losing his men in an ambush. This is a fairly quick read--I read it in one night. But it is not a light read. This is a 25,000 word novella but the reader can quickly lose herself in the read--like I did!
Scriptural elements are brought in about a quarter of the way into the story and I think that was a good strategy because we are at first immersed into Noah's reaction to being home from war. And his spiritual arc requires him recapturing, and growing in, his faith.
Lots of nice historical details or "jewels" we history geeks like to say! You'll be nicely grounded into Noah's and Molly's world in Civil War era Ohio.
Bibliotherapy: This story could be used for bibliotherapy for family members of soldiers who've seen combat duty or for the military members themselves. This is one of the most thorough coverages I've seen in fiction.
Giveaway: Kindle copy of Tammy's novella to one of our commenters. Do you have a loved one who has seen combat?
