Title: Fighting Redemption
Author: Kate McCarthy
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: December 2, 2013
Ryan Kendall is broken. He understands pain. He knows the hand of violence and the ache of loss. He knows what it means to fail those who need you. Being broken doesn’t stop him wanting the one thing he can’t have; Finlay Tanner. Her smile is sweet and her future bright. She’s the girl he grew up with, the girl he loves, the girl he protects from the world, and from himself.
At nineteen, Ryan leaves to join the Australian Army. After years of training he becomes an elite SAS soldier and deploys to the Afghanistan war. His patrol undertakes the most dangerous missions a soldier can face. But no matter how far he runs, or how hard he fights, his need for Finlay won’t let go.
Returning home after six years, one look is all it takes to know he can’t live without her. But sometimes love isn’t enough to heal what hurts. Sometimes people like him can’t be fixed, and sometimes people like Finlay deserve more than what’s left.
This is a story about war and the cost of sacrifice. Where bonds are formed, and friendships found. Where those who are strong, fall hard. Where love is let go, heartache is born, and heroes are made. Where one man learns that the hardest fight of all, is the fight to save himself.
Sometimes it’s beneficial for love to hurt; it gives us a different perspective. It helps us remember the reasons why we fell in love in the first place and why and even though things become complicated sometimes, through all the hardships and temptations, we still find a way to fall in love.
Ryan and Fin’s story is in the throes of such a battle.
Driven to impress his parents and prove that he is worth of something, Ryan puts all his heart and soul into becoming a soldier; the only way he knows how to escape the demons of his past except for one thing…his feelings for Fin. That even after those six years of being away from each other, he knew that nobody holds his heart the way Fin does…and so does she.
Fin has always been in love with Ryan. Even if she knows that she won’t completely own him. Having such a big responsibility to protect others and keeping them safe, Ryan was left with no other choice but to leave her but Fin continues to love him despite of.
How long will they be able to resist each other and the temptations of love?
“For six years I fought every day not to think of you and I lost, because every day you were all I could see. You were the best thing in my life–so sweet and innocent, and so goddamn tempting.”
Kate McCarthy is one of my favorite writers, and once again she has managed to impress. This is a bittersweet tale of finding courage and compassion; a story full of desperation and fear of getting hurt. There is enough angst and emotional confusion in the beginning to make anyone wonder whether they will end up or not, and the level of passion once they dare to start falling again is breathtaking, and boy, do they make up for lost time once they get back together.
This is one of my favorites so far from all her writings, perhaps because I, as well as many others can easily relate to the almost hopeless feeling of sensing that something wonderful is slipping away and not knowing how to fix it. The story is so well written, logical, and clear. The characters are wonderfully formed and extremely easy to understand. It’s an extraordinary story and one that we will all do well to keep in mind. Truly captivating! Her best work so far.
If you are a hopeless romantic, like me, you will enjoy this heartfelt story of bravery, love, loss, passion, intrigue, and discovery, reminding us that true love and hope is worth fighting for.
Kate McCarthy grew up in a small town outside of Port Macquarie, Australia. Raised in a house just a short walk to the beach, Kate enjoyed the peaceful, relaxed atmosphere and friendships that come from being raised in a friendly, small town area.
She now resides in Brisbane, Australia, a city in the state of Queensland where she works as an accountant, along with a sideline wedding cake business and her writing.
She is married with two children, has two dogs and house in the suburbs, and a pile of friends and family dotted all over the country that help keep her sane.
When she’s not busy running after naughty kids, filthy dogs, crunching numbers, piping buttercream and writing books, you can find her curled up in bed in the early hours of the morning reading new books and re-reading old favourites. Her favourite books are the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward in which she longs to eventually join the brotherhood and change her name to Phierce Mutha.
