Book Review: An Everyday Hero by Laura Trentham

About the book:

Title: An Everyday Hero (Heart of a Hero #2)

Author: Laura Trentham

Published: February 4th 2020 by St. Martin’s Griffin

Source: Received from the Publisher, in exchange for an honest review

Format: e-copy

Blurb:

At thirty, Greer Hadley never expected to be forced home to Madison, Tennessee with her life and dreams of being a songwriter up in flames. To make matters worse, a series of bad decisions and even crappier luck lands her community service hours at a nonprofit organization that aids veterans and their families. Greer cannot fathom how she’s supposed to use music to help anyone deal with their trauma and loss when the one thing that brought her joy has failed her.

When Greer meets fifteen-year-old Ally Martinez, her plans to stay detached and do as little as possible get thrown away. New to town and dealing with the death of her father in action, she hides her emotions behind a mask of bitterness and sarcasm, but Greer is able to see past it and recognizes pieces of who she once was in Ally. The raw and obvious talent she possesses could take her to the top and Greer vows to make sure life’s negativities don’t derail Ally’s potential.

After Greer is assigned a veteran to help, she’s not surprised Emmett Lawson, the town’s golden boy, followed his family’s legacy. What leaves her shocked is the shell of a man who believes he doesn’t deserve anyone’s help. A breakthrough with Ally reminds Greer that no one is worth giving up on. So she shows up one day with his old guitar, and meets Emmett’s rage head on with her stubbornness. When a situation with Ally becomes dire, the two of them must become a team to save her—and along the way they might just save themselves too.

Check it on: Amazon & Goodreads

My Review

I have been so spoiled lately by St. Martin’s. They have amazing authors, incredible romance stories and I would read anything that is published by them. I may not have been the best reviewer when it comes to timings, but for sure I am improving a lot (part of my resolutions for this year).

For today I bring you my review for the latest Laura Trentham book – “An Everyday Hero”. This is the second book in “Heart of a Hero” series, from which I have also read book one, “The Military Wife”. Book one was so emotional that I had a hard time focusing on a coherent review. I have a limited experience with family members part of the army, as my grandfather used to be a lieutenant, but I was too little to understand the consequences or too little to ask questions about his time there. I still cried my heart out reading it.

With this being said, I was scared (good “scared”) going into “An Everyday Hero” and now, weeks after finishing it, I feel the same. I was again overwhelmed with the heavy dose of emotion that is put into this novel. The author has this ability of mixing pain and optimism (for lack of better words) in the same chapter and this is creating a beautiful, beautiful mix. A bit about the plot: our female main character is Greer Hadley. She is sentenced to community work after an altercation with a juke box (yup, funny story, won’t tell you more). This means she has to work with those affected by the war in any way – veterans or people who have lost relatives on the battlefield. She is assigned to Emmett Lawson and fifteen-year-old Ally Martinez, none of which is willing to open up.

But Greer’s unconventional methods, as well as stubbornness are two things that make her good at this job. Slowly, she has to break down Emmett’s walls and self-isolation and also convince Ally that sometimes one needs a friend. If with Emmett things are at least clear, if not easy, Ally has a life she is not willing to share with Greer.

We have two stories, two lives affected differently by war and one bridge between them. Greer will also have to deal with her own monsters and with her fear of professional failure. Learning from Ally and Emmett is her task. Learning to put aside her fears and have faith in her abilities is something Greer has to approach.

I loved this book so much and I love Laura Trentham to the Moon and back, times Infinity! The stories she gives life to are fantastic and full of emotions. I do recommend reading this book, as well as “The Military Wife”, but have some tissues close. Enjoy!

Cover review: I don’t get the cover, in relation with the story, unfortunately. I like it and I like that the color combination makes me thing of the American flag but… the 3 chairs with the girl dancing in the water, that I don’t get. Maybe there’s a scene that I’m missing from the book but… I don’t make the connection. It’s a great cover, just don’t see it tight to the story.

Favorite quote: “Fate controls all of our lives with a few seconds. A few seconds faster or slower ad you could have avoided a car wreck. A few seconds is all it takes to miss your train or buss and get you fired for being late to work. A few seconds can save a life or take one. You did everything you were capable of doing in those few seconds.”

5 stars