More Than One Night (Heroes of the Night #1)

Nicole
Leiren
Genre: 
Contemporary

Melodie is a mortifyingly timid children’s librarian who has just lost her best friend, Tom, in Afghanistan. They had an agreement to marry each other if they both hit 30 and were still single. Daniel has finally retired from the military and hopes to be financially stable enough to get full custody of his little girl soon, before her mother becomes a hopeless drunk. Daniel and Melodie meet on a flight from Chicago to Dallas, and though the attraction is immediate, they have many uphill battles.

 

Ms. Leiren has created one of the most realistic, and moving, personal growth arcs ever! Many contemporary readers hate weak women, and Melodie is completely spineless at the beginning of this story. However, in small yet significant steps, intricately woven into her journey with Daniel and her family, Melodie’s coming of age at 30 isn’t smooth, but a refreshing look inside a late bloomer. A bit more about Daniel’s passage through life would have been nice, but he is painted with just as wondrously convincing a brush as she is. What sets this tale apart from so many others like it is that this couple, individually and together, has a complete arc—a total journey from weak to strong—with no steps missing, nothing left out, and little for the reader to disbelieve. The ending would have been better had there been a halfway point instead—it doesn’t stretch credibility, but does dent it a bit. This is one of the strongest debut books in a long time!

 

Julie York