Wounded Hearts

Sarah’s friends and family are worried about her. Two years earlier her fiancé, Logan, and his Marines were attacked, the bodies of the missing presumed dead. A year ago, five men from the missing were rescued, but Logan was not among them. Not only has every one of the few dates she’s attempted been bad, but she simply cannot move on from the one man she’s loved her entire adult life. When someone from Logan’s unit reaches out, she hesitates on meeting him, but soon realizes there are other good men out there, even scarred and damaged ones.

This is a short but timely tale, echoing what many of the left-behind girlfriends and widows surely feel when their loved ones do not come home. Sarah has many of the ups and downs that are faced; the fears and aches mixed with determination to move on, yet not quite being able to. There is enough built in to carry a longer story, and some readers may want that, though it is a solidly written novella. The memories are not offset by italics or by verb tense, making it difficult to distinguish between “now” and “then”. By the end of the story, many readers may not like the hero, and Sarah’s lack of anger will not make sense. She deserves to rant and rage, especially with the devastating loss she’s been through. There is a happy ending that includes forgiveness, reality based PTSD therapy, and a man willing to let go of pain in order to be healed.

Julie York