The most brazen terrorist attack in history. A country bent on revenge. A love affair cut short. A heart that never truly heals.
I knew on the day of the attack that our lives were changed forever. What I didn’t know then was that I’d never see John again after he deployed. One day he was living with me, sleeping next to me, making plans with me. The next day he was gone.
That was five years ago. The world has moved on from that awful day, but I’m stuck in my own personal hell, waiting for a man who may be dead for all I know. At my sister’s wedding, I meet Eric, the brother of the groom, and my heart comes alive once again.
The world is riveted by the capture of the terrorist mastermind, brought down by U.S. Special Forces in a daring raid. Now I am trapped between hoping I’ll hear from John and fearing what’ll become of my new life with Eric if I do.
From a New York Times bestselling author, Five Years Gone, a standalone contemporary, is an epic story of love, honor, duty, unbearable choices and impossible dilemmas.
Title : Five Years Gone
Author : Marie Force
Series : Navy Captain John West #1
Format : ebook
Page Count : 400
Genre : Contemporary Romance
Publisher : HTJB, Inc
Release Date : October 9, 2018
Reviewer : Micky
Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★
Micky’s 4 star review
When I am in the mood, military romance (if that’s a sub-genre) can really float my boat, I’ve had some profound reads in this category that are totally memorable. With this title and the idea it conjures, I was looking forward to an angsty, emotional ride and guess what, that’s exactly what I got.
What surprised me about this book is that I expected this to be about the missing soldier but really it was about Ava, the women he left behind. It was a unique situation, John had kept her in the dark in their two year relationship, encouraging her not to share her connection to him and keep it a secret. Is this ringing any alarm bells for you? It did for me, but not Ava and in retrospect, she put this down to her age and naivety.
“I blame myself for not paying closer attention, but mostly I blame him for leaving me in this torturous state of limbo.”
Five years later, Ava had to move on. The story really concentrates on her new start in a new city and her friendship with Eric. Eric was a good guy, not unrealistically so but I did so like him; he won my heart. The slow development of something more between Ava and Eric was great to read, I’m here for the slow burn always. Ava was definitely a work in progress, a heart-repair project and I came to like her very much.
There were elements of this story that were predictable, it’s pretty obvious with the title that John, her first love returned but that didn’t take away from the reading experience at all. Whilst I didn’t cry, I can tell you that this is the kind of read that had all the feels and I enjoyed rolling with the emotions and occasionally closing my kindle for a breather.
This is my first book by Marie Force and I enjoyed her writing style and the story she crafted. There’s another book to this series, but FIVE YEARS GONE is written so that it can stand alone. That said, I think I’m going to have to pick up with the other character soon.
A Take from Two Cities 