Sunday 8 December 2013

Blog Tour and giveaway - Fighting Redemption by Kate McCarthy



Title: Fighting Redemption
Author: Kate McCarthy
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: December 2, 2013


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Book Summary:
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 doesnt stop him wanting the one thing he cant have; Finlay Tanner. Her smile is sweet and her future bright. Shes 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 wont let go.

Returning home after six years, one look is all it takes to know he cant live without her. But sometimes love isnt enough to heal what hurts. Sometimes people like him cant be fixed, and sometimes people like Finlay deserve more than whats 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.



Review by Janeane ~ ARC received for an honest review

Gut wrenching.  Heart breaking. Absolutely beautiful.  There are not enough words to describe how I feel about Fighting Redemption.  It is everything I could ever want in a book - plus more.

Australian SAS soldier is a broken man.  Things have happened in his past that still haunt him today, and he can't let it go.

Finlay is his best friend's younger sister - and the girl who has held his heart since the first day they met in primary school.  The woman he can't have.  It made my heart ache for him as we watched him love from afar, his feelings changing as he grows older to an eternal flame for her that will never die.

It is hard to write this review without giving any spoilers, as there are so so many wonderful things about Fighting Redemption  that I want to scream about it from the rooftop for all to hear!

Ryan has always wanted to be a soldier, and knows as a teenager that when he leaves to join the Army, he is going to have to leave Fin forever, that he needs to move on. It is heartbreaking.
 
Its always the strongest who fall the hardest.

I can tell you now, you will do this - more than once - while reading
It is 6 years before Ryan and Fin meet again.  Fin has moved on with her life, is successful in her career and studies, has been with her boyfriend for a while, and everything seems to be going perfectly.

"For six years I fought every day not to think of you, and I lost, because every day you were all I could see."
   
But the connection between Ryan and Fin can't be ignored - as much as they need to.
"Even though we've never been together, you've always been mine, and even if I never get to keep you, you'll still be mine."



  There were some fantastic secondary characters in this story.  Love love love Jake, Fin's brother and Ryan's best friend.

Jake and Ryan's Army friends are also a big part of the story.  We see them in both their home environment and also on deployment in the Afghanistan war zone.  Ms McCarthy had written these in such a way that you can almost feel the heat and the dust and the tension.
 And Fin and Jake's parents - so much more Ryan's parents then his own ever were - so much love in their hearts.


EXCERPT
The call disconnected before she could reply, and she tossed the phone beside her with a sigh. Pushing up off the bed, she walked towards her wardrobe. Catching movement from the corner of her eye, she turned her head and jolted. Ryan was leaning casually against the doorframe, his arms folded. Licking his lips, he stepped into the room and shut the door behind him.

 “Ryan. You scared me.” She reached for the top she’d tossed on her corner chair a few minutes ago and gave him her back.

Fin felt him come up behind her and she shivered. He reached around, grabbed the shirt from her hands and tossed it on the floor. Suddenly breathless, she looked at it, then at his hands where they came to rest on her stomach.


He was an asshole for doing this to her, but her door was ajar. When Ryan heard her voice and saw her lying on her bed in nothing but lacy pink underwear, he couldn’t stop himself. How did she manage to look so innocent and so sexy all at the same time?


His lids lowered as he looked down over her shoulder, watching his hands as they skimmed up the smooth, taut skin of her belly to cup her breasts firmly.  Her body trembled as he rubbed his thumbs across her nipples. He felt them harden beneath the flimsy lace of her bra.



“Fin,” he breathed, running one hand down along the inner edges of her tanned thigh. Fuck. Her legs were smooth and warm, and he wanted them wrapped around him as he sank himself deep inside her.


Burying his head in her neck, Ryan shifted his hand to cup the pretty lace panties between her thighs and took a deep, shuddering breath. God, he shook with the need to taste her. 

“Ryan,” she moaned.

With his other hand, he fisted the soft strands of her hair and yanked her head back, exposing the line of her throat, and he fell on it—sucking and biting the sweet skin until he was unbearably hard.


A tap came at the bedroom door and they both froze. “Fin? Are you heading out soon or eating here first?” Jake called out.


“I-I’ll be right out,” she stammered and took a step forward out of Ryan’s arms. She turned around, meeting his eyes.
  
“Okay,” Jake called back. 

Ryan’s blood pulsed so hard it was a roar in his ears as they stared at each other wordlessly. After a beat of silence, she tore her eyes away and opened the wardrobe door. 

“Are you happy now?” she hissed as she grabbed a pair of jeans from the shelves.

His eyes on her ass, he muttered, “What?” 

She threw the jeans at him and he caught them when they hit him square in the chest. “This. Us. Yes, okay? I want you. Is that what you want to hear? That I dream of you too?” she choked out. “Your hands on me, inside of me, and I ache too.”

Ryan took a step towards her. 

“Don’t.” She snatched the jeans out of his hands and tugged them on.

 “I’m sorry,” he murmured. 

Fin turned, rummaging for a top. She pulled one off a hanger and tugged it on furiously. “You’re sorry. I’m sorry. Everybody’s sorry. Well it’s just one sad, fucking sorry situation, isn’t it?”


Christ, Fin was a fiery inferno when she was mad, and it had his dick swelling even harder. “Fin, I—”


“Enough!” She jabbed a finger in his chest. “There’s hurt in there. I know it. You know it, but you’re not going to move on from it until you let that shit out. Whatever you’re doing now isn’t working. Own it, Ryan. Stop letting it own you.” With that she brushed passed him and opened the bedroom door. She looked at him over her shoulder before stalking away.
  
There are so, so many moments in this book that I am still thinking about now, well after finishing,  Ryan and Jake, Ryan and Fin.  The war scenes.  Some letters.  Birthday cakes.  Deployments.  Whales and penguins (I know, sounds random but you will get it when you read).

Even writing this now, I have had to walk away and come back, as I am getting emotional just thinking about this book.  This one is going to stick with me for a long time to come.

On another note - thank you to all the service men and women, and their families for all you do for our country. 

 This book is so different from her other works, and for me it is a stand out.

I read so many books, but every now and again I come across one like this. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE should  read this book.

Finding books like Fighting Redemption is the reason I read.  

 (There are not enough stars to rate this book!!)



Author Bio:
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 shes 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.

STALK KATE HERE



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