Synopsis:
Him:
You would think that because I am a Marine that life isn’t that hard to live. I’d like to tell you that you couldn’t be more wrong. War is hell on earth. I have seen so many things that will haunt me for the rest of my life. No matter how much I try to forget the light fading from someone’s eyes, I cannot. My life is one determined by the mind. I wake up every day to fears of what will trigger the turmoil that sends me into overdrive. My life is depicted by sounds and colors and things that make me less of a man.
Who am I, well I am CPL Blake Johnson. I am a United States Marine and I am living with post-traumatic stress disorder. If it weren’t for Anna, the sunshine in my life things would be much harder than they are.
Her:
Being a cosmetologist is not the easiest job for me, and after losing my best friend to her inner demons. I am bound and determined to not lose the man I love as well. They say in my line of profession you are more than what you claim. You are a therapist, a shrink, a person that listens to anything and everything. I am not that person. I have so much built up inside me I think I may be about to explode. I hope that this isn’t true because my heart picked someone that happens to be as inconsolable as I feel.
Who am I? Well, my name is Anna Henderson. I am just trying to live my life one moment at a time and praying that I don’t mess it up.
You would think that because I am a Marine that life isn’t that hard to live. I’d like to tell you that you couldn’t be more wrong. War is hell on earth. I have seen so many things that will haunt me for the rest of my life. No matter how much I try to forget the light fading from someone’s eyes, I cannot. My life is one determined by the mind. I wake up every day to fears of what will trigger the turmoil that sends me into overdrive. My life is depicted by sounds and colors and things that make me less of a man.
Who am I, well I am CPL Blake Johnson. I am a United States Marine and I am living with post-traumatic stress disorder. If it weren’t for Anna, the sunshine in my life things would be much harder than they are.
Her:
Being a cosmetologist is not the easiest job for me, and after losing my best friend to her inner demons. I am bound and determined to not lose the man I love as well. They say in my line of profession you are more than what you claim. You are a therapist, a shrink, a person that listens to anything and everything. I am not that person. I have so much built up inside me I think I may be about to explode. I hope that this isn’t true because my heart picked someone that happens to be as inconsolable as I feel.
Who am I? Well, my name is Anna Henderson. I am just trying to live my life one moment at a time and praying that I don’t mess it up.
Excerpt:
We are sitting around
enjoying a nice dinner and drinks. Sam
and Anna are actually getting along a lot better than I thought they
would. In all honesty, I believe they could be good friends. If it weren’t for Mary-Beth being with Jameson,
I think they would have been friends too.
We are all sitting
there eating our salad and talking when a plate crashes in the distance. I
immediately duck and cover under the table. Oh shit, this isn’t good. I grab hold to the table and just try to let
me breathing even out. I know this
doesn’t look good for me, but all I can think about is that damn bomb blowing
up and taking everyone away. I’m shaking
under the table, my whole body quivering.
“It’s okay, Anna. Just give him a minute. That crash probably triggered a bad memory
for him. Sam, explain please.” I hear
Jameson saying, but it sounds so far away.
I feel someone beside me, but I can’t look up. My head is in my hands against my knees and I
just keep rocking, trying to make myself forget everything. “Johnson, look at me man.”
“Can’t look up.”
“Blake, it was a dish
or something crashing in the kitchen. We
aren’t there anymore man. It isn’t
anything bad,” he says as he puts his hand on my shoulder. I finally look up to lock eyes with him and
feel like such a coward for acting this way.
“I’m such a fucking
pussy.”
“No, you’re not. You are one of the strongest men I know and
you will get through this,” Jameson cajoles as he bumps his head against
mine.
“She’s going to
leave. We haven’t even stayed together
because I was afraid I’d scare her with my dreams. Now, I have scared her by being scared of a
fucking dish breaking in a kitchen.” I
let out in a tortured groan.
“Anna isn’t
Mary-Beth. She’s a lot tougher than
this. If she cares she will stay.”
“I’ll be outside,” I
say as I get up from under the table. I
avoid eye contact with anyone including Anna.
I hear her mumble something and then footsteps behind me, but I don’t
wait for her to catch up. I walk outside
and to the edge of the building as I light up a cigarette. I inhale the toxins welcoming them into my
body. Anna comes and stands in front of
me, looking me up and down.
“How
long have you been like this, Blake?”
“Like
what?” I snap, I instantly feel remorse as I see her cringe and take a step
back.
“Never
mind. I’m sorry I asked.”
“Anna,
wait. I just… It’s not something I like to talk about. Okay?”
“Is
that why you didn’t stay the night with me that night we watched movies?”
“Yeah. I wake up screaming sometimes. I didn’t want you to see that side of me.”
“Well,
I would have been there for you through it.
I want to know everything about you.
Why you lied to me and kept it from me, I don’t know.”
She
gives me a sad smile as I light up another cigarette, looking over when I hear
Jameson raising his voice outside with someone.
I look over to see Ms. Jennifer and Mr. Roger standing over there with
him.
“Come
on, I’ll take you home,” I say as I grab
Anna’s hand and take her to my car. I
open the door helping her inside then I walk
around to the other side. I just flip
Kyle off as I see him standing by the car parked beside me. We drive in silence the whole way back to
Anna’s and I can’t help but feel like this wall is growing between us more and
more. I pull into the apartment complex
and put the Rover in park.
“You
gonna come in?”
“Not
tonight, I think maybe I should just go on home. We’ve had enough excitement for one night.”
“Oh,
okay then,” she replies. The look on her
face kills me. It’s the look of someone
who’s hurting and I wish I could make it go away, but I can’t. I don’t know how to fix it. I watch her walk up the stairs to her
apartment. When I know she is safely
inside I jerk the car into reverse.
Reviews:Jennifer's 5 Star Review
Blake Johnson has seen and been through some awful things in his life. He has dealt with the pressures of war and being a soldier and he has seen just how fast a life can slip away. Blake has been battling PTSD ever since the bombing that took the lives of some of his fellow Marines. He also almost lost his life in that very same bombing. Blake is living in a world of darkness, suffering, and alcohol until he literally runs into a woman that brings the sunshine back into his life.
Anna Henderson is the kind of woman you would be lucky to have for a best friend. She is loyal to the ones she loves, even when they act like an ass and don’t deserve her. She was not really looking for love or a relationship when she ran into Blake that day, but fate had other plans for them. However, a tragic and heartbreaking event pulls the light from Anna’s eyes. She starts retreating from Blake and all her friends. Will the love these two share be enough to pull her back from the darkness, or are some people really inconsolable?????
Amanda Lanclos has another 5 star winner with this book. I fell in love with these characters in her first book so I was more than anxious to read more about all of them in this one. The characters she has created in this series are like real life people, they face real life situations and life is not always rainbows and roses. I am so glad that she is giving us an opportunity to learn more about them by giving all of these awesome characters she has created a chance to tell their own stories. I am eagerly awaiting the next release in this awesome series! These guys may have wounded souls, but they are all still perfect in my eyes!!!
Amber's 5 Star Review
I loved it. Period.
This next installment in the wounded hearts series is just as amazing as the first and leaves you ready to read about what's going to happen next in this unique group of friends. It's very unique how as a sequel it back tracks and over laps the first book giving you a different point of view of events that you've already read about. This book shows that even in a more realistic setting love can over come the obstacles that many people face everyday and shows how you may not see the demons everybody hides. I highly this recommend this book to any reader who is looking for a romance that's just a bit different! Thank you Amanda for another piece of very entertaining literature!
Nikki's 5 Star Review
Book 2 in The Wounded Souls Series is Blake and Anna's story. We first meet Blake in book 1 when he was saved by his best friend Jameson Carter when a bomb exploded while they were serving in Afghanistan as Marines, Jameson lost both his legs and they saw the rest of their group killed. Blake feels guilty that he survived while others didn't, or were injured, he is suffering from Post Trumatic Stress Sydrome but instead of getting the help he needs he turns to drink and sex with women that he doesn't even know, then he meets Anna, Jameson's ex fiancee Mary - Beth's best friend. But when Anna's world is shook by tragedy can they pull each other back to the here and now and both get the life they deserve.
Another amazing read by Amanda Lanclos and I can't wait to see what comes next.
Other Books in the Series:
In one day your life can go from awesome to total shit and for me it’s going to change forever. Who am I? My name is PFC Jameson Carter, and I am a United States Marine, or I was until a bomb detonated and took half of me with it. The only thing that kept me alive was the woman I had waiting back for me at home.
How do you go from being a complete person to being half of something? For me, I have help, but how can I be anything more than half of what I used to be? Then when the one person you count on, the person you lived for leaves you how do you react?
For Samantha Blalock life is easy, she helps repair people like me, the people who lose limbs. Something isn’t the same though, she’s changed. See I’ve known Samantha for years. She’s hiding something. Can we help each other through these trying times in our lives? Or does the fact remain that we are both irreparable?
***DISCLAIMER*** This book contains topics of a serious nature, including possible violent scenes.
How do you go from being a complete person to being half of something? For me, I have help, but how can I be anything more than half of what I used to be? Then when the one person you count on, the person you lived for leaves you how do you react?
For Samantha Blalock life is easy, she helps repair people like me, the people who lose limbs. Something isn’t the same though, she’s changed. See I’ve known Samantha for years. She’s hiding something. Can we help each other through these trying times in our lives? Or does the fact remain that we are both irreparable?
***DISCLAIMER*** This book contains topics of a serious nature, including possible violent scenes.
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