Monday, January 25, 2016

review || HALLOWED GROUND { blog tour } by Rebecca Yarros


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Entangled Embrace | January 25, 2016 | Military Romance
Fight & Glory, book 4
★★★★★

TOUR HOST: TRSOR PROMOTIONS

There are some debts you can’t repay.

Josh Walker is loyal, reckless, and every girl’s dream. But he only has eyes for December Howard, the girl he's craved since his high school hockey days. Together they have survived grief, the military, distance, and time as they’ve fought for stolen weekends between his post at Ft. Rucker and her college at Vanderbilt. Now that Josh is a medevac pilot and Ember is headed toward graduation, they’re moving on—and in—together.

Ember never wanted the Army life, but loving Josh means accepting whatever the army dictates—even when that means saying goodbye as Josh heads to Afghanistan, a country that nearly killed him once before and that took her father. But filling their last days together with love, passion, and plans for their future doesn’t temper Ember’s fear, and if there’s one thing she’s learned from her father’s death, it’s that there are some obstacles even love can’t conquer.

Flight school is over. 

This is war.
Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo

{ about rebecca yarros } .


Rebecca YarrosRebecca Yarros is a hopeless romantic and lover of all things chocolate, coffee, and Paleo. In addition to being a mom, military wife, and blogger, she can never choose between Young Adult and New Adult fiction, so she writes both. She's a graduate of Troy University, where she studied European history and English, but still holds out hope for an acceptance letter to Hogwarts. Her blog, The Only Girl Among Boys, has been voted the Top Military Mom Blog the last two years, and celebrates the complex issues surrounding the military life she adores.

When she's not writing, she's tying on hockey skates for her kids, or sneaking in some guitar time. She is madly in love with her army-aviator husband of eleven years, and they're currently stationed in Upstate NY with their gaggle of rambunctious kiddos and snoring English Bulldog, but she would always rather be home in Colorado.

{ excerpt } .

I pulled her onto my lap, gently squeezing the sweet curves of her hips.

“Behave,” she whispered into my ear, but ran her tongue along the edge.

My fingers flexed, teasing under the edges of the black skirt that had slid higher on her thighs as she sat. I couldn’t help it—her skin was a magnet for my hands. “You like it better when I don’t,” I answered.

She locked those blue eyes on mine, and for that second, I wanted everyone to go the fuck away so I could get my remarkable girlfriend out of her clothes. Not a girlfriend for long. Not if I found the perfect moment for that little velvet box hidden upstairs.

Mrs. Walker. December-fucking-Walker. Sounded perfect to me.

“Earth to Josh and Ember,” Jagger called, waving his hand like he’d been at it a while.

“Yeah, yeah, a toast,” Ember said, wiggling against my now-hard lap. I locked her down with my hands, and she threw me a smug grin, well aware of what she’d done.

Jagger raised his beer. “To friends. Hell, that doesn’t even cut it. You guys, all of you...I wouldn’t be here”—he looked over to Paisley—“or even the man I am, without you. So more than friends...to family.”We glanced around the fire at the family we’d made, and I felt it—one of those moments you can’t forget, the kind that stay with you when it’s long past, so you try to memorize everything. It was a deep peace, a contentment laced with the silent knowledge that we wouldn’t be together again for far too long.
“To family,” we all said in scattered rhythm, and I kissed the underside of Ember’s jaw.

{ review } .

As the synopsis states -- this is war. We are now in the part of Josh and DecEmber's story that is going to give them the biggest battles of their lives. The fights, the battles, the desire for the other to have everything they deserve... these are the fights that will shape Josh and Ember's true love story and with these battles, Josh and his soon-to-be Mrs. Walker learn just what their relationship can handle.

This story was so beautifully written. I loved watching them grow through the previous books, but this one, this book right here, was the full impact for these two. Ember grew up in the military lifestyle and while she never thought it would be one she would choose, when she chose Josh she knew what she was getting in to. But she wasn't prepared for a lot of the mentality, the guilt, the need to fight, that Josh goes through in this book.

I cried through at least 50% of this book -- more sad tears than happy tears, but the happy ones were certainly there, too. The emotion in this book was gripping and had me needing to know more. There are people we have grown to love that we lose, and there are decisions that make you want to pull your hair out, but at the crux of it all is love and friendship.

One of my favorite scenes in this book was when the gang gets together for their 'family dinner'. Even with Gray and Sam far away, the six amigos (Jagger and Paisley have very big roles in this book, too, and Jagger's friendship with Josh... my goodness, I fell in love with Jagger all over again) get together for dinner, planning their meal and Skyping with the faraway pair.

Many, many times I wanted to throttle Josh -- as I'm sure everyone else in the book did too. But I understood his needs throughout the book, just as I understood Ember's fears, her worries, and her needs. There's a very fine line of what is right for you, what is right for your relationship, and what is right for your country, that Josh and Ember embark upon in this story.

This series has been such a great one. Each relationship had it's ups and downs, as well as friendships that took a moment to fully become true. This particular book certainly sends the reader through the emotional wringer, but it was certainly well executed.

And the epilogue... We all know I love me a good epilogue and this one was so incredibly, freaking sweet (and I especially loved the build up on one particular character). It truly solidified that the battles Josh and Ember go through help their relationship forge into something sweet and truly everlasting.

{ previous reviews in series } .

BEYOND WHAT IS GIVEN 5 { review }

{ giveaway } .

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