Book: A Love Like Ours

Former Marine Jake Porter has far deeper scars than the one that marks his face. He struggles with symptoms of PTSD, lives a solitary life, and avoids relationships.

When Lyndie James, Jake's childhood best friend, lands back in Holley, Texas, Jake cautiously hires her to exercise his Thoroughbreds. Lyndie is tender-hearted, fiercely determined, and afraid of nothing, just like she was as a child. Jake pairs her with Silver Leaf, a horse full of promise but lacking in results, hoping she can solve the mystery of the stallion's reluctance to run.

Though Jake and Lyndie have grown into very different adults, the bond that existed during their childhood still ties them together. Against Jake's will, Lyndie's sparkling, optimistic personality begins to tear down the walls he's built around his heart. A glimmer of the hope he'd thought he'd lost returns, but fears and regrets still plague him. Will Jake ever be able to love Lyndie like she deserves, or is his heart too shattered to mend?

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This is the third book in a series.  It's meant to be a standalone, but I think it would read better as part of the series.  I missed the first one, and read the second one and it just adds more depth to the stories.
That being said, you could read it alone for just the story... which I loved!

This is one of the styles of book I really enjoy.  Long enough to really get to know the characters (I still didn't want it to end), not too much suspense, characters that actually have depth, plots that aren't completely implausible!

Jake is struggling with PTSD.  Lyndie thinks she can help him heal if only he will open up to her.  They were childhood best friends, but they've brought some of that childhood dynamic with them when they meet again 20 years later.  Add in their own wounds in the meantime and you have a recipe for an explosive relationship where neither knows what's happening inside the other even if they think they do.

I found it interesting to think about the greater themes of knowing another person.  You can assume all you want, the reasons for why someone acts the way they do, but I bet oftentimes you would be wrong.  Everyone is unique and I think we have to be careful to treat them with care and not put our own experiences on them or limit them by how we think they should act based on what we know.

Get lost in Holly, Texas and find some clues to life!  Check out other reviews here.

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Check out Becky's other books on her website, purchase a copy, and enter to win one below!

Becky Wade is a California native who attended Baylor University, met and married a Texan, and settled in Dallas. She published historical romances for the general market before putting her career on hold for several years to care for her three children. When God called her back to writing, Becky knew He meant for her to turn her attention to Christian fiction. She loves writing funny, modern, and inspirational contemporary romance! She's the Carol Award and Inspirational Reader's Choice Award winning author of My Stubborn Heart, Undeniably Yours, Meant to Be Mine, and A Love Like Ours.

I received this book from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for my fair and honest review.