Angry Veteran's Widow
589387
I'm a 63 yr old widow of a 100% DAV Vietnam vet ( for almost 6 yrs)...I live alone in rural Oklahoma......first time I went to put batteries in it.. a silver piece broke off..shame on you Blazin Bison...I am alone with out any family out here in the wooed area during a virtual "monsune" 9for Oklahoma) and THIS happens! I'd like a replacement ...you have no idea how hard it is for me to live alone without Dave...whom the VA let die of cancer...I think I have earned better..took care of him for the last two week of his life alone, fractured 3 ribs, held the kitchen door open as he was rolled out the the hearse..I am a red blood American Patriot!
1972830
I purchased this for my husband - at his request.  He has to read it a bit at a time because the truth contained in the book makes him so angry.
2155214
I enjoyed this story of the adventures of a woman who lost her husband in the war.  The author has done a wonderful job of telling of the struggles of a widow and her son.
565350
Laura is a woman who left town ten years ago because her fianc couldn't/wouldn't let her in. He wouldn't share his overwhelming grief over the murder of his parents. I did and didn't like Laura. I could see postponing the wedding. But canceling and then leaving the country?  Yes, she was young when she left. Now let's jump to ten years later. She's back in town after a tragedy in her life. Laura returns home to her mother along with her two children.  She's grown in some ways and not in others. I got aggravated with her continuing to call Taft out on being a player. Um, not for a while now and she was out of the country and married!  I'm not saying the failure of the engagement wasn't on both shoulders, just that she is the one who called it off and left.  I did sympathize with Laura. Taft is the love of her life and she felt left and rejected even before she left. The things she has to deal with after her return to the States wasn't easy and to deal with the past and past hurts didn't help. Laura tries to avoid Taft at all costs. Needless to say that doesn't work. She resists him and he keeps pursuing, until he figures there's no hope.

Taft is really a great guy that has been through hell in his life. His parents were murdered and he didn't know how to deal with it other than to act tough and pretend it didn't affect him. Of course that just ate him up from the inside out and changed who he was.  In the end he lost Laura before he found himself again. Taft goes through ten years without her or commitment to anyone else. When Laura returns home and he runs into her again he's poleaxed. It doesn't take him long to realize he still loves her and has fallen for her children. He does everything he can to convince her that he will never hurt her again. He shares himself/his feelings and admits what he did wrong in the past. Taft can't figure out how to convince Laura he isn't really a player. He puts himself out there until he thinks it'll never work.  This is when tragedy strikes again forcing Laura to rethink her views and face the fact that she still does and always has loved Taft. The question is what she will do about it.

This was a pretty good read. It's a romance that's paced a bit slow, but that wasn't a bad thing in this case. I liked that there wasn't someone in danger, being chased or on someone's "hit list".  I would recommend this for anyone looking for a sweet romance or easy/relaxing read.
4074252
This story of Jack and Whitney touches on a very real problem for our Veterans in learning to deal with the horrific things that they have seen while protecting our way of life.

Whitney and Jack may not be real, but the problem is. There is awareness of PTSD, but I think there needs to be more. This book does an excellent job of showing just how hard it can be for our soldiers.

A great read, but your going to need a box of Kleenex for this one.
3411492
Great book, I am TS and Retired Military, though I don't ahve the combat experince she has the other issues are shared.
I will recommend this book to all my friends.

In closing I wish her the very best in her future life and thanks her for her service to this country.

Barbara Ann Coombs
Miami
1240392
I am surprised and appalled that a person so self absorbed, selfish,arrogant and utterly insensitive to the feelings of others could have lasted so long in a "helping field". She completely abandons her best friends while she is dying of cancer, cannot say a single kind or soothing word to a long time co-worker who lost his young child in a car accident, is impatient and angry at a patient bec she is taking too long to tell her why she tried to commit suicide bec she is in a rush to get the paperwork done....just to name a few.
This is not about the patients  at Bellevue, or our mental health system. This is all about a self absorb inhumane woman making herself feel better. It's horrifying that someone like this was not fired early on. I feel great sorrow for all her patience and wonder what kind of mother she will be to her children during their time of need.
218126
This was a great book.  The author wrote a loving tribute to her husband.  What upset me at the end of the book is that unlike many 9/11 widows and wives of men in the military who have lost their lives, Jennifer had money, house in the Hampton,s etc.  Yet after she met the man she would eventually marry, her last item on her to-do list she said was to get the money paid to the widows of 9/11.  She clearly didn't need it.  The sense of entitlement was disturbing and what's wrong with this country.
3881087
I hated Tony at first but ended up loving him to death, he was just that good. His 360 was unbelievable. Gretchen, Will's ex-wife, friend to his current wife and BFF to his sister-in-law, finally put herself firstsort of.

While I can never understand how Tony feels having lost his arm while fighting for his country, he really didn't have to be such an ass. Mad, sure, angry, yes and I get his being an ass but his level of asshole-ness is a bit much. He had loved Gretchen for 2 decades yet throws all his nastiness at her when all she is trying to do is help.

On top of Tony, Gretchen is about to take on the care of 8 year old Olivia. Her grandmother, the only mother she has ever known, is dying. Olivia's dad was killed in an accident early in her life. Olivia brings out a side in Tony that is so heartwarming it almost makes up for his bad attitude.

This was a really sad but really heartwarming story. Gretchen finally gets her much deserved HEA.
416919
Spoilers

First this was really so sad and pathetic.  And to stupid to believe.  Not a happy ending because she stayed with the cheater.

First the town doesn't respect her, they feel sorry and pity her because she is a sad pathetic doormat.  I mean your husband goes around town kissing and screwing another women for all to see.  He just didn't screw her once.  He was with her for a year.  While you were with your sister as she died and handling funeral arrangements he stayed home to be with the other women.

Your husband didn't even come to your father or sisters funeral.  He was screwing another women out in the open for a year, didn't even try to hide it.  These reasons alone are unforgivable.  But he is a good man she says.

The whole town knows he cheated for a year, isn't home, doesn't care about his family but let's vote him mayor.  Because we can trust a man who lies, cheats and doesn't do anything for his family.  Right, just stop the stupid.

But once she told him to end the affair, he was mad at her for making him stop.  Didn't say sorry, didn't try to spend time with his wife, just kept ignoring her.

And if you have to tell someone they should be sorry for what they did, you have to tell him to fight for you.  So telling some one to do or say something doesn't mean a thing when they do it.  You should be sorry you cheated, he was like, I'm sorry.  You didn't fight for me, now he goes after her.  He has to be told what to do, so doesn't mean a thing if he has to be told to do it.

So no, he is not a good man.  And she isn't a good mom because she stayed with a man who ignored his children, caused them pain.  She is a sad pathetic doormat who stayed with a man who cheating on her and didn't hide it or feel bad or even sorry about it.

I feel sorry for women like this.  If your husband cheats on you, he doesn't live or even respect you.

I always wonder I'd the author would find it romantic if her husband screwed another women for a year, if she would stay.  If doesn't doesn't find it romantic, how are we to.

Once a cheater, always a cheater.
4307905
This was nice to get the story from the widow from her view of events. I didn't think it was as well written as American Sniper written by her husband.
1263153
my mother in law could care less, she is obviously not a nice person
1752175
Mustered out Lt. Peter Ash of the U.S. Marines visits the wife of a now-deceased buddy from his service days who has committed suicide, to try to make amends for not having saved him. But things are not as they seem as a plot to blow up a public building by a group of extremists seems to be connected to that death. This is a decent read and will remind some of the Jack Reacher novels about a maladjusted veteran who stumbles on a set of circumstances that demand examination and where their military experience comes in handy. It's well-written and keeps your attention.
2748332
This is how one family has dealt with and is dealing with a family with PTSD and SPTSD.  I think everyone that loves a veteran needs to read this story of one families struggle!
4334953
Purchased this for my husband - he gets more livid with each page.  Rants and raves about how the idiots in Washington - know nothing abour how to fight and win a war, and on and on and on--Until he's red in the face . all in all - I'd say he thinks it's a well written book and in fact told me he thinks every American should read it.
4130822
This is a fascinating story of a woman's discovery, after the untimely death of her husband, that her perfect marriage was not so perfect after all.  The author shares every detail of the betrayal she discovers and the pain she felt in response.  And, had this been fiction, I would have enjoyed this book thoroughly in a "can you BELIEVE what a jerk this guy was?" sort of way.

Alas, the book is not fiction but rather memoir.  And about halfway through, as I was reading yet another unbelievably trite and dishonest email that her husband left behind, I began to have that uncomfortable feeling you get when you are the reluctant witness to a nasty knock-down, drag-out fight of friends of yours.  Yes, I chuckled at the inanity of the (identical) racy Valentine's Day email Metz's husand sent--literally within seconds of each other--to three of his mistresses.  But that schadenfreude was eclipsed by the realization that, at some point in her life, Metz's daughter will likely read this book.  And she will discover that the father she lost at a tender age, and of whom she probably will have few solid memories, was a tiresome and not particularly inventive cad.  I can understand Metz's wrath toward her husband and her alleged "friend" who engaged in the long-term affair. But I can't understand why she was willing to threaten her daughter's memories as the cost of publishing this book.

Those pangs of misgivings kept me from enjoying entirely what was otherwise a well-written book that kept my attention. And it was indeed well-written, especially the beginning section describing Metz's experience of watching her husband die and coping with the initial grieving process.

Revenge, it is said, is a dish best served cold. I couldn't help but finish this book thinking that perhaps this particular dish needed to refrigerate a little longer.
1423903
As to the review about the son-in-law being an ex Marine...No such thing as an ex Marine! I was going to report this as abuse but figured he had no idea what he was saying. Semper Fidelis!!