I loved this read. So well written keeping the reader entrenched, no matter the scenario.💚💙
A fast, engaging, realistic journey that is still on my mind. I felt every emotion as I read this, the frustration, a fear of the unknown, guilt, happiness, pride and love. Greer and Emmett, both strong characters with setbacks of life and war, were very real with their ups and downs alike, just finding their way. They hadn't intended to fall in love, but life has a way of knowing what's right. I laughed as Greer kind of bulldozed over Emmett in a genteel way, of course, LoL.
Now Ally, her devastating loss, her Mom, just everything surrounding her was incredibly emotional, and yet she proved to be the strongest, amazing young lady. An inspiration!
There was also Bonnie the kitten, Eddie Munster, and Daisy making the read that much better. Furbabies are always bonus.
I recommend reading this, I don't think you'll come away the same.
I received an ARC through the publisher and Netgalley, and am giving my own thoughts and opinions, open and honestly.

I will admit, I read the first few pages of this book - the first chapter - and put it down, because it didn't work for me. I thought that it started off too quickly, and was a little disjointed. But then I realized I had to review it for Netgalley, and so I opened it again to force myself to start over.

Boy am I glad I did. After the first chapter, the book totally came to life for me. While some may find it predicable in the way the stories - and characters - flesh out, I really enjoying getting to know Emmett, Ally, and Greer. I could not put it down and I am definitely going to read more by this author.

This is a story about a wounded soldier and the woman who teaches him how to live again. It’s a story of overcoming tragedy and letting go of things you cannot control. It’s a story of how war affects more than the soldier on the battlefield and the trauma that follows him home.

It’s a story of failed dreams and paying for mistakes. It’s a story of a woman jaded and the man who challenges her to soar. It’s a story of facing the past and confronting fear.

An Everyday Hero is about everyday heroes who in doing the things they do best, rescue others from themselves.

The author did a wonderful job in painting a picture of what it’s like for a returning, injured soldier stateside and what can happen to families left behind. Several characters have been affected by war and eventually intimate connections are revealed by the end of the novel. I was struck by the thought that though war may seem honorable, and necessary at times, we need to do a better job in looking after the soldiers and their families – especially those injured and left parentless.

Our heroine has returned from Nashville where she’d hoped to break in to the music business, but hit a bit of a bump in the road – ending up in court and sentenced to volunteer work at a music foundation for veterans and their families. It’s the last place she wants to be, and the last resort for two clients who have proven more than difficult for the foundation.

Both main characters are stubborn and stuck in their ways. They have no problems telling each other exactly what they think which ends up in witty dialogue and sometimes strings of curse words. Both characters have had major obstacles to overcome and yet, haven’t quite climbed the biggest one.

Laura Trentham is a fantastic storyteller and drew me in during the first chapter. This isn’t my first choice of genre to read, but it was a good story and moved along well.

Warning: if you like clean dialogue and the bedroom door kept shut, this book won’t be a suitable read. Some topics covered: drug abuse, somewhat graphic description of death on the battlefield, depression, drinking

I received an ecopy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

This turned out to be different story than I first thought...pleasantly so! Great fast passed dialogue and heart felt back stories.

Ally recently returned to her parents’ home after trying to make it in the music business in Nashville for ten years. She feels humiliated, not only for her lack of success in the music industry, but also for walking in on her boyfriend cheating on her with another woman. To add insult to injury, she is arrested at the local watering hole for going on a tirade after drowning her sorrows. Her uncle, the judge, sentences her to 40 hours of community service at a local organization that provides music therapy to veterans and their families.

Emmett also recently returned to his hometown after losing a leg while in the service. He feels deserted by the military, anger for having lost a leg, and guilt for the death of one of his men. His mother reaches out to a local organization to ask for help. Emmett loved playing the guitar as a teenager, so she wonders if music therapy might help him.

Ally is assigned to work with Emmett, a high school acquaintance, since no other volunteer has been able to get through to him. Can two lost souls connect and help each other recover from their pain?

What a truly heartwarming, truly wonderful story by Laura Trentham. I loved the first book in the A Heart of a Hero Series and have to say I love An Everyday Hero just as much. I literally could not put this down until I finished it!
The main characters are Greer and Emmett each with their own issues. Greer trying to come to terms with her music career that never quite took off. Emmett a disabled veteran trying to deal with adjusting to being a civilian. I absolutely fell in love with them❤️ I loved the humorous banter between them. I loved the romance between them. Ok, I just LOVED this book! I didn’t want it to end. Their story will grab you right from the first page to the last page
I just love Laura Trenthams writing, the way she writes just draws you in. Her books are uplifting. I highly recommend you read An Everyday Hero. It can be read as a standalone but you should definitely read the first book too!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author, Laura Trentham for the opportunity to read and review the arc of An Everyday Hero.

Greer is coming home after years of trying to break into country music and nothing to show for it. To make matters worse, she’s assigned volunteer work for a bit of a whoopsy after catching her boyfriend in flagrante. She’s not thrilled, but wants her punishment over and done with so she can continue stewing in misery. Her sarcastic outlook and daydream mentality made her easy to like, even when she was struggling with the concept of, well, seriously “adulting”, but her journey to maturity was relatable. She also made me just want to pat her on the back with each step she took to take control of her destiny. Both good and bad decisions.

Ally’s teenage life fell to pieces when her dad dies in the line of duty. Dealing with her grief, new home, and new school doesn’t help matters and she’s required to attend music therapy after finding herself in a bit of mischief as well. Ally’s snarky attitude is a deceptive cover for a deep hurt, but with Greer bumping along-just think trial and errors-Ally’s personality unfurled in unexpected ways. Some good, some not, but progress is progress!

Now Emmett is the real test to Greer’s volunteer work. He’s a local son and war hero, and a surly grump struggling with survivor’s guilt. Like Greer, he had a set goal for his life, but life took matters in a different direction, leaving Emmett a shell of the man he could have been. Or so he thinks. Greer lit a fire inside Emmett he long thought died, forcing him to wake up and smell the coffee. He didn’t make it easy, and neither did she for that matter, but darned if I wasn’t cheering for these two late into the evening!

An Everyday Hero was a seriously good read! The Southern sass was alive and well, with sarcastic remarks and tongue in cheek humor-and a bit of fun from a charming little furball named Bonnie! The humor and sass was well balanced with everyday issues, struggles, and personal journeys hidden behind close doors. One never truly knows what another is going through unless they walk a mile in their shoes themselves. And as Greer, Emmett, and Ally discover, life comes full circle, sometimes in the oddest ways and when you least expect it. A chance meeting, a simple act of kindness, or a random comment can easily impact someone’s life whether realized or not.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and this is my honest review.

This was my first Laura Trentham women's fiction novel and will not be my last. Intrigued by the blurb I went into this book completely blind and came away from reading it with a lighter heart. The timing of me reading this novel full of despair turned into hope and survival could not have come at a better time for me. There was familiar about the themes of the story that I could totally relate to making it that much more easy to read and love.

The slow burn, fade-to-black romance created an intimate tie to the two protagonists and the circumstances of their unraveling lives. The beautifully fragile connections between the woman protagonist and the girl she meets through volunteering added an extra layer of depth and vulnerability to her character that made her more human, decent, and understandable. The writing was beautiful and engaging that help build the plot of the story and keep it moving forward. Infused with banter and humor and love An Everyday Hero remained low angst and drama making it more of a learning experience with so much development in the characters it was refreshing.

This is a lovely story of reckoning one's growth as a human through tragedy and heartbreak told in a remember your roots when you gain your wings and full of redemption. It's becoming attuned to ones whole self and feeling deserved to be the best human you possibly can. It's a reminder of to wade through shadows to find your light. It's uplifting and gracefully told by this talented new-to-me author. I'm so happy to have read it and I can't wait to dive into more of Laura Trentham's books.

I’m not a fan of modern romance stories but I am a huge fan of Laura Trentham and so far anything she has written has turned out gold for me! An Everyday Hero was no exception, it sucked me right in. Trentham has such power in her writing skills to be able to paint a picture in your mind with very few words. I’ve never been to the South of the USA but I feel like have just from her books. I felt like we can all relate to Greer in one way or another and the other cast of colorful characters are wonderful. It is a tender romance, no graphics here, left up to the imagination but you can definitely feel the romantic vibe with Emmett and Greer and their sarcastic back and forth banter is really so true to life. The novel deals with many themes- family, friendship, starting over, love of life, each other and of self, and many more. I did not even realize there was a first book in the series so this definitely can be read as a stand alone. Overall I highly recommend this book! Thank you to St Martin’s Press and the author for an ARC copy.

This book is second in a series but serves as a standalone book. Greer has made some poor choices and is assigned to volunteer in a music therapy situation. She interacts with a troubled teen, and a Veteran who has just returned home with a war injury and a lot of memories. The book explores these different topics and draws out the emotions tied to each of them. The characters struggle but grow as they find themselves together bound by their common interest in music.

was given an e-arc by NetGalley and St Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.

I was actually surprised when I received an email inviting me to request this book, since I gave the previous book in the "series" (they are actually stand alones, running with the theme of returned servicemen) a VERY honest two star review. I am very glad I took another change on Laura Trentham. This book was an excellent chick lit book, focussing on healing oneself and helping others. It tells a fairly straightforward story, in a clear, direct and heartfelt way.
It does have a strong romantic plot, but is clean (as in, fade out at the bedroom door) which is really to my preference. The focus is on the relationships between characters - not just the main duo, but all the people they come in contact with.

This broke me out of a bit of a reading slump, and was just a simple pleasure from start to finish.

Tender, interesting and ever-changing as Greer discovers a new world of believing in herself, her music and love. As an advocate for the arts I connected with what music can do to heal. Her relationship with the vet was so well written in it’s understanding of ptsd, loss and renewal
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the arc

A real feel good story. I liked the characters and got caught up in their lives. Everybody needs help and love of some kind to get through life.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

From the beginning I could not put down this book!
Greer is such a relatable heroine. Her predicament that lands her a community service assignment that she resists. The relationships she develops with a local teen and an old high school acquaintance are believable and draw the reader in. I especially enjoyed the sarcastic humor and touching dialogue. Throughout reading this story I both wiped away tears and laughed out loud. There were so many themes explored including family and friendship. The most pronounced theme for me was facing your biggest fears. Both Emmett and Greer find that coming home because they thought they had exhausted their possibilities in life, might actually be the beginning of new possibilities. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and will definitely look for my by this new-to-me author.

5* Real Hero Stars

I was so excited to read Laura’s second book in the, “A Heart of a Hero” series which centers around the military. They are both stand-alone books.

When 30-year-old Greer Hadley’s life and dreams suddenly shatter she is forced back to her hometown of Madison. Unfortunately, things only get worse when she makes some bad decisions which have consequences and she is sentenced to 50 hours of community service at the non-profit Music Tree Foundation that helps veterans and their families cope with the trauma they have endured fighting for their country. This is where Greer meets 15-year-old Ally who has recently lost her father and does not know how to deal with his loss and is rebellious. I enjoyed reading how Greer saw past the angry and sarcastic Ally and slowly through music broke down her barriers. Greer is also assigned the task of helping a veteran named Emmett who has become a recluse and wants nothing to do with anyone, including his family. I enjoyed and laughed out loud reading about their first encounter and the way that Emmett dealt with unexpected visitors. His story was very real and sad, and it was interesting to see these two stubborn people butt heads and break down each other’s barriers. They were total opposites which managed to attract each other, and they were good for each other. I was routing for them all the way.

This wonderful story is about Greer, Ally and Emmett learning to deal with the past and together navigating the future.

An Everyday Hero was a fantastic read. It was heartfelt and very real. Laura’s writing is engaging and full of emotion. Once you read the first page you will not be able to put it down until the last page is read.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for my copy to read and review.

This impressive story is about three lost souls who connect through shared circumstances. After an evening of drinking too much and causing a scene, Greer is sentenced to community service in a nonprofit music program for veterans. Her first client is a defiant 15 year old whose father was killed in combat. She is struggling with the loss of her father, and with her mother’s inability to cope without her husband. She is also assigned a surly veteran who has secluded himself in a cabin on the family farm. He feels he is a failure because he lost his leg, and was unable to save a fellow soldier. By sharing her own problems, all three heal as they help each other through their mutual love of music. The book is well written with realistic characters you can’t help but love. The storyline is also amazing. Don’t miss this book!
I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

LOVED this book. It is such a heartwarming story with main characters that you will fall in love with. Loved it from the very first page until the very end. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

A masterful depiction of the difficulties that veterans can have adjusting to civilian life once they come back from combat.
Laura also deals with the subject of grief and angst in a very thoughtful manner. The journey she took me on was an emotional rollercoaster.

I received An Everyday Hero by Laura Trentham from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

I give this book 5 stars! An Everyday Hero by Laura Trentham is a well written with a fantastic storyline and great characters. I highly recommend this book!

This was a beautiful story balanced with heat, healing, and ordinary heroes. Wounded soldiers, failing songwriter, miserable teenage girl - all intertwined in a story of hope and redemption with just enough frustration and sarcasm to make it more than another overly sweet been-there, read-that novel. Highly recommended!!!

My thanks for the NetGalley title and chance to review.