I'm not sure how I feel about this. Not what I was expecting, just different. Try it yourself and see what you think.

An Officer and a Gentleman was, in its day, one of my favorite movies, but I think his daughter’s story beats it. Life did not continue with the luster of being carried out of the factory. Success came to each member of the Mayo family and was a hard act to follow. Each had his or her own problems to be faced and overcome, including their conflicts with each other. Thanks to Net Galley and Blackstone for an ARC for an honest review.

Ok this may be long sorry ahead of time. So An Officer and A Gentleman is one of my all time favorite movies and means a great deal to me. My dad & I would watch it just about every Sunday from as long as I could remember until my parents divorced it was our thing & one of the greatest memories I have. So when I seen this official sequel was coming out in a book I had to read it. I was so excited when I was picked for an ARC copy. I will have to say it didn’t disappoint it was just as good as the first movie. I would love for them to make it a movie. Definitely recomend this read when it’s published.

This was an interesting follow up to the movie from years ago. It focuses on Mayo and his daughter. I felt it leaned VERY heavily on Top Gun material, and somewhat changed the mentality of Mayo (the Richard Gere film role). Overall, it did keep my interest and the novel was decent although not particularly memorable.

An Officer and a Gentleman's Daughter is the worthy sequel to one of my favorite movies ever. It's no wonder it was written by the man who originally wrote the screenplay for An Officer and a Gentleman since Douglas Day Stewart knows his characters like no one else. This 'where are they now' kind of storyline gives us the updates on not only Zack Mayo and his wife Paula but their headstrong daughter, Shannon, who is truly the main character of this book. We also get glimpses of Casey Seegar (now a Vice Admiral!), Officers Pennyman and Della Serra and even, that old carmudgeon, Sgt. Foley. The story is rich with emotion and a world of hurt and regret as Zack and Shannon try and get back on good terms after losing their anchor in Paula many years prior. All grown up and still not knowing what direction her life should lead, I was impressed by Shannon's determination and Mayo grit as she battles demons she can't seem to shake yet still wants to fly jets like her hero dad before her.

Shannon is a complicated woman who keeps running from the memories that continue to haunt her yet I could tell she was desperate to conquer them while finding her former confident self once more. We get both past and present as Shannon spiraled out of control as a teenager and disappeared on her father for almost two years. When Zack gets the surprise of his life as his daughter shows up for training partially under his tutelage after no word from her in all this time, thus starts the painful road to reconcilation and the realization that maybe they were both at fault for losing touch and for losing out on the closeness they once had.

I was completely enthralled with both Shannon and Zach's journeys and have to admit that I was frustrated more than once at the stubbornness each couldn't shake when it came to the other. They each shut the door both figuratively and literally way too many times and it took stark truths from old friends to finally show them the way back home. I loved all the talks each had with Seegar and Foley, in particular, knowing that these old comrades were forever in the lives of the Mayo family. The sentimentality of this forever fan for that glorious movie kept me engaged perhaps much more than the usual reader, and I'm beyond glad this book was written.

I have always wondered, some 40+ years later what had happened to Zack and Paula and if they lived that happily every after we all craved. That if that memorable scene when Zack both rescued his girl and himself from that factory floor led to a life well lived. After reading this book, I will say that even with all the tragedy most characters had suffered in one way or another that Zack truly found what he had always been chasing: redemption. Not to mention the deserved pride for all that he accomplished and what the future would soon hold for his daughter.

Thank you, Douglas Day Stewart for giving this superfan a chance to revisit with what I consider life-long friends at this point in time. I'd also like to call out Hollywood for thinking they can reproduce An Officer and a Gentleman with a new movie and new actors. This book is what should be made!! The worthy sequel to a love story like no other. One that is full of heart, soul and hope.

4+ big stars!

Just not for me

As a fan of the original movie, I was excited to have an opportunity to pre-publication read this book. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations. I felt like Shannon was entitled, yes, she lost a parent at a young age and definitely has issues because of that. I think that Zach tried his best with her, but nothing worked. Shannon felt it best to deceive her father into believing she was dead for two years, unimaginable.

I'm sure there are people who will love this book, but it missed the mark for me.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

So I wanted to love this but it really stretched my sympathy. Mind you I’m not sure what my expectations were but this was not it. Zack Mayo and his daughter Shannon have had a yawning void between them for years.
Eons ago Zack, hero fighter pilot, was asked by the President to resume his role with his fighter squadron in the Middle East, leaving his daughter mourning the death of her mother, floundering with her own and her father’s substance abuse. This just doesn’t cut it. Neither does referring to her father as royalty. Nope I’m not buying it.
That’s the background. Fast forward a few years and that daughter is accepted into Officer Candidate School like her dad before her. Shannon is an overachiever on steroids (figure of speech!) All to buy her father’s approval and bolster her own feeling of self worth. The angst and emotions are palpable but I just felt deliberately squeezed. This wasn’t for me. Too smaltzy!
Still if you loved the movie and want more action this might just be your type of read.

A Blackstone ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.

For those who attended movies in the 1980s or caught this film on TV or some streaming channel, “An Officer and a Gentleman” is a near-perfect romance. It boasts an Oscar-winning supporting actor performance by Louis Gossett, Jr., and one of the best movie songs ever, the Oscar-winning “Up Where We Belong.” And it features one of the most memorable closing scenes of all time, when Richard Gere, in his naval dress whites, enters the factory where Debra Winger works and literally sweeps her off her feet and out the door. One thing the movie didn’t have was a ready-made hook for a sequel, which may explain why we never saw “Officer II,” despite the original movie’s boffo box office totals (#3 in total revenue for the year). But the film is near and dear to the heart of screenwriter Douglas Day Stewart (who got an Oscar nomination for the movie’s screenplay). He has now written a sequel, “An Officer and a Gentleman’s Daughter.” Fans of the movie will love learning more about their favorite characters. However, others may find the officer and his daughter’s adventures in life and love less exciting and the overlarge cast of characters confusing.

“An Officer and a Gentleman’s Daughter” takes place mainly in 2010 and 2011. Readers learn about the fates of almost all the movie’s characters who survived the original film, and many appear in the novel. They include Zack Mayo, who became a national hero as a fighter pilot in both the Iraq wars. Now 60 and approaching retirement, Mayo’s last assignment is training one last group of Naval would-be pilots, this time at a base in Virginia. Among those trainees is Mayo’s daughter, Shannon. She had a close relationship with Zack until her mother, Paula, died in 2001. After that, Shannon spiraled out of control with sex and drugs. Finally, after graduating college in 2008, she disappeared in 2008 and was presumed dead in a boating accident. Actually, Shannon spent most of those two years in rehab in Mexico, and she entered into a paper marriage with a gay man so she could get a new last name. Zack recognizes his daughter immediately and knows the Navy will drop her from the program immediately if they learn her identity. Nevertheless, he agrees to keep her secret, even though what’s left of his career and legacy is in jeopardy.

Zack and Shannon aren’t the only characters with troubled backgrounds in the novel. Sergeant Emil Foley, who memorably clashed with Zack decades earlier as his training instructor, is also in Virginia. He lost his legs in Iraq and now runs a fitness center. Shannon seeks him out and starts working (without pay) at his gym. Shannon also begins a relationship that may or may not become a romance with Dylan Harmony, a worker at the local tuna cannery. Their romance is an intentional, sex reversed mirror image of the romance between Zack and Paula decades earlier. However, Dylan shares more with Shannon than Zack and Paula had in common earlier. The two meet at an NA meeting (Dylan’s also a recovering addict), and he later becomes her sponsor.

Although “An Officer and a Gentleman’s Daughter” is primarily set in 2010 and 2011, relatively little of the movie occurs then. Almost every character has a troubled backstory, with complicated relationships with their parents. Readers learn these backstories in flashbacks, some taking place before the movie and others in the decades between the movie and 2010. Further, the author reveals these backstories as inner monologues, sometimes shifting from one character’s reminiscences to another’s from one page to the next. Douglas Day Stewart is an accomplished screenwriter and is aware of the maxim: “Show, don’t tell.” He did so brilliantly in the movie’s screenplay. In this book, however, he tells… and tells and tells. The subplots and secondary characters slow the book down enormously.

“An Officer and a Gentleman’s Daughter” sheds new light on some incidents in the movie, which should please anyone who’s ever seen the film. As portrayed in the movie, Sergeant Foley was a strict disciplinarian who was especially hard on Zack. Now, 35 years (in book time) later, readers learn why. Both Foley and Zack had abusive parents and grew up on the streets. Foley’s treatment of Zack was his form of tough love. The eventual reunion between Zack and Foley parallels their earlier relationship.

Overall, readers get too much information about the backstories of the various characters in “An Officer and a Gentleman’s Daughter” and not enough detail about the present day. The author seems to have been influenced by Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun” and “Top Gun: Maverick” movies. These would-be aviators Zack trains don’t just learn the basics of military fitness and aeronautical physics. Instead, they go up in the air, flying multi-million-dollar jets. Shannon’s emotional and substance history presents a constant threat to her survival in an aircraft in which one mistake could send her plummeting out of control to the ground. These aviation sequences are gripping, especially those where Zack is in the air with Shannon. The book needed more of that type of material.

The author handles the ultimate revelation of Paula’s fate well. Readers learn of her death in the book’s first chapter, but Zack’s and Shannon’s memories fill in the details later, eventually explaining much about Zack’s career path and Shannon’s substance problems. And for anyone who may have forgotten, several characters mention the movie’s climactic scene when Zack swept Paula off her feet. These scenes and the aerial sequences show how good the book could have been.

Before reading “An Officer and a Gentleman’s Daughter,” I rewatched the movie. It had been several years since I had last seen it. While I remembered the movie’s significant events, I forgot many details about the secondary characters. There was a good reason for that. They weren’t necessary for the story, and they weren’t memorable. While it’s good to know that Zack stayed in touch with his former classmates over the years (and it will be good for the careers of a few aging actors if this book becomes a film), the amount of detail about them will bore everyone but the most ardent fan. Nor do readers need the details about the novel’s younger crop of secondary characters. Douglas Day Stewart still knows how to wrap up a work, whether a 1982 movie or a 2024 screenplay. Genre fans will enjoy the last few chapters but wish the book contained more of what makes these chapters memorable. “An Officer and a Gentleman’s Daughter” sticks the landing but doesn’t always send readers up where they belong.

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.

As a fan of the film of the 1982 movie “An Officer and a Gentleman,” I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read this novel, but I wish had. The book reads like bad fan fiction. The characters are flat, and there is nothing original about the story. And, the relationship between Mayo and his daughter isn’t just awkward, it’s creepy. #AnOfficerandaGentlemansDaughter #NetGalley

An Officer and a Gentleman's Daughter, by Douglas Day Stewart, is an intriguing sequel to the movie with Richard Gere and Debra Winger. Who can ever forget the final scene when Gere picks up Winger and carries her out of the factory?? Stewart manages to age the older characters authentically so that you see both the strong and weak character traits in maturity. An unforgettable new character, the daughter is a volatile mix of her parents contained in a vessel forged in today's world. Augmented with many flashbacks from several points of view, the main story is well-paced over about a year's span. My only gripe is that a lot of time was spent in the various characters' heads. But I have no idea if there was a better way to tell the story. I loved the emotion throughout the book and most, particularly, the conclusion. A definite "feel-good" story that is a fairly quick read. If you haven't already watched the movie so many times you know the dialogue by heart, you might want to watch it first. Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the opportunity to read a digital ARC. It was a pleasure.

How exciting to be granted this ARC which is the sequel to one of the greatest love stories ever! Such an intense, dramatic story with wonderfully developed characters and an evocative military base setting. Douglas Day Stewart brings back familiar favorite characters and introduces new ones as the story spirals to a bittersweet but tender ending. He cleverly leaves the door open for another book in the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This is the perfect book for fans of the movie An Officer and a Gentleman who wanted to know how the story ended. While it is a good read it is kind of a bitter sweet sequel.

An Officer and a Gentleman's Daughter: A Story of Redemption and Reconciliation** Douglas Day Stewart's "An Officer and a Gentleman's Daughter" is a poignant and compelling tale that delves into the complexities of family, loss, and redemption. As the official sequel to the iconic 1982 film, Stewart's novel offers a captivating glimpse into the lives of Zack Mayo and his estranged daughter, Shannon, decades after the events of the original story. Years after the tragic death of his wife, Zack Mayo faces a crossroads in his life. Forced into retirement from his illustrious military career, he grapples with the guilt and grief that have haunted him. Meanwhile, his daughter, Shannon, has struggled with addiction and the profound impact of her mother's passing. Having disappeared for years, Shannon's unexpected return as a student in her father's final class before retirement sets the stage for a deeply emotional journey of reconciliation. As Shannon strives to prove her recovery and pass her father's rigorous jet school training, secrets and unresolved issues emerge. The unforgiving challenges of jet school become a crucible for both father and daughter, testing their limits and forcing them to confront their past. Guided by the wisdom of an old mentor, they navigate a path fraught with guilt, grief, and long-buried truths. "An Officer and a Gentleman's Daughter" is a masterfully crafted story that explores the transformative power of forgiveness and the enduring bonds of family. With its rich characters, suspenseful plot, and deeply moving themes, Stewart's novel captivates readers from beginning to end, leaving a lasting impression of hope, redemption, and the enduring legacy of love.

ARC book…Well to say that I was excited to get picked to read this book was an understatement. The original Officer and a Gentleman is actually one of my favorite movies of all time. I believe I have watched it over 50 times and that’s downplaying it.

This book did NOT disappoint. It was all the feels and actually made me laugh and cry! Boy! did I cry 😢
Characters are all back and it’s great to see how they have grown and aged and where their lives are now.

Douglas Day Stewart did it right. You never really know when it’s a sequel but I am thrilled with this book. I really hope you can make this into a movie, so the world can enjoy it as much as I did!

I know it’s only February but I can already see this will be a top 10 book for the year for me! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The only thing I’m really sad about is I finished the book. Oh well I’ll read it again!