True Horizon

I was eager to see if Ms. Winter’s second book would be as good as her first. And while I liked Home Field more, this was still a good book. We met tortured war veteran Heath Carter in Home Field, and I really wanted to read his story.

Heath lost his best friend during the war in the Middle East, and suffered from a lot of guilt - for not being able to save his friend (who left a wife and son behind), for surviving, for some choices he made that resulted in more people dying. He’s been out of the Army for over a year now, but goes from job to job, doing his best to keep to himself. When he takes a back road off the highway and ends up in a small town in Texas, he ends up getting pulled into the Murray family.

Grace Murray is on the verge of getting everything she’s always wanted. With a wedding to the man of her dreams just a couple months away, she’s not sure why she’s so drawn to the long haired, bearded, tattooed drifter that showed up in town. But she is. And as they spend more time together, Grace realizes the life she’s about to marry into may not be what she really wants after all.

This wasn’t always an easy story to read. There is a bit of a love triangle, and normally an author would make one of characters a “bad guy” so as to make it reasonable for the person in the middle to pick the other person. That was not the case here. Grace’s fiance wasn’t completely vilified - which made it hard to completely root for Grace and Heath (even though I liked both of their characters). But I also appreciated that the author didn’t take it in that direction - because sometimes someone is a good person, they just aren’t a good person for you.

Because Grace was engaged to another man for most of the book, that meant the relationship between Grace and Heath was very slow growing. They were friends, but both were have thoughts of more about the other. Which made for a slow pace for their romantic relationship. That didn’t make the pacing of the story slow - I was still engaged throughout the whole book, but knowing there was another man in the picture made it hard to be okay with Grace’s thoughts about Heath. I wanted more for Heath because he is such a good man but spent so much time feeling inferior to Grace’s fiance.

Ms. Winter did a good job showing the aftermath of coming home from a war and trying to live a civilian life. Heath is a compelling and sympathetic character, and I was so happy to see him heal, find his way in life, and find the love he deserved. Grace was a little harder to like, but in the end, it was good to see her learn that sometimes the path you thought you wanted isn’t really the best one for you - and that you have to live your life for yourself, and not for anyone else. Which, really, is something we all need to learn.

An emotional story about a veteran fighting his demons (PTSD) and finding redemption with the help of a woman and her family.
I liked the slow burn romance and Heath’s healing process, with medical orientation, it was realistic and believable.
The rural Texas setting was both beautiful and restful for our wounded warrior to find his “lost soul”.
I’m eager for the next story in the “Warriors of the Heart” series, “After All”.

I received an arc from Netgalley. This book reminded me so much of a Hallmark movie and I love Hallmark movies. I also like the strong silent types which is the category Heath fell under in this book.

Heath, the strong silent soldier suffering from PTSD, needed to find his place in the world after he left the army. When he meets Grace in an accident situation you feel their connection right from the start.

If you want a HEA in a book this is the book for you. You won’t be disappointed.

Well written book with a good plot and characters. Enjoyed the author’s writing.

There is so much emotion in True Horizon I’m not sure where to start  Now is Grace’s time to decide what she wants as an adult. She’s spent years thinking she wanted one thing and now that she’s at the point of getting it she had to decide if that’s what she really wants. Is the life she’s leading, the man she’s marrying, really the future that will make her happy?

Heath has been running from life but an unexpected stop at Grace’s family ranch has him evaluating his choices as well. He’s got a lot of baggage he’s carrying around with him thanks to his past but time spent with the Murray’s means that he’s taking a look at where he’s going. It’s not going to be easy but with faith, love, and effort he just might be able to come to terms with it.

This is definitely not a quick read – there’s a lot of meat to it so you need to take the time to really get into it. Really feel those good and bad moments, to take it all in and enjoy it all.

I found this to be a very good book about one Grace Murray who has come home to her family ranch to prepare for her wedding. Before everything gets started for the big event Grace falls into the river and is rescued by Heath Carter. Heath is dealing with his own PTSD issues after years of service and time with Special Forces. Heath agrees to stay and work the ranch until the wedding since he has nowhere to go. Grace begins to enjoy her time back home and away from the big city. She feels at home on the ranch. Grace and Heath get along exploring the ranch and she enjoys teaching Heath how to ride. The more you get into this story you find Grace questioning whether she wants to marry and though she finds herself attracted to Heath and he to her Heath knows before anything he must begin to work on his PTSD. This is a good story with many little stories inside of it. The characters are good and the author brings you along slowly building you up to the end. A very good book.

*Spoiler Alert* This was a beautiful story of healing, friendship and love. Grace had come back to her family's Texas ranch to prepare for her wedding. She had moved away to the big city of Dallas, to change who she was. But, when she returned home, she realized she didn't like the new her as much as she did the person she used to be. She wanted to raise a family in a small town with values and the things that matter. Her fiance, Tyler, was from the same small town but he never wanted to return. He loved living large and in the big city.

Heath, war veteran and drifter saved her from downing in the river and was hired by her family to help on the farm in preparation for her wedding. Grace realized that while Heath had literally saved her from drowning, she could help him to heal his soul. The scars of war and death were much harder to heal because they were "invisible". The more time Grace and Heath spent together, the more she began to see the good man that he had hidden away. While Grace knew her future was no longer going to be with Tyler, she didn't know if she could ever have a future with Heath but she had to follow her heart and trust that all would work out.

I loved this story. The characters were well developed and I became invested in their lives so much so that I was sad when I finished the book. I was given an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.