Know You By Heart

Enjoyable story about a female wounded warrior and a quarterback fighting addiction, “Know You by Heart”, by Laurie Winter (The Wild Rose Press), is still a light read despite its dark themes. The idea that both characters heal each other through their involvement is sweet.
Micah and Alice are engaging enough characters, but they look more like buddies than lovers. Micah is a bit shallow, although I found the author handled this trait in an interesting way (he often acts like a self-centered male child, yet he has a good heart and I could not dislike him). Alice had also problematic sides to her character, I felt she turned too quickly from guarded former soldier to drooling-over-the-quarterback female.
Alice’s troubled childhood resolution was handled a bit too lightly, in my opinion.
It was a bit annoying that close to the end of the story, the hero was still torn between two women, that is not romantic at all! On the other hand, all that indecisiveness made the character realistic.
The previous story was so amazing, its characters so lovable, I really couldn’t connect at the same level with this couple, but still found it entertaining.

Know You by Heart by Laurie Winter is a modern-day story of healing and romance. Alice Liddell legally changed her name at eighteen after escaping an unhappy childhood home. She joins the army and is deployed with special operations. She barely survives an IED explosion and is discharged from the army. She is dealing with a lot of emotional and physical issues. Micah Palmer is a professional football player who is recovering from an injury that led to drug addiction and rehab. Part of his plan to get back his career is volunteering at the Veterans retreat, just for PR, that Alice happens to be attending. The two lso6t souls become friends and Alice becomes Micah’s trainer. Will more than friendship develop between them?
I really enjoyed this story. Having family members deployed and reading about some the experiences is hard but gives the reader a better perspective on what our military members face every day. The characters are very believable and act in ways one would expect. There are several twists and turns and the story flows very well and logically. I give this book 5 of 5 stars.
I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

When Alice's military career ended with a blast, literally, she finds herself at a Veteran's Retreat in an attempt to acclimate back into civilian life. Here she meets Micah, an NFL Quarterback, who has been fighting addiction and his own demons for the past year. Micah decides to help Alice, while at the same time helping himself.
They begin to spend time together. Although Alice feels the pull toward Micah, she does not want to open her heart to anyone. Micah pulls out all the stops to show Alice that she can trust him with her heart.
I would definitely recommend this book.
Thank you Laurie Winter, The Wild Rose Press, Inc. and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.