Echoes in the Storm by Max Henry Release Review

Posted September 12, 2017 by Stephanie in Promotional, Reviews / 0 Comments

 

 

Title: Echoes in the Storm
Author: Max Henry
Genre: Military Themed Contemporary
Release Date: September 12, 2017
Blurb
“Behind those eyes, a battle rages. One that’s not fought overseas with guns and tanks, but one that wreaks havoc in the homeland with harshly spoken words and misguided beliefs.”
One week is all we were supposed to share. One week as strangers. Yet you became so much more.
You were the echo in my storm.
All the little things you did differently irked me. I thought it meant we couldn’t get along, that there was no chance we’d work out. But when it came time for me to leave, you know what I figured out?
They were the faint call of home, lost on the wind and the roar of thunder. It was you calling me, hoping I’d hear you and find my way out of the dark that I had lost myself in when I shut off to survive.
You were my echo. My call back.
And fuck it all if I didn’t find home in the end. 
Renee’s Five Star Review:
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review for Stephanie’s Book Reports.

Echoes in the Storm is an emotionally beautiful book about Duke and Cammie. Both have pasts that have broken them. Duke has served overseas in the army and is having a hard time adjusting to civilian life. He has however tried but can’t seem to find the right job or place to live. When his brother asks him to go get a car he is buy miles away from home Duke agrees and goes but as he sits on the side of the road with the drive shaft in the trunk he is regretting this trip. Does he stay with the car or leave it. This leads to a meeting with Cammie. Cammie has a past she is running from too. A ex husband and a house she refuses to let go of because of the memories it holds. Cammie though is a really nice person and offers Duke shelter for the night until he can get the car towed and fixed to get back to where he is going. However as with car trouble things are not always easy and it is going to take a while before the car will be ready and he ends back up at Cammie’s house. This is the beginning of their journey. One that will have you laughing and crying. I loved these characters and I rooted for them so hard. I have to say too I hate Cammie’s ex Jared. Someone needs to meet him in a alley and teach him a thing or two. He is absolutely horrible to her and I just wanted to punch him so hard.

Echoes in the Storm is an emotional rollercoaster that will have you reading from beginning to end. You will be so invested in these characters you will not want the book to end. Max Henry has such an amazing ability to pull you so deeply into her books that you lose track of everything going on around you. This is a must read in my book.

Purchase Links
99c for a limited time
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

 

 

Excerpt
Chapter One
Eleven hours in the office, and this is what I have to come home to. I close my eyes and focus on my breathing, trapped in the naïve thought that maybe, just maybe, if I wish him away hard enough, it could truly happen.
Nope. Still there.
Blondie belts a tune out on my car radio, the beat going some way toward helping me find my zen. Three years on, and the sheer sight of him still pisses me off the same as it did when he told me “I don’t think I could ever love you again.”
Yeah. Because loving me meant accepting the fact it wasn’t my fault, and he refuses to believe that.
I refuse to believe that.
Drawing a deep breath, I reach for the door handle and promptly cut Blondie off mid-sentence as the crisp evening air rushes into my safe haven. With my leather tote snatched in my other hand, I rise and plaster on as natural of a smile as I can manage when my back aches and my feet throb from overuse.
“Eight months, Jared.”
My ex leans a shoulder against the side of the house, tucked under the veranda as though he had hoped to blend into the shadows and catch me by surprise.
“And yet, it hasn’t dulled your attitude any.”
“What do you want?” I shut and lock the car, pining for that first dip in a hot bath.
“You ignored my calls.” He frowns as I walk right by him.
“Did you think I’d be that easy to brush off?”
“Hardly.” There was a reason he used to be saved in my phone under ‘Cockroach’. “I’ve been busy.”
“You’re not the only one,” he bites, inviting himself into the house behind me. “But then again, you never did understand that concept, did you?”
“Carry on, Jared,” I snap louder than intended. “See how long this wee conversation lasts if that’s the way you’re going to steer it.”
He pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. “I’ll make it quick.” For a fleeting second, I see the vulnerable man I fell in love with ten years ago. “I want you to sell the house.”
Until that.
“What?” I throw my tote on the side table with more zest than necessary.
We were married for barely two years, not enough time for the property to have increased substantially in value. So it was decided when we split that I’d stay in it, paying the mortgage on my own, and the little that he had put in over the course of our relationship would be repaid when I sold.
When I sold.
“If you need the cash—”
“I need an end to this.” He waves a hand between us as I slump against the hallway wall. “I need to cut ties from you, Cam.”
“I thought we were doing that just fine,” I whisper as I run my eye over his carefully put together outfit.
Fuck, he unfriended me on Facebook the minute he split. I don’t even know where he lives now, just that it’s in the city, and judging by the threads he’s got on he’s doing well for himself.
Of course, he doesn’t need the money. He’s never needed anything from me. Makes sense then, that he wants me to sell to ensure he has no reason ever to see me, let alone talk to me, again.
“If you want closure, Jared, I can get my lawyer to send yours the settlement amount when and if I sell in the future. You don’t have to deal with me.”
He shrugs. “Except I would. You’d still be there in the back of my mind every time I have to list assets, Cam. Or if Kell and I want to apply for another mortgage—it’s still in my name, too.”
“So we change it.” I push aside the reference he made to the whore who stole him away. “Make a time at the bank, and I’ll meet you there.”
Silence hangs thick, choking the air in the house—the very reason for this conversation. I push off the wall with the flat of my hand and take a couple of steps toward the lounge room.
“How long?”
He hangs in the entrance hall. “As soon as we can agree on a realtor.”
“No.” I drop to the edge of the armchair, bracing myself with both hands on the cushion. “You’ve got to give me longer.” 
“Why, Cam?” He ventures as far as the open doorway, ever reluctant to get too close to me. “You’ve had three years to get what you need out of being here. Staying in the house won’t change anything.”
“Exactly,” I whisper.
I never stayed in the hope it would settle the past, or that the memories the house held could ever ease the pain. I didn’t stay to heal. I stayed to keep the wound open and festering, to never forget.
I chose to remain in the home we shared so I would be reminded every day of what I did and why I don’t ever deserve to have that kind of love again.
“You need to move on,” Jared murmurs as he retraces his steps toward the door. “It’s not healthy, Cam.”
“I know.”
He twists the handle and opens the front door a fraction, resting his shoulder against the edge as he drives the nail home a little harder.
“You need to own up to what you did.”

 

 

Author Bio
Born and bred in Canterbury, New Zealand, Max now resides with her family in beautiful and sunny Queensland, Australia. Life with two young children can be hectic at times, and although she may not write as often as she would like, Max wouldn’t change a thing. 

In her down time, Max can be found at her local gym, brain-storming through a session with the weights. If not, she’s probably out drooling over one of many classic cars on show that she wishes she owned.
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About Stephanie

I'm a wife, mom of two, volunteer, reader, blogger, and author pimp. Welcome to my website!

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