A Journey Home
By Angela
Scavone
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Stephanie Tyler’s
sole job is to fly overseas to war torn areas of the world to retrieve and
escort the bodies of fallen soldiers back home to the United States. It is a
tough and emotional job but she is honored for the privilege. Her duty also
helps her to escape her past and her failed marriage.
But those flights
have become increasingly more dangerous and she is forced to have a partner
accompany her. Much to Stephanie’s surprise and dismay, she is partnered up
with her ex-husband, Captain “D.A.” Douglas Aston.
From the moment
Captain D.A. enters the scene, he irritates her. It could have something to do
with the fact he slept with her best friend while they were married. As they go
on several missions together, Stephanie is forced to be courteous and
professional with D.A. even though the very sight of him irritates her beyond
comprehension.
Then, Stephanie’s
cheating, husband stealing, ex-best friend is killed in Afghanistan and
Stephanie and D.A. must escort her body home. While executing this difficult
duty, a myriad of conflicting emotions makes Stephanie ponder how short life
really is . . . and to question her own ability to forgive.
“Do you have any
idea how hard it is to make friends when you don’t trust anyone anymore?”
Our eyes met and he
let the question linger in the air before answering.
“I understand
that.” He held my gaze. “But why can’t you just have fun?”
“I used to have
fun. A lot of fun, in fact, with this person I called a best friend. He and I
would go on walks in the evenings, to the beach on the weekends. We’d go to
movies, the theater, concerts. I could even convince him to go get a pedicure
and a massage with me once in a while.”
DA smiled at all
the memories.
I added, “I also
had this other really good friend. She wasn’t as close as my best friend, but
she and I would do all the girly things that my guy friend wouldn’t do with me,
like shop for hours on end.”
“Yeah, I still hate
shopping.” DA maintained his smile.
“Then, both of them
broke my heart and my trust in one afternoon.”
The smile on his
face disappeared and he dropped his eyes to stare at the floor.
I could feel the
familiar prickle of tears and jumped off the couch. “I gotta go. It’s past my
bedtime.” I headed toward the front door. “Thanks for the pizza.”
DA had risen from
the love seat and crossed the room in two strides to waylay me. He shut the
door with my hand still on the knob. He was so close behind me I could feel his
breath on the back of my neck.
“Steph . . . I’m
sorry.”
I refused to turn
around. I didn’t want him to see that I was about to start crying.
“If I could do it
all over again, I would never have become such good friends with Alex,” he
whispered against my hair. “If I had known what her intentions were, I would’ve
stopped it before it ever became an issue. I honestly didn’t know what she was
trying to do until that day in the kitchen. Then you left so fast and wouldn’t
take any of my calls or see me.”
He pressed his
forehead to the back of my neck. “I’m so deeply and truly sorry for ever
hurting you. And I really hope one day you can forgive me.”
By the time he’d
finished speaking I had tears streaming down my face and I didn’t know what to
say to him. He kissed the back of my neck, the warm sensation so familiar that
I couldn’t resist turning around. He had me pinned against the front door as we
began kissing, lightly at first, then deeper, urgent.
I wanted to believe
him, but I just couldn’t. I couldn’t get past the image of the two of them
together. I abruptly pushed him away.
“I have to go,” was
all I could say, then I opened the door again and this time he let me go.
✯✯✯✯✯ Honor and forgiveness highlight this spiritually inspiring tale
of love, love lost By Frank Scozzarion Verified Purchase
Sometimes in life,
one is thrown into situations which defy imagination. In A JOURNEY HOME, a
twist of fate throws Air Force Captain Stephanie Tyler into a cockpit with her
cheating ex-husband, Captain Douglas ‘DA’ Aston. Flying long hours overseas
with him is uncomfortable enough, and made even more unimaginable when the two
must retrieve the body of an Afghanistan War casualty (the woman who caused the
demise of their marriage). Powerful emotions, reverence, honor and forgiveness
highlight this spiritually inspiring tale of love, love lost, and salvation. It
is a sobering look at the true cost of war. Several times while reading this
book I felt a shiver run through my body. The story, and how it’s told, is that
compelling. Angela Scavone does an excellent job of writing with realism and
sentiment in a way that literally swept me away. A moving book that will keep
you reflecting long after you’ve turned the last page.
✯✯✯✯✯Grab some tissues and a quart of mint chocolate chip ice
cream---A Journey Home is an awesome read! By Rebecca
A Journey Home is
beautifully written, balancing the tragedy of fallen soldiers with
light-hearted moments of a couple falling back into love. Honor. Protocol.
Faith. Trust. Friendship. Love. This novel will stick with me for a long time.
✯✯✯✯✯A Must Read By Amazon Reader
I don’t remember
the last time I had tears rolling down my cheeks from a poignant passage in a
novel. An ex-marine friend of mine who worked at an airport in Afghanistan
verified the authenticity of these scenes of bringing fallen soldiers home. I
felt so honored to share in this beautiful reading experience. We are reminded
by Angela Scavone of the ultimate sacrifice that some must give in order for us
to live free while sharing a sweet love story of a marriage reunited.
There was much love
and humor between the couple who needed to learn to trust each other again. At
the end, I sighed, with a wonderful, ahhh and slept soundly for the first time
all week.
Angela lives in
Ontario, Canada sharing her home with her father and her two much-loved pups
(and one evil cat). She currently works for the Board of Education behind the
scenes supporting and analyzing student data, however, in her spare time, apart
from her avid love of storytelling, she likes to read, spend time with family
and friends and concoct dairy free recipes from scratch. Sometimes she wins
some, and sometimes she loses some – tofu, banana and peanut butter pudding we
are looking at you.
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