Saturday 22 February 2014

Book Spotlight and Review - Christopher's Medal by SA Laybourn





BOOK: Christopher's Medal

AUTHOR: SA Laybourn

PUBLISHER: Totally Bound

RELEASED: November 22nd 2013

BOOK COVER: Posh Gosh (Emily Ellis) Art Director at Totally Bound

SYNOPSIS
The wounds of war can run far more than skin deep.

Grace Webb trains racehorses for a living. It's a career she's happy to focus on when her fiancé, Christopher Beaumont, is deployed to Afghanistan. At a time when racing yards are losing horses because of the bad economy, a promising horse like Allonby could be the salvation of her father's yard. Grace welcomes the chance to focus on Allonby in attempt to stop fretting about Christopher's growing despondency and the frustration of lousy internet connections.

When Christopher comes home with horrific leg wounds and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Grace is determined to help him heal. While she fights Christopher's nightmares, depression and rage, she also faces a battle to save Allonby's career before it's had a chance to blossom.

Christopher, feeling that he's giving Grace more grief than love, leaves her. Grace couldn't heal Christopher, but she can help Allonby and keep her father's yard running. When Christopher returns, seeking forgiveness and a second chance, Grace gives him that chance. This time she won't let Christopher surrender to his demons. On the eve of the biggest race of Allonby's career, Grace faces down her worse nightmare - saving Christopher from himself.


REVIEW
My Rating = A foxy four

*ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. First read November 2013

The beautiful cover of this book became my favourite of 2013 and first drew me to this book and I knew then I just had to read this.

Having already read and become a fan of Ms Laybourn’s books in the m/m genre under the pen name SA Meade, I knew this would be an amazing read too. It wasn’t until I had started reading it that I clicked and realised Christopher and Grace had an appearance in the m/m book Stolen Summer that I had read way back in 2012 (loved that book!)

This book really took me on an emotional ride but it starts off with the blossoming of a gorgeous romance for Grace and Christopher. Grace works in her father’s racing stables and has been training a beautiful horse called Allonby. It was the owner of Allonby, the General that brings Chris to the stables to look over Allonby. Chris is an officer in a local regiment and Grace is instantly taken with the handsome soldier but doesn’t think he would look twice at her being a lowly assistant horse trainer. Imagine her shock when Chris then asks her out which is the start of their beautiful love story.

Grace, although at first showing signs of self-doubt is in actual fact a strong and resolute woman. Chris on the other hand appears to be in a career that was mapped out by his family for him but being the loyal and courteous man that he is, he has pursued his intention of becoming an officer. The beginning of the romance leads the reader into a happy place and I was sighing with bliss at this until Chris is then deployed to Afghanistan. It is at this point the whole story takes a turn into an entirely different route and the read becomes a more angst and gritty experience for the reader.

After six months and a heart wrenching time of not knowing if Chris was alive or missing, he is finally back home in England to recover from his injuries to his legs but the most significant change is not in his physicality but in his mind. He is like a completely different person and all attributed to PTSD. I must admit at times I just wanted to wallop Chris at the way he dismissed and cast Grace aside.

Throughout it all Grace came across as a strong and resilient woman who would let nothing stand in her way of getting the ‘old Chris’ and the man she fell in love with, back. I feel that the story needed more attributed to the symptoms and treatment of PTSD and this could have aided me to understand how and why Christopher’s behaviour was so erratic and thus be more compassionate to his character.

The writing around the racehorse industry was inspired and in depth and you could clearly see the depth of the research that had gone into this. Not being a ‘horsey’ person myself I could relate to the description Chris gave to this by horses being ‘big brown smelly things’ but by the end of the read I was a little more informed!

Overall this was a gripping and emotional read that takes you through untold turbulence intertwined with resolutions of keeping the faith of a love that will not die, no matter what.  Wonderful.

BUY LINKS

AMAZON UK

AMAZON US

TOTALLY BOUND


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