Book Review of Once a Hero...by Jillian Burns
Author: Jillian Burns
ISBN: 978-0-373-79674-8
Publisher: Harlequin Blaze
Type of book: PTSD, doctor, medicine, Hawaii, interracial relationship Hawaiian male/American female, breast cancer survivor, coping, photography
Year it was published: 2012
Summary:
Once a hero… always a hero.
Subject: Captain Luke Andrews, M.D.
Current Status: On stress leave in beautiful Hawaii
Mission: Rest and recovery
Obstacle: There's no rest from the wicked chemistry he's found with her.
After a too-close-for-comfort brush with cancer, ocean photographer Kristen Turner heads to Hawaii for three months, where fate hands her a smokin'-hot opportunity she can't resist…...
Captain Luke Andrews has to get some serious R & R, but he can't keep his hands off Kristen. She's wild and irresistible, and spending his nights with her seems more dangerous than his last mission.
But is their hot little vacation romp an escape from real life…or will the survivor and the hero battle it out and learn to live each day as a gift?
Characters:
Kristen is a beautiful blond haired photographer who is still struggling with effects that cancer left her, while Luke returned from Hawaii and there's a tug and pull inside of him due to nightmares and his love for Kristen (He was a doctor in the army...) Amy herself has serious trust issues when it comes to men, while Kekoa struggles against personal happiness and the duty he has to do. I honestly feel that the book needed to be longer because the ending felt very rushed and wasn't satisfactory as her previous novels.
Theme:
Love heals all wounds.
Plot:
This is written in third person narrative from four characters: Kristen and Luke, our main characters, then Amy and Kekoa, the secondary characters, although Kekoa's point of view is barely seen.At times the plot is a little too heavy to be considered "romance" because in the book we are dealing with someone suffering from PTSD as well as a breast cancer survivor, and the female heroine's scars really cut into the soul as well. I felt that Luke didn't get the attention he needed to be healed from the trauma. Most of the book focused a lot on Kristen.
Author Information:
Jillian Burns has always read romance, and spent her teens immersed in the worlds of Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Bennett. She lives in Texas with her husband of twenty years and their three active kids. Jillian likes to think her emotional nature-sometimes referred to as moodiness- has found the perfect outlet in writing stories filled with passion and romance. She believes romance novels have the power to change lives with their message of eternal love and hope.
Opinion:
Although I found the book enjoyable as well as interesting for its unique characters and their problems, I have to say that the ending part of it killed the enjoyment of the book. It's not that I'm against the characters having a happily ever after, it's just that she wraps the novel a little too suddenly and with barely any warning, or rather she resolves problems that remained too speedily. Although I liked that she included the romance between Amy and Kekoa, I felt that these two deserved their own novel.
4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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