Book Freak: Fighting Redemption by Kate McCarthy - Book Tour, Book Review, Giveaway

13 December 2013

Fighting Redemption by Kate McCarthy - Book Tour, Book Review, Giveaway

Title: Fighting Redemption

Author: Kate McCarthy

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: December 2, 2013

Ryan Kendall is broken. He understands pain. He knows the hand of violence and the ache of loss. He knows what it means to fail those who need you. Being broken doesn’t stop him wanting the one thing he can’t have; Finlay Tanner. Her smile is sweet and her future bright. She’s the girl he grew up with, the girl he loves, the girl he protects from the world, and from himself.

At nineteen, Ryan leaves to join the Australian Army. After years of training he becomes an elite SAS soldier and deploys to the Afghanistan war. His patrol undertakes the most dangerous missions a soldier can face. But no matter how far he runs, or how hard he fights, his need for Finlay won’t let go.

Returning home after six years, one look is all it takes to know he can’t live without her. But sometimes love isn’t enough to heal what hurts. Sometimes people like him can’t be fixed, and sometimes people like Finlay deserve more than what’s left.

This is a story about war and the cost of sacrifice. Where bonds are formed, and friendships found. Where those who are strong, fall hard. Where love is let go, heartache is born, and heroes are made. Where one man learns that the hardest fight of all, is the fight to save himself.

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MY REVIEW -

Ryan and Fin – argh. I had a love-hate relationship with both characters. There were times I just super adore them, then times when I wished they’d think more about their actions before actually doing it.

They both love each other – but no one wants to make a move. So Fin decides to date someone else, and gives that someone else her V-card…

OMG!

It took me a while before I realized that they were both young – and perhaps prone to make stupid decisions due to a powerful mix of hormones and emotions. She thought Ryan doesn’t want her, and Ryan doesn’t do anything about his feelings. How long will she wait?

Especially Ryan is very vocal about his dream of enlisting in the army.

Ryan Kendall had been through a lot even at a young age – he had experience a deep sense of loss and acts of violence from people who should have protected him in the first place. He found solace with the Tanners, his best friend Jake, his parents and his younger sister Finley had opened their home for him and made him a part of their family. Without them, he’d probably be lost. He’d do anything to protect them, especially Fin who meant the world to him. She was everything he didn’t deserve. But no matter where he goes, how long it has been – memories of Fin would always be with him. He had returned home after six years and finally realized that he couldn’t live without her. They made up for the lost time, spending more and more time together, being close to each other (with or without clothes) Just as when everything seems perfect, life happened.

Ryan is an honorable man who looks after those people he cared about. I like him for it, because of his nobility, his wanting to protect her and wanting to make sure that Fin would no way sacrifice his future for him – he makes a stupid decision then again. Argh. He should have allowed Fin to decide for herself.

As for Fin, I can’t say I’m in love with her at first with all those things she have done. She’s pretty headstrong and stubborn – her attitude went on throughout the novel, even in the near end. It had almost cost her so much.

Fighting Redemption is not just a love story. It’s a story about loss, friendship, and taking risks. This novel had me in a rollercoaster – hating it, loving it, hating it, loving it, loving it, loving it. I’m so glad I ended up loving Fighting Redemption, it might not be what I expected, but reading it up to the end was worth it.

RATING:

★ARC Copy was given in exchange for an honest review.★

EXCERPT -

Two weeks later, he packed his belongings and stole his way into Fin’s room. She wasn’t there, so he stretched out on her bed, hands tucked behind his head, eyes trained on the ceiling, and waited.

It was midnight when she came through the door, giggling as she read a message on her phone. Finished, she tossed it on her bedside table and froze when she caught him lying there in the dark.

He heard her breath catch. “Ryan?”

The lamp by her bed switched on, coating the room in a warm, cozy glow. Fin was illuminated, her skin golden in the soft light, her cheeks flushed with happiness.

“What are you …” She trailed off after meeting his eyes. He knew what she saw.

He couldn’t hold any of it back—regret, heartache, and loss for something that had never been his.

“You’re leaving,” she choked out.

Ryan couldn’t speak. He watched her stride to the open window, its sheer white curtains billowing. Staring out into the night, she wiped away tears that spilled over and ran down her cheeks.

He blinked, his own eyes burning. “I’m sorry,” he said eventually.

Fin turned and walked across the room. Sinking to the edge of the bed, she stared down at her hands. “When?”

Ryan unlocked his hands from behind his head and reached for her, pulling her down beside him. She stretched out, tucking her head under his chin. Closing his eyes, he breathed her in, allowing his arms to wrap around her. “In the morning.”
Fin’s hand fisted in his shirt as she let out a sob.

“I have to do this,” he whispered hoarsely. He trailed his fingers through her hair and touched his lips to her forehead.

She started to wipe away the tears on her face, and Ryan took hold of her hand, stilling her. “You understand, don’t you, Fin, why I have to do this?”

Ryan needed to know that she understood he wasn’t leaving her, he was leaving his past, and trying to build a new future with the Army.

“I do.” She choked again and buried her face in his neck, sobs breaking free.

“Don’t,” he whispered thickly. “Please don’t cry. You have such a big future ahead of you. You’re going to do big things with your life. Don’t let anyone stop you from being who you need to be, okay?”

Fin nodded into his neck.

Ryan pushed back so he could look her in the eye. He wouldn’t be there to watch over her anymore, so he needed to know she would look out for herself. “Promise me, Fin.”

“I promise.”

Satisfied, he reached out and switched off the lamp. Thrust into sudden darkness, Ryan laced his fingers in hers and held her close. When her tears dried up, she drifted off into a deep slumber. In the early hours of the morning, he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, and disentangling himself, he left the room. Having already said his goodbyes to Mike and Julie earlier in the evening, Ryan clicked the door shut softly behind him and left the house, careful not to look back.

That was the last he saw of Finlay Tanner.

AUTHOR BIO -

Kate McCarthy grew up in a small town outside of Port Macquarie, Australia. Raised in a house just a short walk to the beach, Kate enjoyed the peaceful, relaxed atmosphere and friendships that come from being raised in a friendly, small town area.

She now resides in Brisbane, Australia, a city in the state of Queensland where she works as an accountant, along with a sideline wedding cake business and her writing.

She is married with two children, has two dogs and house in the suburbs, and a pile of friends and family dotted all over the country that help keep her sane.

When she’s not busy running after naughty kids, filthy dogs, crunching numbers, piping buttercream and writing books, you can find her curled up in bed in the early hours of the morning reading new books and re-reading old favourites. Her favourite books are the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward in which she longs to eventually join the brotherhood and change her name to Phierce Mutha.