Mission: Believe
by Stacy Eaton
My review:
“Mission: Believe” is the first book in the ‘Rise Again Warrior’ series by Stacy Eaton. It’s a fast-paced story about two people who have survived different types of life shattering trauma, and are fighting every day to move forward in a meaningful way.
Staff Sgt. Shane Logan is a double amputee after surviving a bomb blast while on deployment overseas. The son of a wealthy family, he’s aware of how much he’s benefited by being able to afford the very best prosthetics, treatment and physical therapy that money can buy. He really wants to give other veterans the same chance he had to maximize recovery. Dr. Laura Falcone is a psychologist who treats veterans struggling with various issues after returning home from military service. One of the things that makes her such an excellent therapist is her personal experience with trauma. No, she never served in the military, but something in her past is certainly just as shattering. I don’t want to give away more of the plot because the author does a great job revealing everything at just the right pace, and I don’t want to take away from that.
The way Shane and Laura meet is simultaneously fun and intriguing. His scars from life are much more visible than hers, but they are both struggling, each in their own way. When Shane’s wealthy and influential father realizes that Shane and Laura would be a good match to make Shane’s dream of helping other veterans become a reality, so many lives are about to change. Believe me when I say that this is a powerful book, and one that will stay with you long after you read the last paragraph.
The secondary characters in this story are excellent. Some of them, like Shane’s parents, turned out to be much more than what I first expected them to be. Although this is a “clean” romance, the chemistry between Shane and Laura comes through strongly on the page. Some scenes in this story are so devastating that you might find yourself in tears, but I promise you that it’s really a very uplifting book. The ending has a cinematic quality that left me thinking how great this book would be as a movie. I’m very much looking forward to reading the next book in this series, which I’ve already purchased.