The Military Wife is a good fit for readers who are interested in stories about resilience, friendship, and second chances in the face of loss and personal growth, particularly within the context of military families.

I'm disappointed but this book was too slow and a little too Army Wives for me. I was intrigued by the premise, especially because of my personal experiences, but it fell flat and just seemed immature and not well written. I felt like the dialogue was very juvenile and some of the interactions were too unrealistic. I ended up not finishing the book because I couldn't get into it, even though I was interested in it. Bummer!

This book started off slow for me. I do recommend it to friends and family. I’d like to read more books from the author in the future.

THE MILITARY WIFE - Laura Trentham

#1 in the Heart of a Hero romance series

DEALING WITH GRIEF - 4 stars

Plot - 4 stars - Harper is still grieving for her Navy SEAL husband five years after his death. When she discovers that his friend Bennett gave her some of his own money as a "bravery award" for Noah, she confronts him. But then she finds much more than she bargained for when they discover and develop a mutual attraction.

Writing - 4 stars - I haven't read anything from Trentham for a while, and I'm not sure why, because she writes in a very easy-to-read and enjoyable style. It admittedly took me a couple of chapters to get into the story, but once I did, I was caught up in it and couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

Characters - 4.5 stars - I love the main characters--Harper, Bennett, and even Noah. Harper is strong and stubborn, determined to finally come back to life and make something to help others. Occasionally she'd make me roll her eyes, but mostly I was rooting for her to happily move on. Meeting Bennett, though, brings up a lot of questions about Noah's death that she wants answered, but he's resisting. Bennett, for his part, is the strong silent type. He's an ex-SEAL and a former foster system child, so he's used to keeping secrets and being a loner. But their connection is obvious, they are both complex people, and their situation is complicated by the ghost of Noah between them. Noah sounded like a great guy (as we got to know him through past revelations), but he's gone and they are both trying to learn to live without him.

Format - 3 stars - I liked going back and forth between past and present experiences so we could learn more about all of the characters as they developed into the people they are today. However, it was sometimes a little confusing since the chapters were so long that I'd forget where we left off in the previous section.

Title - 4 stars - Short, simple, and clear. No ambiguities about what this book is about. However, I found the subject to be more in depth than I expected.

Cover - 4 stars - Beautiful cover with a light color and just a hint of the American flag. It definitely caught my eye.

Overall - 4 stars - Although this book is certainly about a military wife, the story is much more of a romance than I expected. Of course there are complications in the relationship, but it's generally a hopeful book as Harper overcame her grief with the help of her son, mother, friend, and Bennett. At the same time, Bennett is dealing with his childhood issues as well as his guilt over Noah's death. Together, they work together to build a life together while also developing a plan to help create jobs and support for military wives. A sweet romance with much more depth since Trentham sensitively covered the loneliness of military wives, dealing with PTSD for returning soldiers, and the grief and guilt of the survivors. I look forward to reading more in this substantive series.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review though all thoughts are completely my own.

It's been a while since I've read a Military Romance and this book reminded me of how much I used to love them.

This is the story of a widow named Harper with a five year old son named Ben who lives with her Mom in North Carolina and works as an accountant for various businesses. Her husband Noah was a SEAL killed in the line of duty while overseas and Harper was only a few months pregnant. It's been a long and difficult five years though having her son and Mom around have been a huge help. Lately she's been feeling restless and wondering what next she could do as a career and her Mom is trying to gently push her to get back into the dating world.

Bennett is an ex-SEAL who was Noah's best friend and was also there when Noah died. Feeling guilt that he didn't die instead of Noah, he decided to get out of the military shortly after Noah died and started up his own business which involves helping others survive in the wilderness. He keeps himself busy and has his trusty dog Jack London at his side who is a Newfoundland mixed breed. Content to stay with what he's doing, he still feels guilt for not contacting Harper but thinks that may it's for the best.

When a chance encounter brings these two people together, their lives will be changed in a variety of different ways. Two people connected through their love of Noah and tragedy will hopefully help them to see that maybe life is ready to give them a second chance at happiness.

This book was full of humor, the power of friendship, the power of Military Sisterhood, surprises, one very adorable bear-like dog, and love.

I'm so happy to have gotten a chance to read this book which tugged at my heart immensely and I loved the ending so much! Looking forward to continuing the series! If you enjoy military romance with a heady feeling of family, friendship, dogs and love, I highly recommend reading this book!

This was a heavier book and it can be tough to read for those that have experienced something similar. I appreciated insights into military life and the emotions everyone goes through when someone they love gets deployed. Unfortunately I had a hard time connecting with Harper in some moments and I can’t put my finger on why.

This...was not an easy story. There was a lot of beauty in the tender hearts that supported and lifted one another through sharing the burden of loving someone serving their country and the consequences that come from that commitment. Seeing the past blend with the now of the story was also a good way to provide background and depth to the many interactions and feelings that ran all throughout the book.

But what was difficult was the struggling. I was definitely glad that this wasn't a light read because that would have felt disingenuine. It was just hard to get through because the pain was real, the struggle is something so many people go through every day and it was written well in this story. One other thing that bothered me a bit was Bennett's attachment to Harper before Noah's untimely death. Aside from that Bennett was a good character with a big heart despite his broody attitude due to his time as a SEAL.

Even though this was a harder story to read it was still good with great prose, a huge dose of reality, a community built on shared experience and genuinely good souls, and a nice romance that gave a second chance to two hearts that deserved it.

When I first read the blurb for this book, I thought I would be reading a military romance with maybe a little angst and an ex-military, brooding hero. To my surprise, this was anything like the stories I've read in the past and I loved it!

What enjoyed the most about this story and which I found the most surprising was the fact that the author didn't brush over the emotional and psychological burdens that military loved ones endure on their day to day lives. We get a front and center view of what it sometimes means to be a military wife. These women, like Harper, endure so much while still trying to keep it together for their family and most of their trauma goes unnoticed by many.

This story brought light to that aspect of military life. Not only the loss due to losing your partner to death, but also the loss of the person you were, the dreams you had and everything you sacrificed because you dare to love a military man.

I loved Harper. I admired her strength in dealing with everything that was thrown at her, and especially because she allowed herself to be vulnerable. She didn't hide her grief or let her insecurities stop her. She barreled through and found her reward in Bennett.

Everything came together beautifully. The way the author brought all the elements to the page did enhance the significance of what was happening in Harper's life -- the growth she'd done through the years, how hope came to life in her the more time she spent with Bennett and her excitement in finally doing something for herself that would help others like her.

All in all, a fantastic story of new beginnings.

I have read a lot of books by this author but this one has a completely different theme than I'm used to so I didn't know what to expect. I also do not usually read books with a military theme but I decided to read this one because of the author. As with her other books, I found it to be well written. The strength is in her main characters, Bennett and Harper. They are strong, complex characters and the romance is a slow burn. Not sure yet if I'll read the rest of this series, however.

I had high hopes for this book but unfortunately it wasn’t what I was expecting. It’s the beginning of a series and the description of this book has me excited for this new series, but I found that I could engage with the characters or the plot like I wanted.

I liked Laura Trentham’s The Military Wife, though my initial reaction was that it was sad. After all, we meet Harper Lee as a widow, as she’s trying to juggle motherhood, grief, the ever-present well-wishes to ‘move on,” her BFF’s home life issues, and so on. It seems as though the weight of the world is on Harper’s shoulders.

As you keep reading, you realize 2 things. One, that Harper’s heart is big enough for everyone to fit (even as you sometimes wish that she’d do things for herself first). And two, that Harper’s dreams are also big enough for everyone – specifically, military wives who may be adrift professionally due to circumstances that accompany the fact that they’re military wives.

Unwilling to give up on her dreams, and her BFF’s mental health, Harper goes toe-to-toe with her dead husband’s brother-in-arms to get the resources she needs. What she doesn’t expect is to also find her heart and feelings again – which brings on a whole new slew of emotions.

The Military Wife is at times heart-wrenching, at times heart-warming, and always a heart-tugging read. Pick it up to snuggle up with, because this winter’s not quite done with us yet!

drey’s rating: Pick it up!

Although a touch sadder than most of this author’s books I’ve read, it was well written and hard to put down. Highly recommend this book and author.

I have read several books and series by Mrs. Trentham. While I feel like this series is different and the others were lighter it was still a great book. I really enjoyed Harper and Bennetts story. This was a sweet, duall POV read with great characters and a great story line.

I received an advanced copy for an honest review.

With characters you immediately like and want to cheer for The Military Wife checks all the boxes for a military romance themed book. Trentham builds a story that as a reader you can immediately care about, which makes me thrilled this is book one in a series.

I really enjoyed reading this story. It had a good storyline and flow and great characters. It lets you into the mIlitary lifestyle with the hardships and loss many of us don't understand.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free ARC in exchange for my honest unbiased opinion.

Wow - what a wonderful book! It tells these stories so well, from the perspectve of both the soldiers and the military wives. It's interesting, eductional, heartwarming and heartbreaking, all at the same time. Looking forward to reading more of Laura Trentham's work!

The live of a military wife is not easy. It gets much worse when your husband does not come back from war. This story was packed with emotion. It was very well-written and the characters were wonderfully well developed. The thing that I found very interesting about this book was that the story went back and forth between the present and the past. Normally I do not enjoy a story written like this, because it can get very confusing; however, that was not the case with this book. It was so well done that everything flowed smoothly and I knew exactly what was going on at all times. I'll be reading book 2 in this series for sure. It's an excellent military romance story!

A beautiful story of how military wives survive through the support of their community of wives. Beautifully written and beautiful characters.

I enjoyed this book. The writing was very good and I liked the characters. There is just something about a strong female character and then of course the male who is kind of silent and brooding but then to see them together. There were secrets in this book and successes. The story flowed well and I would recommend to others. I will definitely read future work of this author’s.

4 stars - enjoyed this book

The research on military matters shows. It made for a more believable and enjoyable story. I struggled in a small number of parts about the treatment of PTSD issues. I am not so sure it was always believable. However, this may be due to my own conception of what PTSD is in absence of actual experience.

I have voluntarily posted a review connsisting of my honest opinions. I received this product for free from Netgalley.