**Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the ARC in exchange for an honest review**TheMilitaryWife #NetGalley

4.5 stars! First time for me reading a book of Laura Trentham and I really enjoyed this story !!
Actually this was a great book about military life, from the pov of soldiers and pov from military wives!! It's s book that struggles with very emotional and important matters such as PSTD, suicide, death, loneliness!! For me it was emotional, beautiful, heartwarming and about moving on and find a second chance love!! The storyline was perfectly written!! It was a great read!!!

I hate to give a book a bad review, but I just couldn't get into this book. It just wasn't for me. But don't let my opinion stop you from giving it a try. Thank you St. Martins Press via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.

This is the first time I’ve read one of Trenthams books, and I was not disappointed. Harper Lee Wilcox lives with her Mom after losing her husband Noah in action. Her son Ben is what keeps her going and a reminder of Noah.

Upon learning that there is no bravery award, Harper questions the money she was given by Bennett, her husbands close friend with who he served. Harper tracks Bennett down refusing to take his money, has questions about her husbands death and won’t stop until she gets the answers. However, Bennett isn’t one to just open up to anyone but through time Harper learns the truth.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

The Military Wife has entered the small domain of my To Be Reread Many Times books. It is a small list of books that have touched me down deep and that call to me to read them. There is so much to love about The Military Wife: characters that resonate emotions and deep seated fears, a plot that is real and relatable (regardless of the military aspect), struggles that anyone can either relate to or empathize with, and excellent writing that draws the reader in completely and holds them throughout the entire book.
To summarize, Harper Lee Wilcox was left widowed and pregnant when her SEAL husband was killed on deployment. She has managed to raise a wonderful five year old boy, maintain a lackluster job and come out of her grief. She does not recognize that her life is lacking until she connects with her military wife friend, Allison, and they hatch a plan to help other military wives. A chance mention by Allison, moves Harper to contact Bennett Caldwell, the SEAL teammate that was with Harper’s husband when he died. They begin to develop feelings for each other but the shadowy presence of her husband flits back and forth between them.
Reading about the determination of both Harper and Bennett and their respective hesitations is stirring and unforgettable.

Harper Wilcox is a young woman who ignored her own career to follow her new husband, Noah, a Navy SEAL, to a military base. She finds herself missing not only her husband when he is away but also something to keep her occupied.

When she discovers she is pregnant both Harper and Noah are thrilled. Unfortunately, before she has the baby she finds herself a widow.

Five years later we find Harper and her son, Ben, living near the base with her mother. She is afraid of moving too far away for fear of leaving the memory of her husband behind.

When Harper realizes that her best friend, Allison, is struggling with problems she returns to the base to see if she can help. Allison's husband, a former SEAL who served with Noah is struggling with PTSD, which of course is affecting the whole family.

As Harper strives to help Allison, she has an idea that might also help other military wives: opening a coffee house. After all, she was awarded quite a bit of money when Noah died and this might be exactly what she needs as well as some of the other wives. A deeper purpose in life.

But when she discovers that the money given to her was not from an award but really from a Navy Seal who served with Noah, she's determined to give it back. In the process, she wants to also find out more information about Noah's death.

The book alternates between past and present, but it doesn't disrupt the story or distract in any way.

My Thoughts

What Concerned Me: Nothing

What I Liked Most: This is far more than a romance with no depth. It is a well-written book that deals with concerns that military wives can have, the camaraderie of those serving as well as their wives, the aftermath of war, and much more. The characters are developed and very believable.

As I began reading this book, the story caught my interest almost immediately. To me, that's an important sign of a good book. (I'm not one to keep reading if nothing is causing me to want to turn pages.)

My first book by this author, but not the last. I highly recommend it!

Harper’s late husband, Noah,, was a Navy Seal who died in the line of duty while she was pregnant with their son. Five years later, she gets to know his best friend from his Seal team, Bennett. They are instantly attracted to one another, but face a number of roadblocks. Noah was the only man ever in Harper’s life, and Noah has a number of issues going back to his childhood. There is also a secondary story that includes struggles faced by The family of Harper’s best friend and her husband who was Noah and Bennett’s former team mate. The issues, including PTSD, are dealt with honestly and sensitively. This book was thoughtful, well-written, and very enjoyable to read.

The Military Wife is a layered story within a story. It goes into the grief of a young, pregnant widow trying to go on without her mate, the best friend suffering from survivors guilt & ptsd, the military wives needing support & purpose & the families behind them all. The intensely emotional topics were treated with dignity but yet with such a light touch that the reader doesn’t forget that the story is, at heart, a romance. Darren, Alison & the kids story showed the nearly forgotten casualties of war - the effects on the children. The romance that snuck up on Harper & Bennett was wonderful to watch develop & flashbacks showed the relationship between Noah & each of them. It gave us an insight into Noah’s character & the joy we know he would have felt at the end. Great story & I can’t recommend it enough!

Emotional, beautiful, heartwarming and heartbreaking all in one book. This book takes you through every emotion. It shows a woman’s strength and resilience through a truly tough time.
Thanks for NetGalley and St Martins Press for my eARC in exchange for my honest unbiased review

I liked this book very much and will be looking for other books by this author.
We have read many books re the trials and hardships our Military go through (and they do) but this book also put a lot of emphasis on the family of a Military Vet. Shows how they are affected when their spouse or father has been through such ordeals as war and being away from family.
I would recommend this book to friends whether they are a Military family or not

Thank you, Netgalley, for offering an ARC of this book. I had never read anything by Laura Trentham, but I thought this was really well done. I grew up an Army brat and while that isn't the same as a military wife, I distinctly remember the loneliness and anxiety my mother experienced one of the years my father was away in Vietnam. I thought Laura Trentham did an excellent job of describing the various challenges modern military wives face not only with the dangers some of their husband's face, but also with the need some of them have to have careers of their own. Her novel was a great mix of humor, romance, and reality.

If you liked the Lifetime drama "Army Wives" or the CBS drama "SEAL Team" or some of the other recent contemporary military dramas, I think you will like this novel.

I loved this book !
Harper is. Military wife / widow, who is raising her son and existing but not really living.
Harper reaches out to Bennett to finally find out about how her husband died

These two together were so made for each other and I loved them together

The story is told from both points of view in the past and the present
There is so much about being a military wife I learned from this book and I can’t wait for more of this series to be released !!

An emotionally charged book, I was taken on a roller coaster of emotions and found myself laughing and crying, often at the same time. Harper only had one man in her life and when Noah died in action, she needed answers. Not knowing what had happened to him, left her with unresolved issues. When it becomes clear that there is one person with the answers she needs, she visits Bennet who is every bit as taciturn and bearish as his nickname depicts. Although the story does feature the growing feelings between Harper and Bennet, it mainly brings into focus the camaraderie and close bonds of brotherhood that forms between men in action, as well as the sacrifices that are made by the women and children they leave behind. War is a vicious beast that is no respecter of persons. The men and women in the firing line cannot help but be affected by the consequences of killing. It takes almost as much courage to face up to and deal with PTSD as it does to pull the trigger in the first place, as is well depicted in this novel. I loved every moment of this well-written story as well as the portrayal of the characters, each with their distinctive personalities. It appears that a series is going to evolve, but this is nevertheless a standalone with a heartwarming conclusion. I received a copy of this book through NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

As I've said before, I have a soft spot for books with military ties (real or fictional). This book had me cheering for and shedding tears along side Harper. This book touches upon the issues that military families experience but the rest of us aren't very privy to, experiences every family can imagine and relationship dynamics any adult can attest to. This is a great "beach read" or "easy read" that I would recommend.

My first time reading Laura Trentham and I enjoyed this story. I loved how the author handled the heroine’s grief and sadness, the slow healing and the sweet yet still a bit painful way Noah’s memory was embedded into the new couple’s and family reality.
Bennett is a wounded hero, a broken man with a painful past. I loved this “taciturn loner” with plenty of inadequacies, although I felt these dimensions were often more told than shown.
Noah and Bennett’s friendship was poignant and again I was moved by how vivid his character was to me, making me experience, as a reader, his best friend’s sense of loss.
Good depiction of the military wives’ problems too.

I ended up skimming through the book. Overdone plot. Widow meets sexy Navy Seal with muscles and troubled past, blah blah blah. More of same. Could recommend as a beach read

Harper and Bennett’s story was poignant. It was grief. It was joy. It was rebirth. I loved how real Bennett and Harper’s feelings were portrayed! More so, I loved the way Trentham portrayed friendships. Not just between the military wives, but also the guys. There were foundations of support when one had the courage to reach out and ask, something that’s always easier said then done.

Harper and Bennett’s complicated relationship, Allison, Darren, and their family’s struggle with his PTSD, the military spouses looking to define themselves from their spouse’s identities and the deployments and reintegrations-the deep emotions coursing through the pages pulled me in from the start and I found myself quickly invested in the story’s outcome. Military Wife is a departure from Trentham’s small town romances, yet I felt this book made its mark with style and I can’t wait to see what’s up next!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A romance novel about military life, both from the pov of soldiers (male) and their wives/women they fall for. Short read, very, very sweet--it reminded me of an old school Harlequin in a lot of ways--and despite the simplicity of the story line, deals frankly with the impact of PTSD on military personnel and their families. I ended up being more invested in Allison and Darren's story than in that of the mc, Harper, and what happens to her with Bennett!

The Military Wife was a heartwarming story of a strong woman moving on after loss. We get to read about how Harper Lee Wilcox meets her husband Noah, we get bits and pieces about their marriage. We also read about Noah's time in the military and the relationships he develops with his brothers. When Noah doesn't come back from a deployment, Harper must learn to move on without him and build a life for herself and her unborn son. She moves in with her eccentric mother and builds a life, but she isn't satisfied, something is missing. She comes up with a brilliant idea to help other military wives work outside of the home. She meets Bennett Caldwell and they grow close as she builds her new business. This was a great story and I loved reading it!

My Review of The Military Wife by Laura Trentham

Every once and awhile, an author you love will release a book, that is a slight departure from her previous work...and for a minute you’ll worry it will not be as good as her other books. But then you’ll feel guilty you ever doubted them because the book will be one of the best you’ve ever read.

The Military Wife focused on Harper, a young war widow with a young son...who is beginning to feel lost, without a passion to keep her mind off of what she once had. I loved Harper, and I adored her mother and it was very clever to jump from past to present, as it gives the reader a chance to get to know Noah, her late husband.

What really moved me was the fact the author didn’t shy away from the real impact war has on those who serve and those who are left behind. The loneliness Wives can feel when their husband are away and the lack of opportunities for them to have something of their own, outside of the military was portrayed beautifully. There was some real heartbreaking scenes that had your heart pounding, but if the issues involved weren’t discussed, then it would be glossing over major issues like PTSD and suicide, and these issues deserves to be at the front of discussions.

A beautiful, heartbreaking read, one I will not forget

Congratulations

5*****

Harper Lee Wilcox married her first love Noah and has had to cope with the aftermath of his death in action five years ago. The only thing keeping her going is her young son, otherwise she is just going through the motions. A visit to an old friend, the wife of one of her husband's teammates, leads her to realise that many military wives and widows feel similarly dispossessed and directionless, their own careers and lives put second to the demands of the SEAL teams. Harper looks to invest the money she received from the Navy after her husband's death into a small business that could provide jobs to other military wives.

Harper's decision to start a new business leads her to getting in touch with another of her husband's former teammates, Bennett Caldwell, who left the SEALs to run his own outdoor survival training business.

How do you know when it's time to move on? Harper is a very relatable heroine, down to earth, normal, sassy. She struggles with her growing attraction to Bennett. To me her slightly contradictory reactions felt very real, the sort of illogical thought processes we go through in real life. For his part, Bennett struggles with his guilt at falling for his best friend's wife and the death of a man who was more like a brother. There's cute kids, huge dogs, lots of coffee, wilderness training, marriage troubles, sorrow, love, heartache, princess stories and hawt kisses.

The novel is told from Bennett and Harper's points of view and with flashbacks to pivotal moments in both Harper and Bennett's interactions with Noah. I have to say I wasn't a fan of the flashbacks, it is kind of disconcerting when you are starting to get invested in a new romance to be interrupted with flashbacks to the start of the romance between Harper and Noah.

Overall, I thought the burb didn't really match the way the book went, maybe that was deliberate? But I really enjoyed it, I liked Harper and Bennett, I liked the character development and the plot.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.