An Everyday Hero by Laura Trentham #Review #Contemporary #AmazingRead

 

Title: An Everyday Hero

Series: Heart of a Hero #2

Author: Laura Trentham

Publisher: St Martin’s Press, St Martin’s Griffin

Published: February 4th, 2020

Pages: 336

Rating: 4/5*

 

My Review:

This is a moving story about survivor’s guilt, PTSD, second chances, inspiration and facing reality set mainly in Madison, Tennessee. It isn’t the hard read you’d probably anticipate from that, it has many laugh out loud moments – usually brought about by the straight talking, take no nonsense Greer Hadley.

The story starts with Greer in court following her arrest after escapades at a local bar. She is sentenced to complete community service hours at a centre which endeavours to use music and songwriting to help veterans and their families. This seems like an ideal use of her skills for her as Greer had been trying to achieve her dream of being a songwriter in Nashville. However, everything went wrong for her there and she’s given up on her musical dreams – can this help reawaken them? Her first client is fifteen year old Ally Martinez, the daughter a soldier killed in action, who is struggling with his death and very rebellious. No one else in the centre has managed to break through her barriers but Greer is determined to help her.

Her second client is injured veteran Emmett Lawson. He’s the same age as Greer, they went to school together before he joined the military. She’s shocked at how he’s now living in an isolated cabin, keeping a shotgun on hand to frighten away visitors, including her. He certainly didn’t expect her no nonsense attitude breaking down his barriers, too!

All the main and secondary characters in this story have their own background information which is gradually revealed. Their angst, dilemmas and reactions are portrayed emotively, making it easy to relate to them. It was fantastic to read how they all changed through meeting each other, how they’re given second chances because of their friendships and support for one another. This is a unique story, one that I found a fascinating, amazing read complete with an awesome ending. I have no hesitation in highly recommending it.

I requested and was gifted a copy of this book via NetGalley and this is my honest review after choosing to read it and finding it a superb, heartwarming story.

Synopsis:

From award-winning author Laura Trentham comes An Everyday Hero, an emotionally layered novel about redemption, second chances and discovering that life is worth fighting for.

At thirty, Greer Hadley never expected to be forced home to Madison, Tennessee with her life and dreams of being a songwriter up in flames. To make matters worse, a series of bad decisions and even crappier luck lands her community service hours at a nonprofit organization that aids veterans and their families. Greer cannot fathom how she’s supposed to use music to help anyone deal with their trauma and loss when the one thing that brought her joy has failed her.

When Greer meets fifteen-year-old Ally Martinez, her plans to stay detached and do as little as possible get thrown away. New to town and dealing with the death of her father in action, she hides her emotions behind a mask of bitterness and sarcasm, but Greer is able to see past it and recognizes pieces of who she once was in Ally. The raw and obvious talent she possesses could take her to the top and Greer vows to make sure life’s negativities don’t derail Ally’s potential.

After Greer is assigned a veteran to help, she’s not surprised Emmett Lawson, the town’s golden boy, followed his family’s legacy. What leaves her shocked is the shell of a man who believes he doesn’t deserve anyone’s help. A breakthrough with Ally reminds Greer that no one is worth giving up on. So she shows up one day with his old guitar, and meets Emmett’s rage head on with her stubbornness. When a situation with Ally becomes dire, the two of them must become a team to save her—and along the way they might just save themselves too.

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