Customer Reviews

Lace & Honor (Love Storm Romance) (Paperback)

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The families of those in the military are always on edge while the war is going on. For the soldiers who are not in a serious relationship, they tend to keep love an arm's length away. I understand it is a way for those soldiers to keep from having to leave another love one behind. Sammie Ward's Lace & Honor is a story of triumph over fear and regrets.

Kayla Perry is a friend to Elizabeth Shupe and Marissa Poe, two women who do not get along. When she is not trying to be the peacekeeper, she is busy being the best that she can be as an army sergeant. In her heart, there is a desire burning deeply for a man who does not show any signs of feeling the same. Will he ever notice her?

Elizabeth is married to a military man. While trying to overcome a major obstacle, her husband, Timothy, is deployed, leaving Elizabeth behind to handle it by herself. Elizabeth believes she will be fine because she has Kayla to depend on; even though she might also be deployed. Will Elizabeth be able to handle everything on the home front, all the while worrying for Timothy's safe return?

Marissa hopes she will get out of the Army before they send her off to war. As she counts down the days until she heads to the next step in her life, something unexpected occurs turning her life 180 degrees. She uses the time to rethink some of the choices she made when it came to the type of men she was accustomed to dating.

These three women have a vision of how they expect their lives to go and how love should feel. Unfortunately, each of them has emotions they need to let go in order to move forward. Ward provides a look into the conflicting lives of soldiers a civilian would have no clue exists. In their lives it is more than whether or not they will be deployed. I thoroughly enjoyed the realness of the characters and the situations they lived in. I recommend Lace & Honor, a book that I received from the author for review, to readers of military stories and/or romance.

Jennifer Coissiere

APOOO BookClub

"Lace and Honor is a gripping story about three friends who work at Delta Company 32nd Combat Support Hospital in Fort Bradley Maryland. This remarkable story provides a glimpse inside the life of soldiers, revealing their issues with love, family and their dedication and commitment to serve their country."

"Sergeant Kayla Perry joins the army with hopes of furthering her education in Nursing School. She is very focused and determined not to let anything get in her way. Including any potential relationship that could prevent her from fulfilling her dreams. Until Sergeant Paul Lake enters her life and everything changes."

"Specialist Melissa Poe has two weeks before her release from the army. She's currently dating Randall, and their relationship has hit a few bumps. She's anxious to move forward with her release from duty to attend Penn State in the fall. Unfortunately, her plans are changed and her rocky relationship with Randall becomes more than she wants to handle."

"Elizabeth Shupe is married and expecting a baby when her husband Timothy is deployed to Iraq. There is concern with her pregnancy since she has suffered a miscarriage in the past."

"All of their lives are intertwined as they face potential deployment and deal with their personal challenges that will define their futures."

Sergeant Kayla Perry does not have time for a relationship. Her ultimate goal is to go to nursing school. That is the main reason she joined the army. She does have a thing for her staff sergeant, but she knows that she can't do anything about it because of army rules. Nevertheless, she is content on getting into the green-to-gold program so she can attend nursing school. That is until she meets Sergeant Paul Lake. He isn't looking for a relationship either since he is waiting to hear if he has been accepted into the Special Forces Unit. But sometimes the heart doesn't listen to what the mind is trying to convince it of.

Specialist Marissa Poe is a mess. She thought she was getting out of the army to start college at Penn State. She also thought she was in love with a fellow solider, and he would join her when he got out and they would live happily ever after. Unfortunately, neither of those things happened. Marissa was devastated when she was told that her getting out of the army was put on hold. Her and Randall had been on and off their whole relationship, so them being off when she told him she was staying was not as much as a surprise, but the guy she fell for after him certainly was.

Liz Shupe was married to an enlisted soldier and was best friends with Kayla. Marissa was too, but she did not get along with Liz did not get along for some reason. Just when everything was going good in her life, like her finding out she was pregnant again after her miscarriage, she finds out that her husband is being deployed to Iraq. She is trying to be strong so Timothy won't worry about her, but she is scared to death.

Lace and Honor is a good read by Sammie Ward. There were actually three different stories going on simultaneously. Ward does a great job of connecting them and keeping the story flowing. The plot was one that many people can relate to, and Ward did an excellent job of portraying the emotions that go along with a loved one being deployed. The character development for the primary and secondary characters were also well done and made the characters relatable. Good read!

Reviewed by Tenecia for Urban Reviews

LACE & HONOR is the story of Sergeant Kayla Perry and her two friends, Specialist Marissa Poe and Liz Shupe, an administrative assistant. All of them are assigned to the 32nd Combat Support Hospital at Fort Bradley, Maryland.

Kayla wants to attend nursing school, but her plans are derailed after attending Tuskegee University for two years, so she joins the military as a medic. She is waiting to hear from the Nursing Officers candidate board. With her plans to attend school, she isn't thinking about a relationship, but when fate steps in by way of Sergeant Paul Lake, she's got to make some decisions she wasn't planning on. Marissa is a hip white girl who is colorblind when it comes to men and is looking forward to getting out of the Army in two weeks and attending Penn State. Marissa is involved with a man who I wanted to...well I'll let you see for yourself. Liz is married to Army Sergeant Shupe who may be deployed when she finds out she is pregnant. She also dislikes Marissa and sparks fly whenever those two are in the same space.

Sammie Ward writes about these characters in a page-turner I read in a few hours as I sat riveted to see what would happen to not only Kayla, but also to her friends. It had a wonderful pace and was a realistic story with just enough drama to make it interesting. I look forward to the next book by this author and recommend it highly.

Reviewed by Linda Chavis

for The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers