In A Soldier's Arms, by Romance Author, Marin Thomas

Harlequin American #1200
ISBN-10: 0373752040
ISBN-13: 978-0373752041
February 2008
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In A Soldier's Arms

Determined to uncover the truth about her mysterious Appalachian past, Maggie O'Neil drives to Heather's Hollow in search of her granny, the only other surviving member of the O'Neil clan. Her grandmother's uncanny sixth sense and healing powers intrigues the nurse practitioner when they meet, but what really fascinates her is her granny's neighbor, brooding ex-soldier Abram Devane.

The secretive major pretends to like his solitude, nut Maggie's gut feeling says he's not immune to her. And as all of Heather's Hollow knows, when the O'Neil women look into the future with their bewitching green eyes, whatever they see comes true.

Herself in a soldier's arms forever is the sight before Maggie. Can Abram face down the demons in his past and allow himself to see the same thing?


I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to reading this book! I loved the first one in the series tremendously, and had high hopes that Ms. Thomas would be able to please me again with her sequel. She did not disappoint.
City-slicker Maggie O'Neil starts her journey into Appalachia with a run-in with one colorful character after another, not the least of whom is her grandmother "Granny" O'Neil. Once she finally gets past the outhouse and learning how to ride a horse, she begins to appreciate the charm of the backwoods. She also begins to appreciate the charm of Granny's closest neighbor, an "outsider" named Abram Devane. Despite the disapproval that rolls off Granny at Maggie's attraction, she can't seem to stay away from him.

Once again, Ms. Thomas has peppered her book with wonderfully drawn, fun and in-depth characters. Along with the amazing characters, there is a realistic and interesting conflict--two, actually-- and very real emotion between Maggie and Abram. I thoroughly enjoyed watching both of them slowly open up, not just to each other but to the community around them. It was also wonderful to revisit our friends from the first book and catch up with them to see how they've grown and changed. Ms. Thomas has done "pert near" everything right with this heart-warming sequel. Once again, I can't wait for the next book in this series. And, I'm so impressed with this author's writing, that I'm planning on digging in to her backlist! Do yourself a favor and dive right into this series. You won't be disappointed.
      Poppy, www.longandshortreviews.blogspot.com

IN A SOLDIER’S ARMS is another touching tale from the pen of Marin Thomas. Ms. Thomas manages to make her characters so real and compelling that readers actually ache right along with them as they struggle with the weight of their past. Abram is one of Ms. Thomas’ most complex and intriguing characters to date, harboring blame for a military tragedy that caused both emotional and physical scars.

Tortured heroes are my weakness, and as I devoured the pages of IN A SOLDIER’S ARMS I couldn’t help but think that this book just might be my new favorite Marin Thomas story. She somehow manages to make Abram so real, his emotions so raw amidst a heartbreaking toughness. Taking a tough issue like post-traumatic stress disorder, Ms. Thomas doesn’t just tell us how it effects someone in Abram’s situation, we actually experience it through Abram’s eyes.

Ms. Thomas has created a delightful community in Heather’s Hollow, and I love how she manages to weave such interesting details and tidbits about the Appalachian region with a colorful cast of secondary characters. Seriously, you can’t help but fall in love with Granny O’Neil, a curmudgeon with a heart of gold!

Ms. Thomas has managed to pull off yet another book with her trademark down home, warm-hearted style, earning my devotion as a reader. IN A SOLDIER’S ARMS is destined to remain a favorite of mine, and I find myself eagerly anticipating the next story in her Hearts of Appalachia series. Whether you are a fan of Ms. Thomas’ stories or a new reader, you will definitely appreciate what you’ll find between the pages of IN A SOLDIER’S ARMS.
      --- ck2skwipsandkritiques.com

IN A SOLDIER'S ARMS is a whimsical contemporary romance starring two likable lead characters with commitment issues, a wonderful Appalachian support cast, and the show stealer Granny, who in some ways will remind readers of Granny Moses of the TV version of the Beverly Hillbillies. Whereas Margaret learns home is where the heart wants to be, which is with Granny and Abram. Abram suffers from PTSD, but feels bewitched by the two O’Neal women who enable him to somewhat forget the anguish from his military experience. Marin Thomas provides a warm old Kentucky home romance.
      --- Harriet Klausner

www.armancereview.com awarded the book 5 Roses!.....Grab a copy of Marin Thomas’ next next Hearts of Appalachia book In a Soldier’s Arms, pour yourself a nice cup of tea, curl up in your favorite reading chair and be prepared for a joyous romantic read that will truly warm your heart!

Determined to discover the remaining members of her family, Maggie O'Neil journeys deep into the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. What Maggie finds, apart from a cantankerous old woman, is a wounded warrior with pain filled eyes. Abram Devane came to the secluded cabin to rest his weary soul and recuperate from his war injuries. Amidst the thriving vegetation of the mountain, it is in the verdant green of Maggie's eyes that Abram finds the peace he's been searching for. While circumstances forced these two lonely souls together, will personal demons and the good people of Clan Macpherson keep them apart? Will Maggie ever be able to find the sense of belonging she seeks IN A SOLDIER'S ARMS, or will Abram and her proud Granny drive her away with their inability to accept her healing presence?

Marin Thomas brings us another wonderfully touching tale written for her HEARTS OF APPALACHIA series. With just a few well chosen words and details, Marin skillfully portrays the life of a charming rural community in the mountains of Kentucky. As we revisit with the many colorful characters of Heather's Hollow, we can not help but rejoice at their triumphs and worry for their troubles.
      --- www.romancejunkies.com

4 Stars!
When nurse Maggie O'Neal treks to rural Heather's Hollow, she tells herself that she's only making the journey to understand why her mother ran away from the tiny town before Maggie was born. But when Maggie learns that the community's healer is Granny O'Neal, her last living relative, she decides to stay and learn Granny's ways. Maggie tells herself that her attraction to Granny's neighbor, retired soldier Abram Devane, has nothing to do with her decision. But as love blossoms, Abram begins to retreat from the feelings. Will Maggie be able to nurse his wounded heart back to health? Ultimately, In a Soldier's Arms, by Marin Thomas, is a heartfelt story about discovering where you truly belong.
      --- Romantic Times Bookreviews

 

Maggie O'Neil loitered outside Scooter's Café in Finnegan's Stand, Kentucky, working up the nerve to enter the restaurant and inquire about her maternal grandmother--a woman she'd never laid eyes on in all her thirty years. The urge to climb into her car and drive back to Louisville was so powerful her stomach churned with nausea. Rarely did she react to stress physically. After years of being a nurse practitioner, her nerves were strong.

She fingered the envelope in the pocket of her hot pink blazer. The letter, already a month old, was barely legible. Maggie had had to enlist the aid of her nursing colleagues to decipher the chicken scratches--incomplete sentences, misspelled words and bizarre phrases such as "It don't make me no nevermind," "Pert neer," "layin' up" and "Lans-sake." In the end, her co-workers had determined that the message had been a request for Maggie to return to her deceased mother's birthplace to retrieve the personal possessions left behind when her mother had run away at the age of seventeen.

Maggie had agonized over one sentence in her grandmother's Note: "I'm yer only kin on yer mama's side left." And the signature at the bottom of the page: Margaret O'Neil.

Maggie's mother, Catherine O'Neil, had never married Maggie's father, but the two had lived together until he'd perished in a car accident when Maggie was a toddler. The desire to learn more about the woman Catherine had detested, yet had named her daughter after, and the need to discover if her father's relatives remained in the area, had driven Maggie to pack a suitcase and head for Heather's Hollow, her mother's birthplace.

The small town of Finnegan's Stand, not far from the hollow, boasted a main street of wooden storefront businesses dating back to the early 1900s--a post office, hardware store, beauty salon and Scooter's Café. A gas station and convenience store sat at the end of the street. For a Saturday afternoon, there was little foot traffic. No wonder her mother had felt trapped in this isolated mountain community.

Maggie had been born in Louisville , gone to college at the University of Louisville , then landed a nursing job at a satellite clinic sponsored by Baptist Hospital East. In short, she'd lived her entire life in a large city, with movie theaters, shopping malls and chain restaurants at her disposal.

Sweat trickled between her cleavage, but Maggie resisted the urge to rub the front of her blouse. She wanted to blame her overheated body on the weather, but the sunny September day was on the cool side due to the town's higher elevation in the Appalachian Mountains . Her nervousness stemmed from the prospect of meeting her grandmother for the first time. Would the old woman be pleased to see Maggie or barely civil? Caught daydreaming, Maggie didn't notice the café door open.

"Howdy, miss." The greeting came from a lumberjack in a flannel shirt, scruffy jeans and a stained baseball cap. He flashed a tobacco leer. Eeew! A wind gust sent the fine layer of sawdust clinging to his shirt dancing around his head.

"Ya lost or somethin'?" Holding a brown paper sack, its sides soaked with grease, sawdust man paused, his attention shifting between her face and her bosom.

Maggie edged backward until the window pressed against her spine. "You wouldn't happen to know how to get to Heather's Hollow, would you?"

A grimy finger pointed up the slope of trees behind the town. "Take the road that forks off at the end of the street. Once ya cross Periwinkle Creek, yer in the holler."

"Great." She smiled her thanks.

He leaned forward, his cigarette-scented breath blasting her in the face. "I got time to show ya the way afore I head to the mill."

"Ah, no, thank you. I--"

"We could have ourselves a little picnic." He held up the greasy bag.

A sliver of apprehension raced across Maggie's shoulders. She'd arrived in Finnegan's Stand less than ten minutes ago and already the small-town charm was losing its appeal.

"The lady said no."

Maggie spun and collided with a solid wall of muscle. Hands grabbed her upper arms to steady her. Dressed in combat fatigues and a green T-shirt, which showed off well-defined biceps, the man--make that warrior--towered over her five feet six inches. She craned her neck and studied her rescuer's chiseled face. He had a square jaw, high cheekbones, crooked nose and dark slashing eyebrows that showcased chocolate-brown pools of misery.

Startled by her assumption that the man possessed a wounded soul, she shifted under his probing stare. Her ability to sense things about people had always troubled Maggie. Once, she'd asked her mother about the thoughts that popped into her head, but her mother had attributed the condition to Maggie's overactive imagination.

A single eyebrow lifted at the outer corner, and Maggie's face warmed with embarrassment at having been caught gaping. She faced the mill worker, who appeared ready to bolt. "Thank you for the offer, but I have a few errands to run in town," she lied. With a nod, the man shuffled across the street and disappeared into the hardware store.

Before Maggie had the opportunity to thank the soldier, he slipped into the café. Surreptitiously she watched him claim a seat at the lunch counter, leaving his broad back to her. Something in his gaze had called to Maggie. As if feeling her attention on him, he glanced over his shoulder. Instead of the loneliness and emptiness that had been in his eyes moments earlier, the message he flashed now was loud and clear--No Trespassing.

Startled, she shifted sideways out of view. She blamed her interest in the man on the fact that she'd been involved with an enlisted soldier years ago. But after Michael had been shipped to Afghanistan, where he'd died during his unit's first patrol, she'd sworn off military men. No matter how sexy, s trong or handsome, a man in uniform was nothing more than a heartache waiting to happen.

The post-office door opened, snagging Maggie's attention. An elderly woman with long silver hair marched down the sidewalk. Dressed in somber clothing--an ankle-length black skirt, navy blouse and a black jacket--the granny toted a rifle.

Was carrying a firearm in plain view legal? The woman climbed into a truck that should have found its way to a junkyard years ago. The engine sputtered, died once, then roared to life with a bang! Expecting her to drive at a snail's pace, Maggie gaped when the old biddy blew through the stop sign at the end of the street and sent the truck fishtailing as she swerved left and disappeared around the bend in the road.

I understand why you took off, Mom.

The place was full of kooks.





   


Excerpt from: In a Soldier's Arms by Marin Thomas
    Copyright (c) 2008 by Brenda Smith-Beagley
ISBN-10: 0373752040
ISBN-13: 978-0373752041
By: Marin Thomas
Imprint and Series: Harlequin American
Copyright ©: 2007, 2008
By: Marin Thomas
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher.
The edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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