From
the Start
American Valor #3
American Valor #3
By: Cheryl Etchison
Releasing
May 23, 2017
Avon Impulse
Avon Impulse
Tour Host: Tasty Book Tours
He’ll have to confront the nightmares from his past
if they’re to have any chance at a future.
For many women, Ranger Battalion Surgeon Michael MacGregor is the ideal man. He’s far better than average looking, a generous tipper, not to mention an officer and a doctor. So when he encounters a woman resistant to his charms, he finds himself… intrigued.
Kacie Morgan has had her fill of arrogant military men since the last one left her with a shattered heart and one heck of a career rut. Now, with her prestigious fellowship starting in the fall, all she has to do is survive the summer—and her little sister’s wedding.
When an ill-fitting bridesmaid dress has Kacie wanting to temporarily shake things up in her carefully planned life, she knows just the man to call. They agree to a no-strings, summer fling, although it isn’t long before Michael wants Kacie for forever.
But to win her heart, he’ll have to confront the nightmares from his past if they’re to have any chance at a future.
** ARC provided by the publisher, via Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review**
So this is the second book I have read in Cheryl Etchison American Valor series, and believe when I tell you, that this series just gets better and better!
So the story begins with Kacie Morgan, whom had just ended a 7 year long distance relationship with a marine, who had serious commitment issues. But the only thing that is on Kacie's mind, is getting through her younger sisters wedding, and making to Duke to start her fellowship. The last thing Kacie expects, is to get into another relationship! Especially someone who is in the military!
Now as a teaser, I'm going to leave it there! But needless to say, you will absolutely fall in love with Michael MacGregor, handsome surgeon for the Army Rangers, but with many things, everything is not quite as it seems, and you easily get drawn in to this beautiful military romance, with not only the great characters, but the wonderful plot and writing! This is definitely a book you should grab for the summer!
I give From The Start 5 stars
May 2013
Kacie Morgan raised the cloudy glass
tumbler to her lips and licked the course salt from its rim, all the while
surveying the bar, knowing she was officially in hell. Despite it being a
fairly new establishment—and a nice place as far as bars went—it just wasn’t
her scene. The cowboy hats and cowboy boots. The painted-on jeans that both the
men and women wore. The line dancing and mechanical bull.
Then there was the fact she couldn’t
stand country music. She might have been born and raised in the South, but the
appreciation for songs about racing pickups down red dirt roads, getting drunk
on Jack, and skinny-dipping in farm ponds must have skipped a generation.
She sighed and turned back around,
catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror behind the bar.
Dear God in the heavens. She shouldn’t
have looked.
She squeezed her eyes shut and
tossed back the remnants of her margarita on the rocks. A tang and tart shiver
raced the length of her spine, her body squirming involuntarily to shake it
off.
Her empty glass met the cow-print
bar top a little heavier than intended, the upside being it garnered the
bartender’s attention. “Another?” He shouted to be heard over the music.
“Sure,” she said. “Why the hell
not?”
He came over to clear away the empty
glass and his eyes roamed her chest as he took his damn sweet time to read the
front of her shirt. She didn’t have to glance at the mirror again to know the
club lights ignited the rhinestones across her shirt, the word bridesmaid
glimmering in the relative dark like a ’70s disco ball.
“Eight weeks,” she chanted to
herself. “Eight. More. Weeks.”
Just eight weeks until the
bachelorette weekend, the holiday weekend, the rehearsal dinner, the wedding,
all of it would be over. Her baby sister would be happily married and, more
importantly, her maid of honor duties would be complete. No longer would she
have to be overly friendly to women who were not her friends. No longer would
she be guilted into wearing questionable attire or spending money she didn’t
have on all of the cutesy little things they wanted her to “chip in” on.
Kacie handed the bartender a few
bills as he returned with her drink, then resumed leaning against the bar,
watching as the country music gave way to hip-hop and the puritans bolted for
the bars and seated areas. In the span of a few minutes, the dance floor became
an instant bump and grind session for anyone under the age of twenty-five or
with more than a few drinks in them.
In a sea of cowboy hats and baseball
caps, her baby sister was easy to spot. The rhinestone tiara with attached veil
on her head glittered in the pulsing lights as she bopped around the dance
floor. And all the other bridesmaids were right there with her.
If she were a better maid of honor,
a better big sister, she’d suck it up and join them. But she just couldn’t find
it in herself to move. Ever since her well-planned future with a man she
loved—or at the very least thought she loved—had taken a deep dive into the
toilet nine months earlier, she found having fun an almost impossible feat. How
sad. How pathetic.
With a pang, Kacie realized at the
age of thirty-one she’d become what she always feared most—a total buzzkill.
What did you enjoy
most about writing this book?
I really enjoyed the early
interactions between Michael and Kacie for this book but especially the scene
where they have sex the first time. The conversation is so shallow and
matter-of-fact since they’ve agreed to just use each other for sex.
I also loved the argument between
Michael and his sister-in-law. Bree has been more like a sibling to him for so
many years that it’s only fair they’d argue in the same way he and his brother
argue. Politeness be damned!
What gave you the most
trouble with this story?
When I started this book, I hadn’t
planned on Michael suffering from PTSD. But when I began the editing process
and reading it from the beginning, I realized all the clues were there. He doesn’t
really talk about his issues although it’s clear those who know him best
realize something is a bit off. And whenever the suggestion is made that he
speak to a therapist, he blows it off because he doesn’t believe his problems
are bad enough to warrant treatment. Which I think, sadly, is an accurate
representation for so many of those who serve in special operations units.
Name three things on
your desk right now.
A small crystal pig with pink wings
named Penelope. I have always loved the expression “When pigs fly!” and have
always taken great pleasure in proving people wrong.
A two-year-old fortune that says
“You’ll never know what you can do until you try.” I found it in my fortune
cookie at a time when I was debating whether or not I was read to query
literary agents.
A small Galah figurine given to me
by the Australian family I lived with while on foreign exchange in high school.
They had rescued an injured Galah, which is a type of cockatoo, and taught this
bird to say my name. That damn bird made me crazy because he would sometimes
escape when I came home from school and then proceed to hide high up in a tree
while calling my name over and over, taunting me.
If you could have dinner with any three authors (alive or dead), who
would you choose and why?
My
first instinct was to say Jane Austen, but I fear she’d end up being a
disappointment and ruining my perception of her. Ernest Hemingway would have to
be my number one since his personal life was as exciting as his stories. Second
would be Dorothy Parker since she had zero problem saying exactly what she
thought. Throw in the fact she was blacklisted in Hollywood, I can only imagine
the dirt she knew. Number three would have to be Stephen King. I’d love to know
what his childhood was like and whether or not his own writing gives him
nightmares.
What are you favorite types of stories to read?
I
absolutely adore historical romances. They are always my go-to read when I’m in
a bad mood or a writing rut. I love all that despite a ton of societal rules,
there were women who willingly ignored them and threw caution to the wind.
Personally, I like to think had I lived during the Regency era that I’d have
been one of those women who wore pants and rode astride and basically thumbed
her nose to everyone who dared say “You shouldn’t do that!”
How long have you been writing, and
what (or who) inspired you to start?
There
was a built in desk in my bedroom growing up and it being the only desk in the
house, that’s where the Selectric typewriter lived. When I was in elementary
school, my mother would write youth soccer recaps for the local paper and when
she was done I would sit down and mimic her. I don’t recall ever writing
fiction. Instead, I wrote recaps of the Olympics and Super Bowls. In school I
always excelled at creative writing but it wasn’t until I was in college, at
the encouragement of a professor, I switched from Accounting to Journalism.
After graduating, I always wrote for work, but never for myself. Then when my
oldest was born, I quit writing altogether for about six years until I found an
online community and began writing fanfiction. Through that I made a friend who
was a member of RWA and encouraged me to attend the national conference with
her in 2011. The rest is history.
When did you first start
writing and when did you finish your first book?
When I began working on this story
five years ago, it was the story of a doctor who’d just left the army and was
trying to find his way in the civilian world. Sadly, my hero was, in a word,
boring. He was too nice. Too polite. He was just… ugh. But I kept at him and gave
him a brother and father and he began taking shape. By the time I actually started
to like Michael MacGregor, I realized his story would be better if his younger
brother’s story came first. So I went back to square one and began working on
ONCE AND FOR ALL. When I returned to Michael’s original story last year, I had
to scrap most of it because some scenes were more like Danny and other scenes were
more like Lucky (the hero in HERE AND NOW). So I had to practically start
completely over, but this time I knew exactly who Michael MacGregor was and
what he’d been through.
What do you do when
you are not writing?
As a mom of three, I’m usually
pretty busy when I’m not writing. There’s always a kitchen to be cleaned or
laundry to be folded or a kid to be driven somewhere. And now my oldest has her
learner’s permit and I’m the one she drives with the most. So that’s always
fun. Not really.
Are there certain
characters you would like to go back to, or is there a theme or idea you’d love
to work with?
I
love that I was given the opportunity to bring Michael and Danny’s mother to
life in this book thanks to my editor suggesting I include a flashback. If
there is one couple I would love to write, it would be their parents. I would
love to see Mac MacGregor fall head over heels in love with Lily.

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