PatienceCourage; a strong word Patience LaClare thought she lost the meaning to.Lost, the word she has come to know. She lost her way in a loveless marriage and stuck in a never-ending cycle of life which lacks any form of joy.That is all about to end, she is taking Courage back and finding who she truly is meant to be. With none of her friends close to help her, Patience finds her own way to … bring her life back to something she can be proud of.Everything is about to change.DukeBroken; is who Marine Duke Michaels is now. Medically discharged from the Marines, he is heading home where to Centennial, Montana and the first piece of his life fell apart.PatienceNot just a word of one’s state of being but the girl he left. She was everything to him and he let her move on with someone else. He lives with many regrets, but none are as powerful as not fighting for Patience. But things aren’t what he thought they would be once he came home.He discovers the shell of a girl he loved and sees she is now struggling to gain Courage once more. Duke isn’t about to let her slip through his fingers for a second time.This time, he has his own Courage to go after what he wants.
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Courage of Us (Code of Honor Book 1) by Brooke May
I’m a giant sucker for second chance romances and this book did not disappoint me one bit.
I loved the young, fiesty Patience and was so happy that she found her way again after so much heartbreak and pain over the years. I don’t think she realized how strong she was even after all the dust settled.
Duke was an idiot, regardless of his reasoning. I wanted to knock him upside his head being such a moron. He dealt with his own pain over the years but wasn’t able to start healing until he was home.
I am 100% invested in this series and I can’t wait for the second book to come out.
5/5 Stars
Courage of Us (Code of Honor #1) by Brooke May
Another fantastic read by May. She sure does know how to keep her readers. Courage of Us is the first book in her new Code of Honor Series.
Patience doesn’t have much when it comes to her name. That is until her best friend, Duke, up and leaves. Not a word to her and that goes on for seven years. Then he comes home at the nick of time. The quote I chose for Patience is: “But that’s what makes them so beautiful. They can be that way, but most times, they are just trying to live like every other creature. It isn’t their fault that they aren’t the exact native species to our area. They don’t know any better.”
Duke has had a hard time since leaving town. He not only left his best friend behind without a word, but she was also the love of his life. When he comes home he finds that she is going through a rough time. The quote I chose for Duke is: “That sounds great to me. I’m going to go throw some clothes on.”
Highly recommended for Military Romance lovers.
Patience LaClare is a woman who over the last seven years has lost her courage and become a shell of her former self, she has been in a loveless marriage with a man who cheated on her, blamed her for everything going wrong in his life and verbally abused her, but the day it all became physical is the day she drew the line and asked for a divorce, however, Patience has lost her friends over that time and only has her family and herself to rely on. Duke Micheals is a Marine who left everything behind, including the girl he loved, since then, he has seen more of war than he ever wanted to and when he lost his dog in a tragic encounter with the enemy, he developed PTSD and this meant a medical discharge, leaving the Marines and returning home to his family and all the memories of what he left behind.
Patience is heading to her cafe in her parents grocery store as usual, where she bakes the town’s favourite sweet and savoury snacks, what she doesn’t expect is her car breaking down in the car park at night, when the snow is falling and it is freezing cold, but the last thing she expected was Duke Micheals to come to her rescue on his way back from filling in the paperwork so he can start his new job as a deputy in the local police department. The surprise stops them both from being able to form words, but it is Patience who breaks the silence first but her words are sarcastic, independent and scathing, but she reluctantly accepts the lift home from him, the silence between them is deafening and when she gets into her house, she is an emotional mess, but so is Duke after he drops her off. Seeing Patience has solidified what Duke was thinking that she needs him as much as he needs her, however, it is also clear that she will not be as easy to convince as he hoped, he will have to put in a lot of work to pull the person she was out of the person she is and he knows just how to do it, he will simply start by asking her to dinner and then see where that takes them.
As the days progress, Patience and Duke start to spend more time together as friends and catch up on the times since they last saw each other, things are going well but there are a lot of feelings to sort through and pasts to be shared, this takes a long time as the things they need to share are painful and hard to talk about and it doesn’t help when their families meddle and try to speed the process up. The two realise that they still feel as strongly for the other as they did seven years before, but also that the attraction they felt has multiplied as they have gotten more mature and grown into themselves.
Will they be able to reveal all the hurt they are hanging onto and overcome the barriers they have each built around their hearts, or will it all be too much when they find out what the other has been through and leave them reeling away from each other? This is a second chance romance where friends who have been broken try to come back together as adults with all their baggage included, where tenderness, grief, love and loss collide with the past, present and future to create a journey which envelops you and takes you along for the ride.
After years of emotional and physical abuse, can Patience live again but will her past be the key for her future.
Patience has come back to her home town but she is not prepare to see him, Duke left years ago but still holds a place in her heart. Why did he leave and can I trust him again especially with my heart.
Duke left without a word and has been regretting that ever since, but being in the Marines and following his dreams but now he is back in town and has to try and fit in with civilian life, can Patience be a part of his life but first he has to win her trust.
This is the first book I have read by this author and was so drawn into this book from the first page to the last. I love the way the two main characters find each other after so long and with Patience’s history from her abusive husband makes her hard to trust but seeing Duke the old feelings start coming back, I loved the interaction and the story was well developed and written.
I can’t wait to read more books in this series and books by this author.
Courage of Us by Brooke May is book one of the Code of Honor series.
Patience and Duke have been best friends forever. Now they’ve graduated and Patience is sure nothing will tear them apart. She finally gets the nerve to tell Duke how she feels and things escalate from there. The next morning, Patience’s world falls out from under her when she wakes up to find Duke gone. Patience does the only thing she knows how to do and that is to keep moving forward as painful as that is. Seven years later, Patience doesn’t even recognize herself but she finally takes the steps to reclaim her life. As an unexpected surprise, Duke is back home and he is looking to make things right with Patience. Will Duke be able to convince Patience to hear him out? Is it too late for them?
I couldn’t put this book down! I really enjoyed it! I felt for Patience. She was just making the best out of a situation and it really spiraled out of control for her. I’m glad she was able to stand up for herself because so many people aren’t able to.
This is a beautifully written story about love, losing love, challenges of life and never forgetting your first love. The characters are so well written that you can’t help feeling every piece of emotion through them.
Duke and Patience have been friends for years and with all their other friends leaving to join the army, navy and airforce Patience is content in the knowledge that she and Duke are staying together. Or so she thinks.
The night after graduation Duke just disappears without an explanation or a word of goodbye. Patience is heartbroken at this betrayal but moves on with her life.
Fast forward and Patience is in a loveless marriage with an abusive partner and she has lost herself completely. When she finally has the courage to leave she had to build herself back up and learn again who she is.
Meanwhile Duke is medically discharged from the Marines and he is returning home. Can he rebuild the relationship between himself and Patience? Will she ever forgive him for just leaving her? And when he sees Patience has become a shadow of the girl she was can he help build her back up? It’s not going to be easy as both of them are damaged and need fixing but is their first love strong enough to fix them both.
Patience and Duke have been friends since diapers. They are yin to yang for each other. The challenge is that they don’t know they are in love with each other. Once summer after graduation changes everything….fast forward to a few years later and they meet up again. Can the love and friendship be rekindled? I found myself rooting for them. As they face challenges ahead, they don’t give up on each other and they just chug along Well-written and very realistic, the author kept this smooth and easy-flowing like a summer river.
Courage of us is about two childhood best friends who never tell each other that they love the other, they keeping missing their moments, so they go their separate ways after high school. They end up going on different paths until years later when Duke returns from the marines and knows he wants Patience in his life again but only problem is she is married. Can they both over come the trauma they have been through and save each other? This book was great, it draws you in and the characters are brilliant
I truly enjoyed reading this! I probably felt a little more attached to it since it was a military guy and his girl. I loved the description of the town, the parents’ (on both sides) involvement, and how Patience got back to herself before moving on from her loveless marriage. May did a fantastic job of making Duke redeem himself before getting the girl!
It says book 1, which means there should be more in this series! My hope is that it’s about the rest of their guy friends and finding love!
Courage of Us is book one in it’s series. It is such a great story that you can very easily get lost in! I know I did! The characters are realistic and so believable. The story felt so real, it was full of feelings and emotions, chemistry, poorly made decisions, forgiveness and second chances. It was just beautifully written and such a great, amazing read. I highly recommend giving this a read. I’m very eager to read more from the series.
Courage of Us is book one in the Code of Honor series by Brooke May. It is a gripping second chance story that pulled at the heartstrings. Patience and Duke share past and their journey is one of being lost, discovering an inner strength and determination to live a wonderful life, courage to carry on and fight for your wants and desires. It was easy to be captured by their story and captivated by their attraction and chemistry. The path was tumultuous, the feelings intense, the passion palpable, the ending sublime. A clever and heartfelt love story that will stay in my thoughts and leave its mark. 4 stars.
Patience LaClare and Duke Michaels had been best friends since they were in diapers. Everything was looking up for them as they graduated from high school. Patience was ready to drop her high school boyfriend and profess her love for Duke. But all that changed the day after graduation when Duke left Centennial, Montana to join the Marine Corps.
Seven years later, Duke is returning to Centennial after being medically discharged from the Corps. Suffering from PTSD, he knows that he still needs help from a therapist and medication. He left years ago hoping to come back from the love of his life, Patience. Instead, she had married her high school boyfriend, and so Duke stayed away.
Brooke May tells a story of love and loss in the Courage of Us. The story is written beautifully. The characters in the book are inspiring and relatable. I loved reading this book as I can relate to Patience, and her desire to be her own person after losing so much in life.
Friends to lovers and second chances
This was an easy, quick-read with good character and story development. Told in dual POV, I connected with both characters. The author does a brilliant job of putting a unique twist on what could have been a predictable romance story. This is the first book I have read from Brooke May and I will definitely be checking out more of her work. She does a fantastic job of drawing the reader into the story. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.
Courage of Us is the story of Patience and Duke, teenage best friends, who both want to be more but as most teenagers do, they don’t communicate that to each other and life takes them on different paths.
Fast forward a few years, Duke returns to town after years away in the Marines and is trying to find his way in civilian life again. He is determined that Patience is going to be a big part of that. He wants her back in his life! Patience however, is also trying to find her way in the world after a bad and emotionally abusive marriage. So the big question becomes can they find their way to each other and finally be together they way they should have been all these years??? or is the pain of the past too much for both of them to make it possible.
Courage of Us by Brooke May is a wonderful read by a very talented and creative author. Her characters have heart and depth. I am really hoping that there will be more books to follow and soon. Please tell me Ms May that Chase, Holt, Decker and Ryder are going to get stories too?
Courage of Us (Code of Honor Book 1) by Brooke May – Review by Michelle Collier
My rating 4 out of 5
Courage of Us is the first book in the code of Honor series by Brooke May. Patience and Duke are both struggling with the consequences of the choices they made in the past. You can feel their struggles and pain. They are really a pair you cheer for. I can’t wait to read the rest of this series.
Courage of Us by Brooke May a beautifully broken five-star read. This is number one in the code of honor series, and I can’t wait for more, this is a different style to what I have come to love from this author, but it was still well done and just lovely. You will feel for the characters, you will want to help them and on occasion shake them. But that’s what I adore about this author, she makes you believe in the characters, and has great chemistry and pace of the story, it flows nicely and makes it such an easy read. Do not miss this start to what I am sure will be a great series.
Brooke May has written another stellar military romance with her “Courage of Us (Code of Honor Book 1)” True to her writing style, May fills her style with a lot of emotion that serves as part of the setting and the plot. This simultaneously uses emotions to help develop the story and the characters. It is easy to become immersed in the story and the pages easily turn. So the pages turn and the story quickly disappears into the imagination until the last sentence is read.
Courage of Us (Code of Honor Book 1) by Brooke May. Ok let me just get this out first and foremost I love this book and will definitely be adding it to my read again list! From page one I knew I’d love our female lead Patience I just simply felt drawn to her character. There’s definitely times I wanted to shake these characters but I loved every minute of it. I like the authors writing style and love her characters. It’s well written and paced nicely never feeling rushed or lacking anything. The characters are complex, relatable and truly draw you into their world. I honestly didn’t want to leave but I’ll definitely be visiting these characters again in the near future. Five stars all the way and highly recommend!
Courage of Us (Code of Honor Book 1)
Brooke May
Courage of Us (Code of Honor Book 1) by Brooke May is an amazing book to read that hooks you from the very first page and ensures you can’t put it down until it’s done. The cover of this book along with synopsis is what drew me in to read this book. This book is about Patience and Duke who have been best friends until he left for the Marines. They both had a lot of obstacles to overcome over the years. When Patience is starting to learn who she is again Duke walks back into her life unexpected. Will they be able to fix their relationship after everything? This is a must read and I can’t wait for more to come from this series.
COURAGE OF US is the first book in the “Code of Honor” series
I think this may be the first book I’ve read by this author and I will absolutely be reading more in this series.
This second chance, military romance is full of feels and emotions and breath taking moments. The story is written very clearly and is full of detail. There is a very strong beginning, middle and end with great world building and interest building to keep a reader interested in turning the pages.
4 Solid Stars
****
tags: KU, second chance, military, new series, book 1, Code of Honor