Fighting Absolution

***ARC provided by author and I’m leaving an honest review***

5+ “Little Warrior and Bear” stars

Wow! And here I thought nothing could ever top my love for Kelly and Arcadia from The Biker and The Thief. This was completely brilliant, compelling, raw, breathtaking, at times heartbreaking story and such a wonderful read. It is without a doubt my favorite September read and top 10 books I have read this year. This book should read every contemporary and military romance lover. I liked everything about this book. The writing just flowed and had me engrossed to the story from start to finish wanting to find out what happens next. I enjoyed every minute of it and never wanted it to end. It has so much depth, powerful, poignant and effortless storytelling. I loved that it was written in first person, dual POV so I know what both characters – Jamie and Kyle – were thinking at the specific time or moments; with an added bonus POV of another character. It was well developed, well written and well thought out. The author knew how to develop, create the storyline and make you fall in love with her words, plot and the characters demanding your attention. What I loved about this story is that it wasn’t just a love story between Jamie and Kyle but also a road of self-discovery, forgiveness, letting go of the guilt, love, family, brotherhood and friendship. It was enjoyable read with so many twists, while delivering an intense and passionate romance / love story between Jamie and Kyle that I devoured in one sitting. It was steamy, raw, sweet romance filled with so much heart and love. The characters are brilliant, complex – layered and so likeable. I loved the characters’ chemistry and banter. The banter made this book even more special.

Jamie learns from the young age what loss and devastation really mean. She feels alone and that she doesn’t have anyone to talk to or confide to. She feels vulnerable and doesn’t want to show her weakness. I think that Jamie is strong, a survivor and a fighter. But she also wants to control her feelings and doesn’t want to let anyone in because she fears losing them.

Kyle is a unique, down to earth, real, goofy, charming, sarcastic, loyal, patient guy. His life wasn’t easy. After a devastating loss, he decides to join the Army thinking it will give him some kind of insight and maybe closure. Maybe this way he will find what he is looking for. He is SAS. I loved seeing him close with his teammates and that he has formed close friendships with them.

I think they had an instant, great connection. They lit the pages with their chemistry since the first time they met. Jamie feels alone, devastated by the loss and like she doesn’t have anyone to confide to. Until she meets a boy from the other side of fence who starts to question her abilities to let someone in. They are each other’s match. I loved their sassy, snarky and flirty banter. I loved their first meeting, the way they became friends, the way he never gave up on her and kept her going, insisting that she has a lot to live for. Kyle is determined to keep her safe and he is fiercely protective of her. Kyle and Jamie never supposed to fall in love and they know they shouldn’t feel attracted to each other, but they do, it’s unavoidable. Their timing might be a little off because they both have so much going on and they are focused on different things, but when they are together everything just makes sense; they are just perfect for each other and exactly what they need in order to move on, let go of their past, guilt and start truly living. I love their moments, banter and dialogues. I think they take each other by surprise because neither of them expected to meet and change their lives. They are effortless and familiar. Jamie and Kyle are passionate, intense, breathtaking, heartbreaking, intense and incredible! I think that they are balancing each other. They are passionate and fiery. I love that they didn’t give up on each other even though the life have thrown them quite obstacles. The ending and epilogue was amazing. I just want to spend more time with these incredible couple and characters.

Two words: INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL! It kept my attention at all times and I could not put it down. With an effortless writing, awe-inspiring details, and a journey of forgiveness, love, the author takes us on an emotional and beautiful journey of the characters, struggles and a self-discovery of the characters. I highly recommend it.

5 Be Happy Stars! What an emotional roller coaster ride! This storyline is beautifully heartbreaking and so worth the read! Friendship and loss is a huge theme woven throughout this story. You won’t be able to put it down. I absolutely loved Kyle and Jamie. Their story has all the FEELS! Can be read as a stand-alone but having read Fighting Redemption elevated this story to another level. I highly recommend this must read!

One of the Most Powerful Stories of Love I’ve Read… I am a voracious reader; I normally plow through books at a breakneck speed of one every other day. But this one, this one has stopped me cold, making me need time to think and recover from the overwhelming journey contained within it. “Fighting Absolution” by Kate McCarthy has captured my very soul and broken me open. It has absolutely wrecked me and it will wreck you too.

The story of Jamie and Kyle, “Little Warrior” and “Bear”, childhood friends unknowingly bonded in the pain and grief of loss. Both running from emotional ghosts, and the shared trauma of their initial parting as kids. They separately join the Australian Army in hopes of escaping their pasts and finding their individual places in the world. Their story is one of unspeakable pain, guilt, self-loathing, the true horrors of dealing with day-to-day living as soldiers thrust into war, and the loneliness and longing that comes with closing yourself off to the world in order to cope. It is also the story of all those who surround them, the “chosen family” who love them fiercely, and endure the equal pain of watching them both struggle, all the while, knowing they are helpless to break the emotional armor they’ve both built.

It is a breathtaking story about emotional brokenness, about the masks people wear to hide the pain deep within, the lies we tell ourselves to run from our own truths, and the struggle to put yourself back together even when all of your instincts scream at you to retreat behind the mask and remain deep inside the safety of the darkness. It is also a story about hope, redemption, of pure love, unadulterated loyalty, and a lesson in true family.

It is without a doubt, one of the most commanding books I’ve read this year. McCarthy’s expertly written prose so powerful, it planted within me a seed of loss so strong it ripped open something inside of me long forgotten, and turned me into a sniveling mess. Like the flesh of a walnut plucked from its shell, this book plunged itself deep into my chest, cracked beyond meticulously placed walls, and ripped the remains of long dormant traumas from my body. Not for many years have I felt such grief, such pure, unadulterated emotional pain.

Jamie and Kyle, characters of enormous depth, experiencing senses of emotional brokenness so familiar in pain to my own it gave me chills. Rarely have I felt so connected to a literary character. From within the pages of this soul tearing book I see myself staring back, lost, hurting, broken, using humor and steely arrogance to keep myself at arm’s length from all around me. I relate to Jamie’s learned trait of swallowing pain, bottling it up so deep inside the well of her soul, stealing her spine to the outside world, that she almost doesn’t recognize herself in the mirror. I too learned to keep the world at bay so my emotional armor never cracked, working, and working, and working, always alone, trying to absolve myself of things that were never really my doing to begin with. And I relate to Kyle and Jamie’s need to flee, always moving forward, and trying to escape or find answers to the pain in places they don’t exist.

As a result, both during and since reading this book, I see Little Warrior and Bear in my head. I feel them both in my heart, and in my soul. And I can say without a shadow of a doubt, I always will. They will always be with me. That is how powerful this book is. And there are simply not enough stars in the literary world to do this book justice because it deserves them all.

A highly anticipated and LOVED 5+ star read.

This is possibly the longest review I’ve ever written, and even so there aren’t enough words. Fighting Absolution by Kate McCarthy deserves so much more than a five star review! This novel was everything, and I don’t say that lightly. I was so captivated; right from the very start I found myself getting so caught up in everything it was.

As an alone teen, Jamie struggles to find who she is let alone people to lean on; until a boy named Bear found his way into her life.
When he’s one day no longer there, Jamie is so devastated but picks her chin up and carries on with life.
A few years later she’s met with a face of her past, but one she never truely physically knew. When Bear appears, now a man, she slowly reconnects and forms that once best friend relationship she grew to love. Through many fights and battles – not only physically but mentally – will Jamie be able to recognise her true feelings or will she keep everything locked away and let it destroy her once and for all?

I can’t even with this at the moment, and this is said in the best way possible! I LOVE LOVE LOVED it!!!!!
How Kate has done this to me I don’t know, but I want more. This literally made me cry and laugh (a lot), get so jittery and anxious, maybe cry and laugh some more as well as fall in love with Jamie, Bear and more.

This comes highly recommended as a must read!

I have read a few military romance, but now I think I am going to read way more, this book was amazing, it was so emotional, I couldn’t stop reading, I needed to get to the end to know everything. Jamie story is difficult to say it light, Bear started to help but then Bear disappeared putting a stop to everything Jamie had and left her alone. Fate gets Jamie to find herself with Kyle, also known as Bear and now everything changes for them both. It was an amazing surprise for me, such a great one I got this book as one of the top reads of 2019.

4.5*
Dealt a lousy hand in life, two struggling teenagers help each other cope without really knowing who the other person is – other than the nicknames they gave each other, Little Warrior and Bear.

As fate would have it, their paths cross again in Afghanistan where she’s a medic and he’s SAS. Over time, while dealing with all things war, blood, and death, each of them figures out who the other person is. Due to circumstances I won’t reveal in this review, they fight the inevitable pull between them, choosing safe ground – the “friend zone”.

Of course, this is where things get really sticky. This is where I found myself bouncing up and down in my seat for someone, anyone, to come to their darn senses!

Little Warrior and Bear are unforgettable characters that will tug at your heartstrings. Their friend’s characters were well developed and play major roles in this novel. I loved the lot of them!

Some of my favorite novels have been military romance. The atrocities of war, combat, reconnaissance, death, to name a few, are all difficult subjects to read. Yet, somehow Kate McCarthy was able to infuse quite a bit of humor in this novel that fit perfectly, further developing all the characters in a way that made each of them unique. Whether the humor was witty banter, actions, or thoughts, this book made me laugh and smile a lot, providing a much needed balm to an otherwise often depressing subject.

This story takes place in Australia and Afghanistan. GAH! The Australian accents and witty banter are the bomb! As you can imagine if you’ve read anything similar, American words like favorite is spelled favourite, and realize is spelled realise, etc., and so much fun to read.

Kate McCarthy tackled difficult subject matter, tore my heart out, and pieced it back together again in a beautiful way. Bravo for Fighting Absolution.

This book was without a shadow of a doubt an emotional ride.

Since the beginning I knew it was going to be an epic story, for starters I’m a sucker for military romance…duh. And second, I have read other books of Kate before and have loved them all.

I went into this book completely blind, I didn’t read the blurb or Fighting Redemption (now that I know Ryan and Fin I’m definitely going to read it). You will FEEL this story with your whole heart, It’s crazy angsty and so emotionally charged that it will keep you on the edge most of the time.

Jamie has always been a fighter, just like her father used to tell her, but losing him left her broken and alone. When she was at her worse, Bear was there for her when no one else was, trying to put her back together.

And then, one day… he was gone.

At eighteen, she decided to find her way by joining the army, stronger and resilient she’s a combat medic now, but all her life she felt that no one needed her, until she finds her childhood best friend when she wasn’t expecting him, in the ugly and brutal war. Bear is now a man, but he hasn’t forgotten about the Little Warrior he left behind all those years ago.

This story is complicated, real, raw and heartbreaking. In this story the Little Warrior learned how to laugh, love and live, she learned that there are more important things in life than war…to be happy. And in the process she helped Bear heal when he needed it the most.

Absolution is an act of forgiveness…it’s an act that works to absolve a person of a sin committed, and once absolution is given, redemption is hoped to be reached, offering the sinner a second chance…a clean slate, so to speak, that should not be taken for granted.

Little Warrior – I don’t think there’s a more perfect name to describe Jamie Murphy, both as a teen and as an adult; because since the day her father died, she’s had to fight every step of the way, not just because she was left with no one at her back, but because she was constantly searching for a purpose, for direction, for a place and perhaps even a person to call her own; except, the person she thought was there for her left, just like her father, forcing her to fight, or at least leading her in that direction, but it’s a much different fight – one that could end up getting her killed.

I wouldn’t say that Jamie is on a road to absolution because the only thing she’s done is try to make herself whole in whatever avenue she thought she could accomplish it. But she most definitely is on a journey of self-discovery, and while it’s a bumpy and road blocked path, it’s one that will, hopefully, give her a purpose…a reason for continuing to survive as her past merges with her present and she reconsiders her choices and her ultimate goal.

Throughout the story, there are characters who ARE fighting for absolution, but there’s one in particular, and you’ll know who when you meet him who owes it to himself and to his little warrior to sort through the chaos and come to terms with what it will take to seek the forgiveness he needs and find absolution that will last him a lifetime.

The story’s use of text messages, letters, and other forms of communication gives an authentic feel to how soldiers communicate with those they love and say the things that need to be said but might be a bit too difficult to express face-to-face. It also serves to remind readers the loneliness and the fear that comes with being deployed and wondering whose lives may be lost and how their families would feel if they didn’t come home.

Amidst the extraordinarily harsh circumstances of war, hope and faith may be difficult to have, but there are lessons to be learned even when doubts or insecurities may fuel decisions, and in the simplest of terms, the message is clear –
choose to be happy…to truly live…to not just exist to serve but to do it because it’s your calling, it’s where you’re destined to be. Because if it’s not truly your purpose, then you need to have the strength and the courage to head in the direction you’re supposed to be, regardless of the uncertainty that awaits.

My love for Kate McCarthy and her books started with Give Me Love, and since that book, I’ve witnessed her growth as a writer and a storyteller. Her stories are meticulously researched, as evidenced by the open and honest details that make up the sentences, paragraphs, and chapters of every single one of her narratives, and her multifaceted characters are brought to life in ways that allow readers to see every side of these broken, scarred, and more than deserving heroes and heroines.

Even though I just finished Fighting Absolution, I’m so ready for more of Kate McCarthy’s words, which means I’ll be impatiently waiting for her next book!

4.5 Poison Apples

Oh wow this book just took me to a hole new level of emotions just wow this would be the first book that I’ve read by Katie McCarthy and I need more . just everything about this book just drew me in to were I wanted to know more about the characters and everything they were going through . This is one of those stories that just make me feel all the emotions that the characters re going through .

I am obsessed about ‘Fighting Absolution”. I ended this book and bought a paperback ten seconds later. Bear and Jamie story is everything.
But, I must start at the beginning…

Jamie Murphy was a little girl, when she met Bear. Day by day, they were talking, get to know each other and sharing everything, bad or good news. Then Jamie’s dad dead and she was in the pieces. Her heart was so much broken. Only Bear could glue it again, but one day… he left her.
Alone.
Like her father.

Bear go to army, to be a soldier, but he had one hidden goal – to find himself in this everything.
When Jamie found out that her one and only friend went to the army, she done the same.
But not like a soldier.
She was a combat medic.
Her mission was to save lives, not to end them.

For me Kate McCarthy is a queen of miliary romances and tough love. „Fighting Absolution’ is a masterpiece! I weren’t ready for this book. You guys, won’t be too.
As I one wrote, I have a really strong heart and usually I don’t cry, when I’m reading books.
But in this story the tears are flowing out oneself of the eyes.

Our Little Warrior Jamie is a strong girl. She built the walls around her and she was thinking only about the army. She think that nobody needs her, so she gave her life to save other people.
Bear is the man I love all my heart. He will do everything for friends and brothers in arms. He is unique person.

I really don’t know how to write about my emotions in this review. This book made me laugh, happy, angry and I cried a lot while reading. Gosh, as soon as I recall one moment in this book I have tears in my eyes. Dear Katy, why you done this to me?

In ‘Fighting Absolution’ we can meet our old friends – Ryan and Finley from ‘Fighting Redepmtion’. These books are connected, so please read them both. The order does not matter.

I love this story. I will back to Jamie and Bear again and again. This book is one of the best book I’ve read in this year. So, I highly recommended this book to you guys! Read this!