RITA Reader Challenge Review

His Road Home by Anna Richland

This RITA® Reader Challenge 2015 review was written by KellyM. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Romance Novella category.

The summary:

Special Forces medic Rey Cruz needs to find a fiancée, fast, or he’ll end up in a marriage orchestrated by an Afghan warlord. Finding a picture online of a girl he barely knew back home, he fakes an engagement photo, thinking no one else will see it. But when Rey loses both legs and the ability to speak while rescuing a local boy, the image goes viral.

Seattle marine biologist Grace Kim is shocked to find out she’s engaged. When she’s offered a plane ticket to visit her “fiancé,” she takes it, looking for the answer to one question: Why did he lie? Touched by Rey’s funny texts and the determination she sees in him, Grace offers her friendship—a big step for someone who prefers whales to most company.

And when Rey is finally sent home, Grace agrees to help him drive his classic car cross-country over Thanksgiving—a once-in-a-lifetime road trip that leads to what feels like real love. In front of his friends and family, she plays the caring fiancée, but what place will Grace have in Rey’s new life once he’s ready to be on his own again?

Here is KellyM's review:

My first impressions of “His Road Home” were as follows:

  1. If the blurb is to be believed, there is A LOT going on in this story.  It’s going to have to be pretty tightly constructed to fit that much plot into a novella.
  2. Catnip alert – I cannot resist a wounded protagonist.  I’m especially vulnerable to a wounded hero, but I’ll take a wounded heroine as well (especially if there’s a caretaker alpha involved).
  3. OMG, I’m crying at my desk after reading the DEDICATION, people.  This is going to be a bumpy ride.

I found the set-up of the story to be a little bit clunky in places.  There seemed to be an abundance of military jargon in the first chapter or two, and I found it distracting.  It was a bit difficult to find my feet and move forward in the story.  Also – Rey Googled “Grace Kim” and found who he was looking for right away?  Really?  Even though he knew little to nothing about what she’s doing or what she looks like today?  Um, sure.

And her boss approved emergency leave and used his miles to buy her a plane ticket without consulting her, but he hopes he’s not being “too presumptuous”?  Mmm-kay.

But this is a novella, and the story needed to be moved along, so I’m willing to suspend disbelief for the sake of getting further into the story faster.  But I am tossing some side-eye at you, book.

Once these two characters got in the same room together, I was completely hooked.  Their first meeting was awkward but sweet.  The idea to send him a phone for texting was genius.  Long distance texting allowed for them to get to know each other and fall in like first instead of moving the story forward with insta-love or insta-lust.  And I completely loved their texts:

(Grace asked how Rey’s physical therapy went today.)

 “We exchanged tips on tomato fertilizer.”

“You’re kidding.”

“You don’t think we talked shit all morning?”

“Palm to head.”

“That’s my line.”

Their relationship was a wonderful slow burn, which I think must be difficult to pull off in this novella format, but once they started spending time together during their road trip they really ignited.

I liked the way the characters thought in terms related to their jobs.  Rey thinks “target acquired” the first time he calls Grace.  Grace thinks of herself as being “netted” by him.

Their road trip allowed them to get to know each other better before being put on display at home, and it allowed Rey to ease back into being home.  I worried that something bad would happen when they went ice fishing, but I’m very glad that the story took the direction it did with that scene.  I liked the ‘meet the parents’ scenes.  And I completely loved the ring Rey gave to Grace.

I also really liked the inclusion of the note from Sergeant Anderson, and the glimpse into Richland’s writing process with the song lyrics.

Now, let’s talk about the series.  When Wulf and the Doc showed up early in the story, right after Grace arrived at Walter Reed, I thought they were written like two people who already have their own book.  And I wanted to read their book.  I remembered checking out Richland’s Amazon page, though, and I was sure that her other published books were paranormals in her Immortal Vikings series.  This novella is a regular military contemporary.  So…  Huh?  I looked closer at the first Immortal Vikings book, First to Burn, and found that Wulf and the Doc DO have their own book, and Wulf is an Immortal Viking!  Way to bury the lede.…

Alright, so I haven’t been reading many paranormals lately, but if First to Burn is as good as “His Road Home,” I’ll bite.  I think writing both contemporary and paranormal set in the same world is a fascinating idea, and I’ll definitely be reading more from Anna Richland.

If you like a quick read, a slow-burn relationship, great banter, sexy chemistry, and genre cross-overs, then this is the book for you.

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His Road Home by Anna Richland

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Add Your Comment →

  1. JacquiCo says:

    Nice review! I liked this one too.

  2. DonnaMarie says:

    Catnip! I am rolling in the catnip. Thanks Kelly.

  3. I liked this one as well. It took me a couple chapters to get into it, but it’s one of the best contemporaries I’ve read this year.

  4. LauraL says:

    I read His Road Home over Thanksgiving weekend and it was one of my favorites of the holiday season. I wished the book was longer, but I
    liked the way Grace and Rey got to know each other and, of course, their road trip. Thanks, KellyM.

  5. CP (Cordy) says:

    So far, Anna Richland is the ONLY writer of contemporary military romance I’ve been able to handle. I think I’ve tried them all, and almost all the others make me have feelings of eye-rolling and “THIS IS NOT HOW MALE SOLDIERS ARE! You’re breaking everything that is hot about them!”. A lot of military romances are “about actual soldiers” in the same way that billionaire romances are “about actual rich people” (that is, not at all.) Richland’s military heroes and backdrops are different and get the essence of that world right, IMO. Possibly relevant to your interests if you’re a person who values emotional realness!

    I liked this book quite a bit. The heroine is a scientist (#MyJam, let me show you it), both characters are non-white, they have a sweet friendship before the sexy parts start. I did feel that maybe it would have been better as a novel than a novella: there’s a lot going on, and I felt the switch from friends to more-than-friends was a little rushed for my taste. But overall I found it a very sweet, uplifting read. I was left smiling and feeling better about humanity, which as a grumpy person is no small thing!

    PS to Ms. Richland, who I know posts here sometimes, I’m so hoping you’ll write a book where a competent enlisted Special Forces guy and a female officer made awkward by his giant arms try to resist their attraction to each other! WOULD READ A++.

  6. Suzy says:

    i loved this story so much that I leapt back on to Amazon to 1click her other two novels. Normally paranormals are not my thing but I am converted to the Vikings , find it totally believable, loved the refs to berewolf epic poem
    This author is a future auto 1 click for me

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