Not a Hero by Sarah Robinson: Review

Posted October 5, 2016 in review Tags:

Not a Hero by Sarah Robinson
Pages: 250

Genres: Contemporary Romance
Also by this author: Breaking a Legend (Kavanagh Legends, #1), Saving a Legend, Becoming a Legend

Goodreads

From the bestselling author of the Kavanagh Legends MMA series, Sarah Robinson’s Not A Hero is an emotional standalone Marine romance where love battles trauma, and there can only be one victor.
Former Marine, Miles Kydd, is trying to readjust to civilian life after ending his career and returning to his small home town when he learned his father was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Once the town hero and star quarterback, Miles no longer feels like the man he was, or who he’s expected to be—possibly because his demons have followed him home from Afghanistan.
Meeting Zoe Brooke, his father’s live-in nurse, gives Miles the slightest glimmer of hope that he can still find happiness despite the dark secrets he holds inside. The chemistry between them is undeniable, and together they are explosive—in more ways than one.
A helper at her core, Zoe is more than willing to care for Miles’s heart, but not at the expense of her own, and she’s not afraid to tell him that. She knows what having a painful past is like, and she wants to help him with his, if he’ll let her.
Things get complicated fast when Miles realizes burying his secrets isn’t actually the same as healing from them and if he wants the girl, he’s going to have to tell her the truth—the one thing he can’t do.
This book is suggested for 18+ years of age, contains graphic content, sensitive subject matters, and sexually explicit material.

Not a Hero is the story of a soldier who has returned from war with PTSD and a young woman who left an abusive husband. Zoe is a nurse who is caring for Miles’ father. Miles comes home from the Marines because his father is sick. After a few tours of duty, Miles has some PTSD issues that he isn’t dealing with. His readjustment into civilian life doesn’t quite go well. He drinks too much, gets fired from a job, and is just generally not doing well. Zoe’s ex was a mean drunk, so she is not happy with Miles even though she wants him.

The story is as much about Miles’ readjustment as it is about the budding relationship between Zoe and Miles. Not a Hero is well written and the struggle of Miles’ PTSD is real. Zoe’s past is tragic as well. But, while the story is deep, real, and well written, I struggled with it. I didn’t feel really connected to either character. I wasn’t sure I felt their relationship was believable. However, the story is still good overall. The main tension of the plot comes from the will they/won’t they aspect of Zoe and Miles relationship.

POV: dual 1st
Tears: none
Trope: military
Triggers: View Spoiler »
Series/Standalone: stand alone
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »none « Hide Spoiler
HEA: View Spoiler »yes « Hide Spoiler

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Her Survivor by Vonnie Davis, An Act of Obsession by KC Lynn, Until Jax by Aurora Rose Reynolds…then you will probably like Not a Hero!

Not a Hero

About Sarah Robinson

Aside from being a Top 10 Barnes & Noble and Amazon Bestseller, Sarah Robinson is a native of the Washington, DC area and has both her Bachelors and Masters Degrees in criminal psychology. She is newly married to a wonderful man who is just as much of an animal rescue enthusiasts as she is. Together, they own a zoo of rescues including everything from mammals to reptiles to marsupials, as well as volunteering and fostering for multiple animal shelters.

Sarah Robinson first started her writing career as a published poet in high school, and then college, winning several poetry awards and being published in local literary journals.

Never expecting to make a career of it, a freelancing Craigslist job accidentally introduced her to the world of book publishing. Lengthening her writing from poetry to novels, Robinson published her first book through a small press publisher, before moving into self-publishing, and then finally was picked up by Penguin Random House two years later.

She is currently contracted with Loveswept for a contemporary romance series, KAVANAGH LEGENDS, that surrounds a tight knit Irish family of MMA fighters in the Bronx. She is also exploring the arena of women’s fiction and has a lot of exciting things planned for the next few years!

Some of Sarah’s biggest accomplishments as an author include reaching #9 in the entire Barnes & Noble store and #25 in the Amazon Kindle store for The Photographer Trilogy Boxset in February 2015. For the first book in the Kavanagh Legends series, Breaking a Legend, she reached #1 in Sports Fiction on Amazon.