A SEAL at Heart 
by Anne Elizabeth is the exciting yet poignant glimpse of the life of Petty Officer First Class John Matthew Roaker, a Navy SEAL known as Jack. A mission goes horribly wrong, resulting in death and injury to most of the SEAL team involved, and Jack struggles to deal with the repercussions of an engagement that he can’t even remember. The death of his partner and swim buddy leaves him without an anchor to depend on and he is frustrated and disturbed by the efforts of his therapists and the lack of communication from his teammates. A physical therapist with personal knowledge of SEALs becomes essential to his healing but their searing encounters and growing attraction to one another is complicated by her reluctance to have a relationship with a SEAL and his instructions to limit his association with anyone who could compromise his security clearance.
There are quite a few moving passages in this book...from Jack's statement about the impact of his loss and the descriptions of the indomitable spirits of these warriors no matter how wounded they might be...to the description of their goodbye ceremony for a fallen comrade. I also was fascinated by the insights into the SEAL psyche as seen through things like the "unspoken mottos of 'Apologize later...if necessary'..but 'Don't get caught' as rule number one" and the statement that "Doctors should never underestimate the human will, or rather, a SEAL's fortitude and desire" which allows them to far surpass expectations for survival and functionality.
This is a mesmerizing read that combines action and passion that fortunately is
the beginning of a series (West Coast SEALs). It's another title to put on
your ‘must read’ list and will be released in early December, just in
time for an early gift to yourself!
My Goodreads review is at this
link and Kim from SOS Aloha blog (and others) has a fantastic review as well at this
link.
I have had the pleasure of meeting Anne Elizabeth a couple of times and am always impressed by her vivacity and warmth. Her realistic imagery and detailed descriptions of the SEAL experience are undoubtedly based on expert advice provided not only by her husband, a retired Navy SEAL himself, but is also based on her research and information provided by several Medal of Honor recipients and retired SEALs (according to the acknowledgment pages) and I was tickled to see mention of Kim from the
SOS Aloha blog on the acknowledgment page as well.
Anne Elizabeth also has several very popular graphic novels and is about to release a new volume (
The Power Play) in that series in October at the New York Comic Con. For more information please see the blogpost at this
link.
