Nice book. On the whole I enjoyed it. The biggest thing holding it back from more stars was that it felt rather distant, a bit more tell than show. The theme was interesting and I enjoyed both main characters. The story also could have benefited from more description. ( )

I don't get it...

I really wanted to like this book, because it started off with such an interesting premise: Reynaldo, a medic/soldier working in the Middle East, gets out of a warlord offering up a bride to him by saying he has a fiancee back home. To prove it, he takes a random girl he vaguely knew from his hometown and photo-shops a picture of them together. But then Reynaldo gets blown up, losing his legs and sustaining a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) in the process, and somehow Grace winds up being known as his actual fiancee.

Somehow, everyone totally believes that Grace managed to have an entire relationship behind their backs, and Grace's rather weak protests get unheard. Grace shows up at Rey's bedside but can't get an explanation out of him because of his aphasia (which was a rather interesting twist to add). She continues to linger (Why...?) and keep him company, and it's never really clear just how she feels about this whole situation. In fact, I one big negative I found in the book was the lack of description and how the plot seems to make giant leaps in the space of a few paragraphs. For example, when Rey first sees Grace he puts in a quick sentence about her "not being his type". Yet then a week has magically passed and when Grace can't come up with any more excuses to stick around he kisses her (and since that whole week was just skipped, we have no real description for how their romance builds up during this time).

More time flies by in the book without detail. Reynaldo just lost his legs and his ability to talk, but the book would have you believe that he is pretty much just okay with this from the beginning. As far as his legs go, Rey seems to just shrug his shoulders and be like "well, there's lots of amps (amputees) in the military, so I'll just get prosthetic legs and be about my merry way". Admirable endurance, but I feel that even the best of men would have been at least a little upset at having lost their friggin' legs. As for the aphasia, Rey does offer a few sentences expressing his frustration, but for the most his situation is just accepted without much grief. I feel like this book would have had so much more depth to it if we could have seen Rey struggle to overcome his new disabilities (with Grace's help, of course). Instead, months flash by very quickly and Rey gets his new prosthetic legs without a hitch. In fact, the loss of his legs was almost like just a vague background plot to the story.

The lack of description combined with the fast-moving timeline made me really confused as to where Grace and Reynaldo stood in their relationship. I might be partly to blame because about halfway through the novel I was ready to give up and so I moved very quickly through the last pages to finish it. I never really felt like I could get inside the characters' heads and understand what they were feeling. The whole novel felt flat, and I was very sad about that. I really wanted to get more engaged, but it just never happened. I almost wish that this novel of only 120 pages or so would double in size so that the author could flesh out and go deeper into what could have been a very interesting romance. ( )

I really enjoyed this book especially since the heroine was from a Korean background (like me).

The only thing I had a problem was that the story was too short so everything progressed quite quickly. I would love to read a sequel of their life together after their real engagement and how his university schooling goes, their struggles as reality of juggling schooling and work. I loved their relationship even though I felt that it progressed too fast for me in the sense that the author didn't write more. We don't get to read the months that go by we get text messages of how he says hi after a few weeks/a month. We read just the aftermath and I wanted to read the development, the struggle.

My only critique about this book is that Grace seemed a little too perfect. I couldn't fully see her as a real person and I think it's just because the story was short and the author could definitely add in more angst, character story and other life stuff in it! ( )

I always love a HEA story but His Road Home by Anna Richland is exceptional!

Author Anna Richland treats a very serious subject with sensitivity, humor and a great deal of honesty. I do wish more of the trials our returning veterans was delved into more deeply, but I realize how difficult this would be in a short amount of time and was not the focal point of the story.

Rey, but mostly his interpreter in Afghanistan, creative a very interesting situation that could lead to nothing but trouble and I saw it coming from the very beginning!

Grace handles the situation as her name implies, with as much grace as any woman could be expected to, and with so much more compassion that many would be able to muster with such surprises coming off of the internet!

Anna Richland uses her mastery of the written word to great advantage in His Road Home. I am going back to her previous novel, which introduced Rey Cruz and I will be watching for future stories that she releases.

On a more personal note, I am the wife of a disabled veteran from the Vietnam conflict. I can’t thank you enough, for bringing the stories of our fallen and unsung heroes to your books. The dedication in His Road Home brought me immediately to tears. Thank you as well for mentioning Fisher Houses and Doctors Without Borders / MSF. Both are worthy of note for the great works they do.

I highly recommend His Road Home by Anna Richland and give it five, steaming cups of coffee (my equivalent to gold stars). May this coffee be taken in the spirit it is offered and know that I would give it many, many more were that an option in reviewing.

~ Patricia, Room With Books ~ © Oct 24, 2014
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It only took me a couple chapters to fall in love with the characters and the story that would unfold. Excellent read! I loved Rey & Grace journey. Unique and heartwarming. His Road Home is a wonderful story full of compassion, love and new beginnings. In a few short pages Ms. Richland created a beautiful and sexy romance. One of my favorites this year.

This is a stand alone short story. Rey Cruz also makes an appearance in First to Burn, Immortal Vikings #1. ( )