A SOLDIER COMES HOME by Cindi Myers

Publisher Harlequin
Date published June 2008
ISBN 978-0-373-71498-8
Contemporary series romance
Mass Market Paperback
Reviewed by Ratmammy





Captain Ray Hughes has just come home from a tour of duty in Iraq. But no one is meeting him. Unlike most of the other soldiers who have spouses or other family members waiting for them, his wife had decided before he came home that she wanted a divorce. And, she had left their son behind, a toddler that hardly even remembered him.

Chrissie Evans happened to live next door to Tammy Hughes, the young woman whose husband Ray had gone off to war. Chrissie befriended Tammy, seeing that she was lonely and needed support. The two would occasionally go out to bars, where Tammy would flirt and try to pick up other men. Chrissie soon tired of the outings, but would often end up babysitting Tammy’s young child TJ when she went out on the town alone. Chrissie wanted out of this friendship, but she continued to baby-sit TJ.

By the time Ray had returned from Iraq, TJ was living with his grandparents while Tammy had moved in with the new boyfriend. Ray was obviously bitter about what had happened, but he also blamed his neighbor Chrissie for Tammy's wild ways. He thought that it was Chrissie who had influenced Tammy to hang out in bars. The Tammy he thought he knew was a lot more conservative and would rather stay at home.

Chrissie had initially shown some interest in Ray, despite many years of fearing any involvement with a military man. She had lost her husband years ago in combat and did not want to go through that pain again. She felt safer staying away from any soldier. Both are attracted to the other, but both are wary about starting anything new.

I found A SOLDIER COMES HOME to be a very captivating read. I hadn't read a SuperRomance in a while, so this was a treat. Secondary characters Rita and her husband Paul, who was also about to sign up for the war in Iraq, had a story line that was equally as important as that of Chrissie and Ray’s. Often times too many characters can bog down a story, but Rita and Paul's struggles with issues related to the war kept my interest. The two story lines meshed well, with Rita being Chrissie's best friend, as well as the fact that both stories focused on some aspect of the war.

Another important subplot involved Ray’s young son TJ, and how he dealt with his parents’ separation and divorce. At the same time, Chrissie comes to love the boy and his father, and it almost seems natural that they become a family. But what happens when Tammy returns, asking for full custody of the son she had abandoned?

SuperRomances don’t always deal with serious subjects, and I think this is the only romance in the SuperRomance line of books that I’ve read that has incorporated the Iraq war as the main theme of its story, and Cindi Myers did a good job with it. She showcased the problems and issues that the military have to deal with once they return from war, and how the war affects their loved ones, in a way that will have any reader relate to and empathize. A SOLDIER COMES HOME is recommended and is a good start for those who are new to the SuperRomance line of books.