This book is about a single mother who joins the Marine reservists to provide for her small family. Bekah Shaw got married right out of high school to a loser, and he left her when she was pregnant. Not exactly the life she was imagining. So, she joined the Marine Corps to provide health insurance and extra income to support her son. I was nervous when I first chose it, but when I started reading, that nervousness quickly faded as I got sucked into the story of Lance Corporal Bekah Shaw.

I have to say, I really enjoyed this book. I love historical fiction... well, even though this book is not historical, I still enjoyed it! I couldn't help but compare the action I was reading about, in our current war overseas, with current technology and Marines, to World War II books that I've read and enjoyed. This one was a fun twist!

Mel Odom is great at describing small town life and the awful folks that live there –I detested the way the men treated the women. I imagine that it really happens though, often. Odom was great at getting details into the story, through description, story telling and more.

I don't pay much attention to current events, or the war in Afghanistan, etc. I should, I know... but I don't. This book gave me a glimpse of how sad some of these things really are, but also of the heroes who are working over there.

I like the dramatic events that unfolded as Lance Corporal Bekah Shaw found herself in the Marines! Although she's a single mother to a six year old boy, she hasn't been able to escape her small-town background and loser friends that still live there. She does that on her third tour of duty over in Somalia. She becomes a strong leader, a great friend and an attractive Marine.

I like how there is a bit of quirk in the characters, (individual chapters devoted to introducing and setting the background for various characters… they may seem like minor characters later, but because of those backgrounds that Odom set up for them, I imagine that they will continue to play into the series.) One part that I really liked were the small sparks of affection, emotion and committment that begin to form between Bekah and her new friends/fellow Marines. I can sense a bit of a love story forming there, and I always like that. I’m rooting for Lieutenant Heath Bridger! :)

As I neared the end of the book it appeared that there was not enough pages left to finish the story. It was all complete, and even left an opening for more books in the series. I like that!
Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to try something new. To anyone who knows someone in the Marines, though it may not be completely truthful to what actually happens, it broadens our horizons to how rough it is and what our soldiers and Marines fight for. I liked it!

~I was given a free copy of this book to review from Tyndale Blog Network.