Shared Burdens is the third book in my Sergeant Mike’s
Miracle Tour series. It was the first one that I wrote, going back later
to add My Country Tis of Thee and Labor’s End. First released in 2015, this
series defies genre. It is part romance, part military/war fiction, and
part literary fiction. The series is my passion more than anything, raising
awareness about the struggles of our returning service men and women with PTSD
and re-adjusting to civilian life. It is a moving and sometimes painful story
of life, love, and redemption.
BOOK BLURB:
Highway
to Heaven meets the U S Marine Corps – Is love or heartache in the cards when
Sergeant Mike finally meets his dream woman?
Esther Samuels is a woman in pain. Her only son was killed while serving in Afghanistan. Now this old-maid school teacher is stuck in her job, while battling small town prejudice and her grief. She is more dead than alive until...
Master Sergeant Michael O'Malley is a man on a mission. After over twenty years in the US Marine Corp and more tours of duty than he wants to remember, his retirement plans are simple: hop on the back of his brand new Harley and tour the country, checking in on the men and women that he served with...and the families of the ones that never made it back.
The third stop on his new tour of duty is the small Texas town that was home to one of his best friends. The young Lieutenant, Thomas Samuels had been one of the finest men it had been his pleasure to serve with. Until an IED ended that promise.
Now Sergeant Mike is here to check in on Tommy's mom...and offer an extra pair of hands and a strong back for her annual Halloween party that is a mainstay of Sebida, Texas. Problem is the only thing smaller than this town are the minds in it.
Can Mike just ride off to leave the woman he has secretly loved for years, to face their wrath? Can Esther let the only man who has ever brought her to life just ride away?
WARNING: This story has strong content and as such may trigger those with mental health challenges especially PTSD.
Esther Samuels is a woman in pain. Her only son was killed while serving in Afghanistan. Now this old-maid school teacher is stuck in her job, while battling small town prejudice and her grief. She is more dead than alive until...
Master Sergeant Michael O'Malley is a man on a mission. After over twenty years in the US Marine Corp and more tours of duty than he wants to remember, his retirement plans are simple: hop on the back of his brand new Harley and tour the country, checking in on the men and women that he served with...and the families of the ones that never made it back.
The third stop on his new tour of duty is the small Texas town that was home to one of his best friends. The young Lieutenant, Thomas Samuels had been one of the finest men it had been his pleasure to serve with. Until an IED ended that promise.
Now Sergeant Mike is here to check in on Tommy's mom...and offer an extra pair of hands and a strong back for her annual Halloween party that is a mainstay of Sebida, Texas. Problem is the only thing smaller than this town are the minds in it.
Can Mike just ride off to leave the woman he has secretly loved for years, to face their wrath? Can Esther let the only man who has ever brought her to life just ride away?
WARNING: This story has strong content and as such may trigger those with mental health challenges especially PTSD.
EXCERPT:
Her
fingers shook as she fumbled with the door handle. She squared her shoulders
and faced the man that was both friend and stranger. “Master Sergeant O’Malley,
what brings you to Texas?” she asked.
The man
looked uncomfortable as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other,
scuffing his boot against the chipping gray paint that covered the cement front
porch.
“Well,
Ma’am, I’m sort of taking a tour of this great country of ours. I’m visiting a
few old,” he paused as if uncertain what to say. Esther swore that the pink of
his cheeks spread to the very tips of his ears before he finally finished.
“Old
friends, I guess. Men I’ve served with over the years. Or their families,
Ma’am. I know that you will be especially busy this time of year,” he said
spreading his hand towards the pumpkins that sat uncut in the corner of the
porch. “Tommy always talked about the big Halloween party you throw for all the
kids. I thought maybe you could use an extra pair of hands and a strong back.”
Esther
flipped the hook latch on the screen door, pushing it open wide. “I’m sorry for
my bad manners, Master Sergeant. Please come in.” She stepped back as the man
passed, motioning for him to take a seat on the couch that sat against the
wall. She turned on the lamp that sat next to it. Its warm glow filled the
room.
“Thank
you, Ma’am. I don’t mean to be any trouble. And I’m real sorry if I caught you
at a bad time,” he said as he took a seat.
Esther swallowed back the pain. How could she explain that every
day was a bad time?
BUY LINKS: AMAZON
 |
| The author and her life partner/fiancé Alan Cox |
More about the Author:
Reality:
Romance and More…
Tara
Neale is a homemaker and indie writer, living her very own ‘happily ever after’
in beautiful, sunny Swansea, Wales with her partner and neurodivergent teen
daughter. She struggles to maintain a balance between the demands of family,
writing, and activism. Most mornings, she can be found typing away on her
laptop with a cup of hot, black coffee nearby and hopefully her kitty Little
Miss Fluffy Paws does not turn it over on the laptop.
Tara’s
fiction characters are REAL, not size zero 20-somethings or billionaire
playboys. They are complex, facing REAL life problems like grief, mental
health, and body issues. Her stories are as dark and twisted as life itself,
but always with a happy ending, whether for now or ever after. One beta reader
said that she felt as if she were experiencing PTSD alongside Tara's Sergeant
Mike.
She also
tries her hand at non-fiction around her -isms such as autism/neurodivergence,
environmentalism, feminism, and Transcendentalism. Applying the same core ethos
of personal responsibility to those issues as she does with her fiction.
In her
previous 'lives' Tara has been a stay-at-home mom, a fundraiser for charities,
a bank teller, a waitress, a personal trainer, a preacher's wife, and even a
stripper. It is from this plethora of experiences that she draws her strong
characters and deep storylines. Connect with her here:
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