Melissa Foster - Come Back to Me

Come Back to Me


By Melissa Foster

Kindle Edition Available




Product Description (from back cover of paperback)
Tess Johnson has it all: her handsome photographer husband Beau, a thriving busines, and a newly discovered pregnancy.  When Beau accepts an overseas assignment, Tess decide to wait to reveal her secret -- only she's never given the chance.  Beau's helicopter crashes in the desert.

Tess struggles with the news of Beau's death and tries to put her life back together.  Alone and dealing with a  pregnancy that only reminds her of what she has lost, Tess is adrift in a world of failed plans and fallen expectations.  When a new client appears offering more than just a new project, Tess must confront the circumstances of her life head on.

Meanwhile, two Iraqi women who are fleeing honor killings find Beau barely alive in the middle of the desert, his body ravaged by the crash.  Suha, a doctor, and Samira, a widow and mother of three young children, nurse him back to health in a makeshift tent.  Beau bonds with the women and the children, and together, with the help of an underground organization, they continue their dangerous escape.
What happens next is a test of loyalties, strength, and love.

About the Author (from Amazon author page)
"Melissa Foster is a wonderful connector of readers and books, a friend of authors, and a tireless advocate for women. She is the real deal"--Author Jennie Shortridge

Melissa Foster is the bestselling, award-winning author of three novels, Megan's Way, Chasing Amanda, and Come Back to Me. Her books have been recommended by USA Today's book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the Women's Nest, a social and support community for women, the World Literary Cafe, and Fostering Success. Melissa is currently collaborating in the film production of Megan's Way.

Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children, she's written for Calgary's Child Magazine and Women Business Owners Magazine, and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa is currently working on her next novel, and lives in Maryland with her family. Melissa's interests include her family, reading, writing, painting, friends, helping women see the positive side of life, and visiting Cape Cod.

Melissa is available to chat with book clubs and welcomes comments and emails from her readers. Visit Melissa on The Women's Nest or her personal website.
This biography was provided by the author or their representative.



O.Scarlett! Review by Tenya

Come Back to Me is a contemporary romance which spans the globe and tugs at the emotions. It did bring me to tears at one point, a difficult task since I do not cry over books easily. I wanted to love this book with a first chapter that captured my attention and compelled me to keep reading.

Beau and Tess are separated from one another by his photography assignment in war-torn Iraq, but this job could bring the recognition that will break Beau’s career wide-open. When the wreckage of Beau’s chopper with bodies burned beyond recognition is found in the desert, Tess cannot accept his death. She has newly discovered she is pregnant; however, that fact does not fit her husband’s five-year-plan. Now that he might be dead, Tess’s only hope to keep her sanity is hanging onto Beau’s promise that he will come back to her.

After month’s go by, she slowly learns to let go of Beau and begins to accept the child growing inside of her. Surrounded by a set of rather tragic characters (her friends), Tess struggles to find the path back to wholeness and normality. Perhaps her new client, Louie is the way she can find herself again.

Meanwhile, Beau struggles to survive in the desert, miraculously aided by two women and a group of children as he recovers from his wounds. In turn, he is obligated to assist them in escaping from the hellish life they have known in Iraq. The bonds which grow between him, the children and their mother are intense, but Beau hangs on to one thing – Tess! Will he be able to return to her?

At the end of the book, I felt a bit unsatisfied. It seemed more of a tragedy than a romance. I have no problem with the author ending it this way, but too many loose ends remained. One of the characters had suffered a brutal attack, but the psychological issues of that were never addressed. Too many things were too neatly tied up in pretty packages in the final chapter while other things were ignored and not tied up at all.

This book is well-written (as far as style) and formatted successfully. The cultural aspects about the women from Iraq and their interactions with Beau and others are authentic and obviously well researched.  The basic plot is intriguing and draws the reader into the world of the main characters immediately. One really cares about what happens to these people and how the conflicts will be solved.

NOTE:
     I usually enjoy a romance with a good plot, so I believed I would like this book. As far as plots go, I did enjoy it, for the most part. The consistently bad language throughout the book, which even permeated the private thoughts of the characters, ruined the story for me. This reader found the profanity of the female characters particularly disturbing, especially since it included the most vulgar of words. The Lord’s name was not used wrongly much in this book, but just about every swear word was used – and frequently toward the end of the story.
     There are many instances of adult situations in this book including rape and abuse, especially within the context of the back story of one of the Iraqi women. A couple of the characters have rather “loose” morals. No qualms are raised concerning “sleeping around” before marriage except for the one female character that has a few too many one-night-stands and suffers the tragic consequences. Quite a few scenes take place in a bar where people are drinking alcohol.


Genre/Theme: Contemporary Romance
Reading Level: (by appropriateness) Mature Teen to Adult (except those offended by bad language or loose morality)
Profanity: The amount in the text bordered on EXTREME (all kinds of words used, even the worst)
Sexuality: OBVIOUS - Nothing explicit, but sexuality is most definitely a major theme throughout.
Other: Adult themes: some violence, rape, abuse, language, tragic death, etc.