{Blog Tour} Book Review + Giveaway: The Last Hour - Charles Sheehan-Miles

Welcome to my stop for The Last Hour blog tour! You can follow the tour here.

Title: The Last Hour (Thompson Sisters)

Author: Charles Sheehan-Miles

Release Date: April 19th 2013

Publisher: Cincinnatus Press

Age Group: Adult

Genre: Contemporary

Source: eARC for blog tour

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Twenty-seven year old Carrie Thompson-Sherman has the life she always wanted: her PhD, a prestigious fellowship, and an amazing husband.

Her life begins to unravel as a jealous colleague puts her fellowship in jeopardy and a haunting secret Ray Sherman carried home from Afghanistan comes to light.

Hounded by a federal investigation and the ensuing media feeding frenzy, Carrie and Ray desperately lean on each other, until a disastrous accident puts both Ray and her sister's lives at risk.

In the last hour, Carrie and Ray will each find themselves faced with a choice.

A choice that will change everything.

Attention, reader. If you want a light romance read for a plane ride or a day-off, The Last Hour isn't the book for you. Why? Because it's the most tear-jerking book I have ever read. The opening scene immediately took hold of my attention. How could it not when it felt like the climax already? And then in less than four chapters, the waterworks started. 

As was the case in A Song for Julia, the first Thompson Sisters book I read, I really admire how well the author sculpted his characters. He wrote the book from both Carrie and Ray's perspectives, and he was able to mold two fleshed-out characters with their own distinct voices. Also, his ability to portray every little emotion that goes on between his numerous characters is nothing short of amazing. 

I really admired Carrie. She was obviously a strong and smart woman, hardened by having to look out for her sisters because of their emotionally-absent parents. Even in the hardest times, she still looked out for them. She never bothered with wasting time on unimportant crap like a jealous co-worker or a spiteful future mother-in-law. Ray, on the other hand, was deeply traumatized because of his time in Afghanistan. I pitied the poor guy but at the same time admired him, too, because he still chose to do the right thing - kinda spoiler-y if I say more on this - and tried his best to live. 

While dealing with serious issues in the family, work, and even the military, the story still centered on Carrie and Ray's sweet and heart-wrenching romance as they struggled to go through everything together. This was mostly shown in the flashback chapters which were, basically, the only reprieves in this intense story. I don't know when I'll get to read Just Remember to Breathe but I'm sure looking forward to it because only God knows how much I enjoy revisiting these characters and how I wish the author won't leave the three younger Thompson sisters with their stories untold. 

MY FAVORITE PARTS were every happy moment which I'm glad I savored.

RATING:

 

About the author:
Charles Sheehan-Miles has been a soldier, computer programmer, short-order cook and non-profit executive. He is the author of several fiction and non-fiction books, including the indie bestsellers Just Remember to Breathe and Republic: A Novel of America's Future.

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Giveaway!

Cover Reveal: The Last Hour - Charles Sheehan-Miles

Title: The Last Hour (Thompson Sisters #3)

Author: Charles Sheehan-Miles

Expected release date: May 15th 2013
Publisher: Cincinnatus Press

Cover Designer: Okay Creations

  

Twenty-seven year old Carrie Thompson-Sherman has the life she always wanted: her PhD, a prestigious fellowship, and an amazing husband.

Her life begins to unravel as a jealous colleague puts her fellowship in jeopardy and a haunting secret Ray Sherman carried home from Afghanistan comes to light.

Hounded by a federal investigation and the ensuing media feeding frenzy, Carrie and Ray desperately lean on each other, until a disastrous accident puts both Ray and her sister's lives at risk.

In the last hour, Carrie and Ray will each find themselves faced with a choice. A choice that will change everything.

About the author: 

Charles Sheehan-Miles has been a soldier, computer programmer, short-order cook and non-profit executive. He is the author of several fiction and non-fiction books, including the indie bestsellers Just Remember to Breathe and Republic: A Novel of America's Future.

Charles Sheehan-Miles | Facebook | Twitter

Book Review: A Song for Julia - Charles Sheehan-Miles

Title: A Song for Julia (Thompson Sisters #1)

Author: Charles Sheehan-Miles
Release Date: December 4th 2012

Publisher: Cincinnatus Press

Source: AToMR Tours

Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository

Everyone should have something to rebel against. 

Crank Wilson left his South Boston home at sixteen to start a punk band and burn out his rage at the world. Six years later, he’s still at odds with his father, a Boston cop, and doesn’t ever speak to his mother. The only relationship that really matters is with his younger brother, but watching out for Sean can be a full-time job. The one thing Crank wants in life is to be left the hell alone to write his music and drive his band to success. 

Julia Thompson left a secret behind in Beijing that exploded into scandal in Washington, DC, threatening her father's career and dominating her family's life. Now, in her senior year at Harvard, she's haunted by a voice from her past and refuses to ever lose control of her emotions again, especially when it comes to a guy. 

When Julia and Crank meet at an anti-war protest in Washington in the fall of 2002, the connection between them is so powerful it threatens to tear everything apart.

I admit, I got into this book thinking it was going to be an easy read, light and cute and fluffy. Yep, I ignored the blurb. Again. And I was pleasantly surprised. Again.

Julia Thompson and Crank Wilson both had tough teenage lives. Now in their twenties, they were still at odds with their parents and keep everyone at a safe distance to protect themselves from the hurt they'd tried so hard to run away from, so just what would happen when the lives of these two very similar yet very different people converge?

Julia was a woman to look up to; smart, beautiful, and confident. Unfortunately, that strong-willed persona was a mask to hide her tragic past, not overcome it. But still, she was slowly trying to build a life of her own and stop following her parents' plan for her. It was really fun to see her little bouts of rebellion against them.

Crank's facade couldn't be farther away from Julia's. He was the sexy, womanizing lead singer of Morbid Obesity who was realizing that he wanted something more than the one-night stands. It was fun to see him show his funny, sweet, thoughtful, and basically just freaking lovable side. This dude plastered a lot of stupid grins on my face.

The chemistry between these two was immediate and palpable, so it made me really sad to know that there were a lot more hindrances than I thought to their being together, especially for Julia because she certainly had worse experiences than Crank. And although he jumpstarted her healing process, he still got hurt along the way. I didn't like how, up until before the end of the book, Julia still hadn't gotten over her trust issues even when Crank did nothing but show his love for her. At one point, she said this:

Never again would I watch my own lifeblood pouring out of me into a bathtub because I needed people in my life. I was going to live life on my own terms or not at all.

I pitied her by then because she thought she was living on her own terms by pushing away everyone who cared about her, when really she was living it on her past's terms.

A Song for Julia wasn't a simple romance novel. It was heavy on family drama and touched on some sensitive topics that I won't name to avoid being spoiler-y. It was the story of two broken people coming together hesitantly and finding love. The romance fell to the side towards the end because of Julia's self-realization, but the story's closure was very satisfying... and it might have pulled out some tears from me.

MY FAVORITE PART was Crank sleeping at Julia's dorm XD

RATING:

(cover and summary from Goodreads.com)