review || HEALED BY LOVE { blog tour }

Healed By Love by Melissa Foster

Publisher: World Literary Press (6/11/2015)
Series: The Bradens at Peaceful Harbor # 1 (The Bradens #13)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Tasty Book Tours
Purchase links || amazon | bn | itunes | kobo | publisher || add to goodreads

Rating: ★★★★1/2




The Bradens at Peaceful Harbor are the newest addition to the award-winning Braden series and the Love in Bloom family, joining the Snow Sisters, the Bradens, the Remingtons, & Seaside Summers, (Voted BEST BOOK SERIES by Supportive Business Moms, UK).

Fall in love with Nate Braden & Jewel Fisher in Healed by Love.

Nate Braden has loved his best friend’s younger sister Jewel for as long as he can remember, but between their age difference and his respect for Rick, he’s always kept his feelings at bay. Now he’s back in Peaceful Harbor, and Jewel is no longer sixteen years old—but there’s an even bigger obstacle standing in his way. Nate and Rick joined the military together eight years earlier. Nate came home a hero, but Rick didn’t make it out alive.

about Melissa || Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes contemporary romance, new adult, contemporary women’s fiction, suspense, and historical fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. 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  World Literary Café and Fostering Success. When she’s not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on  Fostering Success. Melissa has been published in Calgary’s Child Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women Business Owners magazine.

Melissa hosts an Aspiring Authors contest for children and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa lives in Maryland with her family.
Visit Melissa on social media. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups, and welcomes an invitation to your event.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

{ review } .

Melissa Foster is expanding those Bradens!

HEALED BY LOVE is book one in the Peaceful Harbor, Maryland Bradens, and features Nate; the Bradens of Peaceful Harbor will focus on Nate and his five siblings. While reading this book, I couldn’t help but think how in the world does Melissa keep coming up with all of these stories? One would think that at some point, someone’s story would start to sound like someone else’s but, while I haven’t read them all yet, I haven’t noticed this to be true.

Nate had been the best of friend’s with Rick Fisher; as such, he watched Rick’s sister Jewel grow up, just a few years younger than they were. He’d probably been at least half in love with the girl for most of his life… But where he couldn’t do anything about it before, being his best friend’s sister, he really can’t do anything about it now.

Between their five-year age difference and out of respect for Rick, Nate had always kept his feelings for Jewel to himself.

After the death of their father, Rick took on the role of overseer for his younger siblings. When he and Nate decided to join the military, life resumed as normal until the day a sniper killed Rick – before Nate got the courage talk to Rick about Jewel.

Allowing their mother to grieve, Jewel took on the role Rick once had and became the one her siblings looked up to, asked permission for things to, as well as the one who did all of the parent things (go to games, drop off at dance, get ready for school).

While I understand it was part of her grieving process and that her mother understood that, I became very annoyed with Jewel – it wasn’t as if her mother was gone, nor incapable of taking care of her children.

I liked Nate – here we have a man who is overcome with grief and guilt, but is managing to survive day by day. He still cares for the Fisher family, and cares deeply for Jewel, but doesn’t feel that he has the right to pursue that kind of relationship, so he stays her friend – even if a New Year’s Eve kiss replays in his (…and her) head.

This book was about the healing process for both Nate and Jewel – like the title suggests, they will heal with love. Nate has secrets that will eventually come out, and Jewel has her needs and compulsions that need to calm, but it takes two people who love one another, have always really loved the other, to get through that healing process.

Be forewarned, there are a number of tearing spots – spots where I downright bawled my eyes out, so I’m sure the average reader may get at least misty eyed.

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