There is a legend in Crystal Rock, Wisconsin that a kiss shared in the Crystal Rock Cave is a kiss for all eternity. When Josh kissed Nina, as frightened teenagers, little did either of them realise that many years later their lives would again be thrown together, and the possibility of the legend coming true would be manifest. Josh returns to his home town just before Christmas, a wounded hero from Iraq, a wounded warrior, no less. When he enters the Crystal Rock Wounded Warrior’s Rehabilitation Centre, he is reunited with Nina, now a nurse. Can either of them rise above their troubled childhoods and find true love, despite the past that keeps returning to haunt them? This is the premise of Two Hearts Find Christmas by Tamara Ferguson. This is the fifth book in the series based around Crystal Rock, former FBI Special Agent Jake Loughlin, and his family and friends.

This is not the first Tamara Ferguson novella I’ve read and, indeed, not the first Wounded Warrior novella either. Different characters within the group that make up the Jake Loughlin circle of family and friends are explored in each of these stories. Josh and Nina, as characters, were easy to identify with and to root for. Both had had difficult, traumatic childhoods and Ferguson dealt with some potentially horrific subject matter with sensitivity and grace. Some might argue the romance plot is fairly formulaic, but Ferguson gives much more depth to the stories with her complicated backstory and continuity of history through the years. Definitely Two Hearts Find Christmas is a chilling reminder of the evil that does exist out there among us, but also a sweet reminder of the sanctity and power of true love, plus the indomitable human spirit that triumphs over adversity and works for good. Although I’m not American, it was perhaps appropriate that I read this tale over Memorial Day weekend, as Americans honour the many fallen as well as the multitude of wounded warriors.

Two Hearts Find Christmas: Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Romance, Book 5 is a contemporary military romance novel written by Tamara Ferguson. While this is the fifth book in Ferguson’s series, each of these novels can be read on its own. That said, this series is so excellent, I’d recommend reading every one of them, as I have. Josh Turner grew up as the stereotypical bad boy; one of the guys good girls knew to stay far away from. His dad was a violent and abusive man who kept Josh and his little brother Luke living in a continual state of fear. Nina Chandler and Josh had several things in common. While Josh’s mother had left when he was young, Nina’s dad had died in service, and her mom was ill throughout her teen years. Nina somehow managed to combine being her mom’s caregiver while going to school, but it was a struggle. Both of them left Crystal Rock, Wisconsin when they were young adults. Josh was recruited to be part of an elite covert military team, and Nina went to nursing school. Their paths would somehow lead them both back to Crystal Rock some fifteen years later. Nina had been hired at the Crystal Rock Wounded Warrior Home as an R.N. She was excited and concerned to read that Josh would be arriving there soon. Nina had always had a crush on Josh when she was growing up. Reading about his extensive injuries, especially his blindness, made her wonder how she would be able to help him recover.

Two Hearts Find Christmas is a well-written and engrossing story that combines romance and the holidays with some serious issues including PTSD, war injuries and child abuse. I’ve enjoyed every one of the Two Hearts Wounded Warrior books and was pleased to have the opportunity to read and review this one. As with the others, I soon found myself happily involved with life in Crystal Rock and Dragonfly Pointe, and the remarkable people who live there and work to help returning veterans heal and start new lives. Josh, his brother, Luke, and Nina are marvelous main characters and learning of their early struggles and challenges gets the reader deeply involved in their present day lives and aware of the problems adults, who still bear the scars of abuse, face in living fully. I also loved seeing how Josh finds his dog, Ralph, who, while not entirely suitable as a service dog, seems to succeed quite well in making his new human companion smile. I’m looking forward to the next Wounded Warrior military romance book. Two Hearts Find Christmas: Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Romance, Book 5 is most highly recommended.