One Year Home by Marie Force

Narrated by Jason Clarke and Erin Mallon, with Andi Arndt and Joe Arden

One Year Home is a direct sequel to Five Years Gone – which should be listened to first – and there are spoilers for that book in this review.

In Five Years Gone, Marie Force told the story of Ava Lucas, who was left heartbroken and bewildered when her boyfriend of two years, naval officer John West, was deployed and never returned. Unable to find out what had happened to him, Ava decided that she’d wait for five years and if the situation remained unchanged at the end of it, she’d move back to New York and move on with her life. Even though it was a difficult road, strewn with guilt, anger and heartbreak, she fell in love again and became engaged to be married. But then the world learned the truth about John and his team of Navy SEALs; following the terrorist attack on a cruise ship that killed four thousand people, they had been deployed in order to hunt down those behind the atrocity. Having taken out America’s most wanted man, lost part of his leg and survived a serious infection that almost killed him, John is alive and still very much in love with Ava, so learning she’s engaged to be married to another man is a huge blow. And learning that John is still alive is a massive shock for Ava, too, but by the end of the book, she and Eric are married, and she’s agreed to remain in touch with John, who is, needless to say, not in a good place as he struggles to cope with the loss of Ava as well as the deaths of two close friends and learning to deal with his physical limitations.

“I gave more than six years and half a leg to bringing a ruthless terrorist to justice, and what do I get as a thank-you? The rest of my life without the only woman I’ve ever loved.”

When we meet John again at the start of One Year Home, he’s bitter and angry at just about everything – including himself – and only wants to be left alone to wallow in misery and mourn the life he could have had. With media interest in him reaching fever pitch, Ava suggests calling in Eric’s sister Julianne, who works for a well-known PR firm, to co-ordinate all the media requests and help prepare John for the numerous interviews that have been requested. John doesn’t want to do any of it; all he wants is to retire from the Navy and be left alone, but the Navy wants the good publicity he will generate and won’t agree to let him retire until he’s done the round of talk-shows and personal appearances.

He and Julianne don’t hit it off at first, partly because he has no interest whatsoever in being the poster boy for the Navy and partly because she’s Eric’s sister. But she’s persistent and makes it quickly clear that she’s there to do a job and that she’s not prepared to put up with John’s crap, and after a couple of week John starts to realise what a dickhead he’s been. He’s not going to get out of the publicity tour, so he might as well accept the help Julianne is offering and learn how to face what’s coming and make the best of it. This détente soon turns into genuine friendship as Julianne’s warmth and open-heartedness gradually starts John on the road to finding a sense of normality again, bringing laughter, understanding and affection – things he’s sorely missed – back into his life. The chemistry between the couple is evident from the moment they meet, and it builds gradually over the days and weeks they spend together preparing for the press tour and during it. For his part, John is pleased to discover he can feel attraction and arousal again as he’d feared that was something he’d lost along with his leg and years of his life; but for Julianne, the situation is far more complicated. Getting involved with a client is unprofessional and could adversely affect her career, and just as worrisome is the likely reaction of her family, given that John is Ava’s ex, and the man Eric feels may still be his rival.

The romance between John and Julianne progresses fairly quickly, something they both acknowledge, but it works because of their enforced proximity and because of the way the author develops trust and understanding and builds a strong emotional connection between them. I also appreciated the inclusion of the sub-plot concerning Ava and Eric, who are voiced once again by Andi Arndt and Joe Arden in the half-dozen sections/chapters told from their points of view. Although the pair married at the end of the previous book, there was the sense that Ava hadn’t completely dealt with the ramifications of John’s return, and here, that proves to be the case. Ava and Eric have to face up to the guilt and trust issues that threaten their marriage, and the fact that Julianne and her family are aware that the newly-weds are having problems makes Julianne’s involvement with John that bit more difficult.

One Year Home is an angsty and emotional journey that will bring smiles and tears along the way. John is an extremely sympathetic character and one of the best heroes I’ve come across in quite some time. It’s easy to understand why he’s so frustrated and bent on pushing everyone away at the beginning of the book, but it was wonderful to watch him gradually emerge from the shell he’d built for himself and, with Julianne’s support, start to reclaim his life and his sense of self. He could have been a bit too good to be true, but his insecurities and the inner vulnerability he tries hard to hide give him flaws that make him seem that much more human.

The chapters told from John’s PoV are narrated by Jason Clarke, who is quickly becoming a favourite performer. The deep, slightly gravelly tone he uses to voice the male leads in the stories he narrates is very attractive and he is able to voice the female characters believably, as well as to provide a fairly large range of character voices and to differentiate between them all effectively. He does a fantastic job with his portrayal of John, expertly conveying his shifting emotions, his inner strength, his fears and insecurities and the more playful side he gradually regains and reveals to Julianne.

I haven’t listened to Erin Mallon before, although I know she’s an established and very popular narrator of contemporary romances. She delivers a strong and expressive performance here that really captures Julianne’s spirit and her loyal, affectionate nature, but I had a couple of issues, the biggest of which is that she has the habit of kind of… pushing out a breath at the ends of words and phrases that makes it sound as though they have an extra syllable. So, for example, in the chapter headings, I heard “Chapter Ten-ah. Julianne –ah”. She doesn’t do it all the time, but it’s frequent enough to be noticeable, and once heard can’t be un-heard. That said, I’d probably listen to her again, as her performance in all other respects was very good.

I’ve given one grade for the narration overall, which is based on an A for Jason Clarke, a B for Erin Mallon and something in-between for Andi and Joe, who were excellent in their small roles.

A sweet and sexy romance combined with the story of a man rebuilding his life and learning to live – and love – again, One Year Home was a compelling listen, and is every bit as heartbreaking and uplifting as its predecessor. It’s a must-listen for anyone who enjoyed the emotional rollercoaster that was Five Years Gone and wanted to know what happened to John afterwards; and the excellent performances – by Jason Clarke especially – make a strong argument for experiencing this story in audio format.

Caz

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Buy One Year Home by Marie Force on Amazon