Taking Heart
Healing Harts #2
Healing Harts #2
By: T.J. Kline
Released June 2, 2015
Avon Impulse
T. J. Kline's Healing Harts series continues as a
soldier suffering from PTSD and a therapy dog trainer find that some scars can
only be healed by love...
Julia Hart knows
how much good she does training therapy dogs—it's what helped her overcome her
own trials after a relationship turned unexpectedly violent. But moving beyond
her mistakes meant trusting only her family with her heart.
Dylan, a former
soldier, has run out of hope for recovery. Plagued by nightmares and
flashbacks, he doubts anything will help him overcome his PTSD. When his
brother convinces him to try one last time, he agrees to get a therapy dog.
Dylan didn't
expect to find Julia or a chance for a "normal" future again. But
when Julia's attacker is released from prison, Dylan and Julia will have to
face the past together.
“Tomorrow?” Dylan stared at his brother. “Have you lost your mind? We
can’t leave in the morning.”
“Dylan, it’s already arranged. All you need to do
is pack.”
Dylan had hoped that letting his brother do the
legwork would dissuade him from this pointless pursuit. There was nothing a
dog, even a therapy dog, could do. He’d already seen the brochures and read the
information about how they were supposed to help with mood swings and anxiety,
but if pills and alcohol couldn’t touch them, how was an animal going to do
anything? He ran a hand over his beard-roughened jaw, his fingers running over
the marred flesh on his neck. The burns and scars had been covered with
intricately colored tribal tattoos starting behind his ear, but they didn’t
make the truth hurt any less. He’d been the only man from his unit to survive the
attack, and he still wasn’t sure why. This wasn’t living.
Dylan saw the hope in Gage’s eyes. He really
thought a dog was going to make a difference? Whatever. It wasn’t worth fighting over. If Gage wanted to take a
few weeks off work and stay at some training facility, fine. He’d see soon
enough that this wouldn’t help.
“Fine.” Dylan shook his head in defeat and ran a
hand over his close-shaven head. “I’ll have to call Dr. Miller and let him
know.”
“I’ve already called him.” Gage tossed a basket of
Dylan’s laundry onto his bed and began to fold it. “For the record, he thinks
it’s a great idea.”
Dylan clenched his jaw. He appreciated his
brother’s help, but he wasn’t completely incompetent. He felt the
always-present anger simmering just below the surface. “I’m not an invalid. I
can still do my own laundry.”
Gage looked up, eyeing him curiously. “I know you
can, Dylan. I wasn’t implying you couldn’t.”
“Then stop coddling me like I’m going to break. I’m
already broken.” Dylan felt the familiar curtain of rage coming down over him,
but he was helpless to stop it. It didn’t matter how many pills they gave him
or how many behavioral exercises he tried, when an episode came on it was like
a flash flood that drowned him every time. He reached out, throwing the hamper
from the bed. “This is pointless.”
“Dylan . . .”
“You know damn well I can’t get on a plane, what
that will do to me.”
“Fine, we’ll drive. It’s only all the way across
the country.” Gage grabbed a pillow from the bed and slapped it into his
brother’s hands. “You want to be pissed? Go ahead. You want to throw things? Be
my guest. But use this, and you clean up whatever mess you make.” Gage turned
on his heel and left the room.
It wasn’t the reaction Dylan expected. But instead
of cooling, the storm inside him built, gaining momentum until he felt it
swirling in his chest. He growled in rage, throwing the pillow at the wall and
looking around the room for something else to throw. It only pissed him off
more that every surface was already cleared. His brother had learned that
lesson after Dylan’s last episode. He clenched his fists, trying to still the
fury building within. Every muscle in Dylan’s body seemed to tense as he fought
for control, bracing his fists on each side of the door frame. He couldn’t stop
his fist when it rose of its own accord and slammed against the wall, putting a
hole in it.
The pain radiating up his arm was enough to shake
him from his fury, but self-loathing filled the vacuum left behind once his
anger dissipated. He backed up until his legs hit the bed. His knees lost
strength, unable to hold him as the adrenaline left him weak, and he dropped to
sit on the edge of the mattress. Dylan looked at the bottle of pills on his
nightstand, sweet oblivion that would make him forget, at least for a short
while.
Just this
once.
It was a lie. It wasn’t the
first time he’d made that promise to himself, and he was sure it wouldn’t be
the last, but he wasn’t about to take the steps down that dark path again. He
looked away. He wouldn’t cave. Dylan buried his forehead in his hands, rubbing
at his temples with his fingers, his right hand skimming the scar that ran from
his temple to the back of his ear. He’d have been better off if that bullet had
killed him.
Loved it! Beautifully written with so much emotion, I was in tears in a few places. Both Dylan and Julia struggle with PTSD and are using dogs to help them cope. The dogs were such an important part to their story, and really put a spotlight on service dogs. Highly recommend this book and the series, can't wait for Julia's brother Justin's story!
ARC via Edelweiss
T. J. Kline was raised competing in rodeos and
rodeo queen competitions since the age of 14, She has thorough knowledge of the
sport as well as the culture involved. She has had several articles about rodeo
published in the past in small periodicals as well as a more recent how-to
article for RevWriter. She is also an avid reader and book reviewer for both
Tyndale and Multnomah.
Thank you so much for hosting TAKING HEART!
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