Tears of War by A. L. Cook. A Romance During The Vietnam War.

Blurb

Brenda, a classical musician, is looking for a roommate to help alleviate the costs of living in expensive Southern California. She is also attempting to fend off the attention of her amorous, bullying conductor, deal with her meddling family, and understand her feelings for Greg, the building’s sexy young owner.

Rosy, a nurse, recently arrived from Australia, hates the Vietnam War, in particular what it has done to her patients. She agrees to room with Brenda to save money. 

Can a war protestor and war supporter live peaceably under one roof? And why is Rosy unable to shake her attraction to her gorgeous, unconscious patient, Jack?


Excerpt

Jack’s eyes drooped. Rosy watched as he seemed to be spirited away back to the War.

“I will never forget one little girl, Binh Lue. She lived with her grandparents in a village in the Que Son Mountains. She was about four or five. She was so sad, wouldn’t come to us the way the other kids did. It took me a week of gentle persuasion before she would come and sit on my lap by the fire and listen to the men playing handmade wooden instruments.”

Jack gazed deep into Rosy’s eyes. “You would have loved her. She was tiny with a little button nose and the bluest eyes.”

“Blue? Is that common?”

“Her father was an American soldier and she had been left in the village to try to protect her from Viet Cong. Trouble was, the bastards were everywhere.” Tears welled in his eyes.

“What happened?”

“Clark, Steven and I were on patrol in thick jungle around the village perimeter, about half mile out, when we heard a bomb explode. Viet Cong were bombing the village. By the time we got back there every hut was on fire. It was beyond our control, no-one was left alive. It was a fuckin’ slaughter. We headed back into the jungle with plans to radio our unit the following day. Binh had somehow survived and followed us. We didn’t know until we heard a click. She had stepped on a mine.”

“Oh God.” Rosy’s hand flew to her mouth.

“We raced back towards the sound. Clark and Steven got there first and when Binh saw her friends, she started towards them. We screamed at her to stand still but she couldn’t understand us. The mine exploded and we were all blown into the air with the force. 

There were only fragments of Binh’s body left and I buried the pieces I could find. I started to drag Clark and Steven back to the village but I could only go a few feet each day before I passed out. I hoped if I got us to the village, some of our unit would eventually come to check why they hadn’t heard from us. I don’t know how long it was before some soldiers found us and we got help.” 

Jack began sobbing. Rosy sat on the edge of the bed and pulled him into her arms. She ran her hands up and down his back and silently grieved with him. She couldn’t begin to understand the horrors he had borne witness to. No wonder the man was troubled by nightmares. 

~~~~~

Buy Links:

Amazon US:         http://amzn.com/B00P872Z30

Amazon UK:        http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00P872Z30

Amazon CA:        http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00P872Z30

Amazon AU:        http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00P872Z30


Bio:

My name is A.L. Cook and I have just published my first book with Pink Iris Publishing.

I was a young adult in the time of the Vietnam War, surrounded by controversy and uncertainty. I watched as many love stories grew through adversity.

I have always loved to tell stories and write. Finally I gathered the courage to put pen to paper, fingers to keyboard, and I am very proud of Tears of Reality.


I hope readers enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.