Very well done historical romance but one that I think that non romance readers would enjoy. This is the story of a Civil War nurse who, after the war, travels around delivering soldiers last words to their families. She is joined along the way by the father of one of the boys who died at her hospital. This was not just a wallpaper historical. The people and the situations felt real and true to their times. There was a bit of coincidence about how easily she found each family but I accepted it as necessary to move the plot along. There was a lot of sadness in the book of course because of the subject matter but the two of them found each other in the end. Also the heroine suffered greatly from PTSD which of course wasn't recognized then and she was sure that she was going crazy.

First of a trilogy. ( )

While an excellent - and unique - depiction of a woman suffering from PTSD after serving as a nurse in the Civil War, I found this book to be a tad bit underwhelming. The conflicts keeping heroine Laurel and hero Creede apart were forced. Creede was supposed to be a reformed gun-for-hire who'd decided to come out of retirement yet I never saw him in action so his angst over this was hollow. Too, the resolution and "solution" to the problems came very suddenly at the end of the book, almost like a light switch had been flipped.

I give it props for the unique premise but the characters never became real for me, especially Creede. ( )

As a nurse for the Confederacy, Laurel Covey kept a journal in which she recorded all the deathbed messages of the soldiers who died in her care. Now that the war between the states is over she feels obligated to contact each family to relay those messages and keepsakes.

Laurel is one of the strongest characters I have ever read. She sets out alone across the post Civil War South with no thought to her own safety to contact each family. The reader quickly realizes that she doesn't care what happens to herself. The horrible memories of attending a battlefield hospital continue to haunt her. She experiences flashbacks during the day of the blood, sounds, smells, and ghosts of the men who died and vivid nightmares visit her nightly. She thinks she is going crazy and hopes to finish her quest before she is committed to a mental hospital. But today we recognize these symptoms as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I was impressed with how realistically McKade portrayed her condition. The doctor's suggested treatment of a hysterectomy as a cure for her mental state seemed barbaric but realistic for that time period.

Creede Forrester is an ex-gunslinger whose son, Austin, has died in the War. He travels from Texas to Virginia hoping to find out more about his son's death. A doctor tells him that Laurel may know something more, so he seeks her out and comes across her as she is being robbed and rescues her. He finds out that Laurel was there when his son died but unfortunately Austin was dead when he arrived at the field hospital so left no last words for his father. Creede is crushed but insists upon riding along with Laurel against her wishes on her journey to keep her safe.

As they journey through the ruined South, Laurel and Creede meet all kinds of human and animal characters that were excellently portrayed. If you're a cat lover, you'll fall in love with the stray cat who adopts Laurel on her journey. They meet a little black boy and some former slaves that tore my heart out. In fact they meet lots of people, some good, some bad, and McKade portrays them without Southern character stereotyping. Each family member had a different reaction to the message she passed on from their loved one. Some were grateful, some devastated, some angry, some with no emotion at all. These scenes were often painful to read.

Laurel and Creede are both very wounded people and are drawn to each other. As they travel from Virginia to Texas finding all the families they develop a growing bond and start to open up to each other. Love blossoms slowly culminating in some intense love scenes.

Although post-Civil War America is a very depressing, painful time in history, Laurel and Creede's story is a powerful one of hope and healing. And the book's title.... absolutely perfect. (Grade: A-) ( )

A Reason to Live is the story of two lost souls finding each other and... a reason to live. It's aptly named.

Laurel Covey is a Civil War widow and nurse. Now that the war is over, she's traveling around the country on a mission to deliver the last words from soldiers who died in her care.

Creede Forrester is a widower whose only son had reportedly been injured in the war, and he's tracked down Laurel to find out what happened to him.

They meet unexpectedly when he rescues her from outlaws, and despite her objections, Creede's conscience won't allow him to let her continue her journey alone. But Laurel has a secret--she's trying to deliver all the messages before her sanity finally deserts her. Contemporary readers will recognize she's suffering from PTSD.

Up until this point, A Reason to Live was an intensely emotional, 5-star read, but it lost steam as the pair traveled from town to town delivering the messages and having brief adventures--rescuing a kitten, finding a family for a young ex-slave, treating a bullet wound, etc. It's a very realistic-feeling if optimistic portrait of America immediately after the Civil War, and it touches on some interesting issues, but I lost the thread of the story in the side trips.

Still, there's a twist or two near the end, and the way their growing relationship gave meaning to lives they felt were over brought tears to my eyes a few times, and I'm glad I read it. ( )