Today I have Sharon Gillenwater here talking about her latest release Jenna’s Cowboy. But first, my review on the book.

Review: I do have to admit, it started a bit slow for me, but once I got past that, the meat of the story came through. For its genre of romance, this book is a good inside look into the mind of a solider who’s coping with the trauma of war related injuries and the effects of PTSD. And of the loved ones around him trying to cope with this change on their own. The author did delve deep, in some cases probably pulling from her own experiences. I also loved the inside look of a West Texas town. Funny, but in some ways, my own hometown is a bit like this, expect it’s in Iowa. The way the people of Callahan Crossing circled around their military hero is so very true of small town American life. and if you’ve never seen, felt, or lived it, you’re seriously missing out.

Admittedly, I think the writing could have been tighter. There were a few POV issues, but the story was strong enough to overlook it. Over all, a great romance, with some memorable characters, especially that tyke Zach!

(I did receive this book free from Revell for the review.)

Now, here’s Sharon:

Tell us a little bit about your book, Jenna’s Cowboy.

It’s a book about faith, second chances in life and in love for two people who have been deeply wounded emotionally.

When Nate Langley returns to Callahan Crossing, Texas after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, all he wants is peace and a normal life.  And, God willing, to marry the only woman he’s ever loved, Jenna Callahan Colby.  But how can he promise Jenna forever when he may be losing his mind?

Jenna has gone through a devastating divorce, and she’s leery of relationships.  But Nate is the one man who will never hurt her.  She is deeply touched by his tenderness with her and his love for her little boy.  She sees that he is hurting and rallies her family to figure out how to help him.

What’s the story behind the book?

Every week there are signs up around our small Washington town welcoming home someone in the armed forces.  One day as I glanced at one of the reader boards, Nate’s face popped into my mind.  Not the handsome hunk on the book cover, but close enough—and I knew I was supposed to write about a returning vet.  I grew up on a ranch in West Texas, and I have a deep love for that part of the country and the people who live there.  It’s fitting that my war vet hero is a cowboy since many of them serve their country in the military.

Your book deals with the effects of PTSD on returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. What led you to write a book about this?

I’d been reading about how many current veterans are having problems with PTSD.  And I learned just enough to realize that my husband had PTSD when he came home from Viet Nam.  He’d had some nightmares at first, was jumpy, always on the alert, etc.  Thankfully, for him, the nightmares only lasted about six months, and he didn’t have them every night.  So he didn’t go through the sleep deprivation that so many do.  Still, I figured I had a little insight into the problem.

Originally, that was all I’d planned to include.  But God kept whispering, “Go deeper.”  So I kept researching.  I discovered that my husband’s PTSD hadn’t ended when the nightmares went away, and it had affected him in many more ways than we’d realized.  I had much more to share than I’d first thought.

You said in the acknowledgments that you wish you and your husband had found the book Nam Vet, by Chuck Dean. As a wife of a former military man, how did you two cope with the effects of PTSD on your marriage?

Not very well a lot of the time.  Just like Dub and Sue in the book, we muddled through on our own with God’s help.  We had a lot of arguments, even after we came back to Jesus and asked Him to be Lord of our lives.  I truly believe God held us together.  Without Him, we couldn’t have made it.  His grace allowed us to forgive each other and try again, over and over.

Gene was twenty-one when he went to Viet Nam as a helicopter pilot. Of course the war changed him, but we didn’t realize how much. Even decades later when we heard the term PTSD, we didn’t think it applied to him.  He’d gotten his degree after he came home and had a good job.  He wasn’t affected by PTSD as badly as some are, but there were issues that made it hard on the family.

We butted heads a lot because he expected our son and me to obey his every command.  None of us, including Gene, understood the sudden anger that came out of nowhere.  My son and I walked on eggshells for years.  My husband never hit us, but even verbal rage does damage.  But we loved each other and hung on.

In 1990 Gene read a novel called CW2 about a helicopter pilot in Viet Nam.  The author had been a chopper pilot in ‘Nam about the same time as my husband.  As Gene read it, buried memories and emotions surfaced, things he didn’t even know were there.  He sobbed his way through the book.

But the significant changes didn’t come until he joined a small, caring prayer group about ten years ago, and God began His healing process.  Researching and writing Jenna’s Cowboy has brought even more healing and understanding for both of us. We’ve been married forty-two years and the last two have been the best ones yet.

Not only does your book reveal what goes on in the mind of a soldier suffering from PTSD, you also give us a look into the lives of the people who love him. Is there a piece of you in Jenna, or her mom, Sue?

I’m sure there is some of me in both, but especially in Sue.  The incidents that Sue and Dub relate about their experiences with PTSD are what Gene and I went through.

What’s up next for you?

Emily’s Chance, book #2 in The Callahans of Texas, will be out in September.  Jenna’s brother, Chance, tries to convince Emily Rose Denny, who he meets in book #1, that loving him and staying in Callahan Crossing is a better idea than her five-year career plan of working in a big city museum.  I’m writing Book #3 now, which doesn’t have a title yet.  It’s Jenna’s other brother, Will’s story.  His heroine is unmarried, pregnant, homeless and broke.  She’s had a rough life, and Will has to convince her that there are some good guys in the world—and he’s one of them.

Any parting words of wisdom?

Just my favorite scripture verse, which helps no matter what you’re dealing with.  Proverbs 3:5-6 says:  “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”  NKJ

Can you ever get a second chance at your first love?