Night Music
Night Music: A Novel by Deanna Lynn Sletten
Print and e-book, 251 pages
Expected publication: March 13th 2018 by Deanna Lynn Sletten
Charlotte Parsons is devastated over losing her brother in the Vietnam War. Desperate to learn more about the war, she joins a group of college women who send letters to soldiers and befriends Joseph Russo, a young soldier. But a few months after they begin corresponding, his letters stop coming, and Char moves on, still confused as to why so many young lives are being lost so far away from home.
Two years later, Char begins college in her small Illinois town of Grand Falls. She’s been dating her brother’s long-time best friend, Deke Masterson, who is a senior in college and is deep into the anti-war movement. Char isn’t sure how she feels about the war. Then a stranger comes to town and changes everything.
Joseph Russo served in the Vietnam War, earning a Purple Heart for his injury as well as a life-long limp. He’s ready to put the war behind him. While in Vietnam, he’d corresponded with a girl from Grand Falls and he enjoyed reading about her idyllic life. When he’s discharged, he moves there to attend college. And when he meets Charlotte in person, he’s taken with her sweetness, intelligence, and beauty.
The battle lines are drawn as Deke resents Joe’s presence around Char. What started out as a well-deserved escape to a small town for Joe soon turns into a battle of wills between him and the idealistic Deke. And there stands Charlotte, right in the middle.
Night Music is a story about a moment in time when the world was chaotic and nothing was completely clear. In the midst of all the chaos, can Char and Joe find enough middle ground to fall in love?
My thoughts about Night Music ~~
(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first line.)
First line—"Joseph Russo crouched in a pit surrounded by sandbags, his M-16 standing at attention beside him. It was 02:00 and all of Firebase Jack was on red alert."
I always know I am going to love the story when it's one of Deanna's. And her latest did not disappoint. Don't let that first line scare you off—this is a heartfelt, beautiful story that reminds of us of a turbulent time.
Night Music takes us to a tough time in our past, the Vietnam War period. Emotions were high and there were very strong opinions and feelings on both sides of the issue. It was a very tumultuous time in our history, a very troubled time for young men and women. This story took me back to that time and the craziness of that war. I lived through it and she gets it. She does a wonderful job of capturing both the turmoil and the love of that time.
Charlotte's older brother is killed in Vietnam and she finds herself between two men who have very opposite feelings about the war. There's Deke, her boyfriend, who is leading campus protests against the war and Joe, a Vietnam vet, who comes back having to deal with the aftermath of that controversial war.
I loved watching Charlotte mature and form her own opinions and beliefs as she learns what matters most to her. She works very hard to see both sides, in order to understand where the two men are coming from. She finally listens to what is in her own heart and sticks up for her beliefs.
One of the things that will stay with me and that I just love from this book is the term 'night music', the wonderful melody of the sounds of the night – crickets, frogs, etc.
"In Nam, as long as we could hear the sounds of the night, we knew we were safe. It's a comforting sound."
I love to relax on the patio in the evening and listen to the sounds. I never thought of it as 'night music' but that's exactly what it is. I'll always think of that now and will be drawn back to this wonderful story.
About the author
Deanna Lynn Sletten writes heartwarming women's fiction and romance novels with unforgettable characters. She has also written one middle-grade novel that takes you on the adventure of a lifetime. She began her writing career self-publishing in 2012 and has since published several novels. Her next novel will be published in June 2017 by Lake Union Publishing. Deanna believes in fate, destiny, love at first sight, soul mates, second chances, and happily ever after, and her novels reflect that.
Deanna is married and has two grown children. When not writing, she enjoys walking the wooded trails around her home with her beautiful Australian Shepherd or relaxing in the boat on the lake in the summer. ~ Goodreads
Connect with Deanna
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Deanna is offering a $20 Amazon Gift Card to celebrate the release of her newest book, Night Music!
Thanks so much, Deanna!
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Thank you so much, Susan!
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