Anne Whitfield
~ Broken Hero ~
Broken Hero is my first attempt at writing a romance story set in World War II.
This era is something that personally compelling to me. I've always been fascinated by the bravery of the men and women who lived through these times.
I thoroughly enjoyed researching the second world war and also the area I used to set the book, Bridlington, East Yorkshire. I place that I have often visited while living in England.

Audrey and Jake's story begged to be told. I adored writing Broken Hero and making the characters come alive. I hope readers enjoy them too.

Broken Hero will be avialable in both paperback and ebook from the publisher The Wild Rose Press and the genreal online bookstores such as Amazon, etc. It will be avialable to order in at your local bookstore.

Broken Hero is available in ebook - Buy Here
Also available for Amazon's Kindle here
Paperback available here from Amazon. Also from Barnes & Noble and Amazon UK
Blurb
Audrey Pearson’s life changed dramatically when WWII broke out and her large home, Twelve Pines on the East Yorkshire coast, became a convalescence home for wounded soldiers. Her life is no longer lavish with entertainment, beautiful clothes and surrounded by a loving family. Soldiers, physically and mentally wounded now fill her home. The smell of disinfectant replaces her mother’s perfume and gone are the friends and acquaintances - instead nurses roam the hallways.

Captain Jake Harding, a doctor training in psychiatry arrives at Twelve Pines. Audrey immediately finds herself attracted to the Captain, but he is remote towards her. Puzzled by his cold behaviour, Audrey tries to learn more about the handsome Captain. He reveals that he’s lost a wife and baby in childbirth and refuses to ever remarry. However, despite this, Audrey believes she can change his mind and make him aware he doesn’t have to spend his life alone.

The ice around Jake’s heart begins to melt. For years he has rejected the possibility of finding love again because of the pain it caused him before, but the beautiful Audrey shows him her love and she needs someone to love her in return.

Could he honestly walk away from her, from the love that could be his?
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Reviews ~

~ ~ Audrey believes she is in control of her life and her emotions, until Captain Jake Harding’s arrival affects her in a way she never expects. She rails against his inability to respond to her due to the demons which haunt him from his past. Does she salve her pride and stop trying? Will he come to realise he needs the devotion she can offer, or is this broken hero beyond her reach?
Broken Hero is an uplifting story about the unseen wounds war inflicts on the strongest and the way ordinary people learned to adjust to cope with extraordinary situations.
Readers will sympathise at every level with Anne Whitfield’s characters, the  strong minded Audrey and the compassionate, damaged Jake who needs her but cannot or will not acknowledge it.
Anita Davison, Historical Fiction Author
http://www.anitadavison.webeden.co.uk

~ ~ Anne Whitfield has done it again. She quickly became one on my “must read” list. In this latest accomplishment, Ms. Whitfield took us to East Yorkshire, England in Spring 1944—World War II.
Ms. Whitfield has taken a plot with horrible situations and deplorable conditions and made a beautifully intricate story which will grab the heart of her readers. Audrey’s character is strong, but vulnerable. Jake is a man who has shut down his emotional functions. The supporting characters keep the story lively. They also help the emotionally-struggling doctor to face his own personal problems. Jake is a strong, caring doctor who totally rejects facing his own past horrors. Audrey not only projects her own strength, she is an encourager and, regardless of setbacks, refuses to give up on anyone or anything.

Broken Hero is a wonderfully poignant story of a man who just happened to be a doctor in World War II, who had to decide how to deal with his patients without neglecting his own needs. I highly recommend this story to anyone who is interested in WWII and the scenery around this part of England. Ms. Whitfield has graciously gone into detail so that I, who have never traveled, felt as if I had been in the midst of the storyline.

Overall rating: 5/5
Sensuality rating: Mildly sensual
Reviewer: Brenda Talley - The Romance Studio
March 14, 2008

~ ~ Broken Hero was a wonderfully sweet story. It pulled on my heartstrings and brought tears to my eyes. I couldn’t have asked for more heart warming characters which you couldn’t help but suffer with and cheer for. If you are looking for a story that will make you feel deeply and leave with you with the truth that love conquers all, then you shouldn’t miss Broken Hero!
~Reviewed by Lynda from Simply Romance reviews.

~ ~ 'Broken Hero' produces a rich, cohesive view of a few lives during the turbulent war years, and also gives us a hint of life before the war. The writing invites us to read slowly, understand the individuals' histories, and savor the story. Foremost; this is a really beautiful romance.
~reviewed by Long and Short Reviews.com
Excerpt;
“Will we get more men?”
Val shrugged. “Not sure. No news yet.” She looked at the wine. “Are we celebrating something?”
Audrey refilled her own glass. “Yes. It is our mother’s birthday today. Father always opened a bottle of his most expensive wine, usually hidden in the cellar, to celebrate her day. We thought we’d keep the tradition going.”
“Only we don’t have an elaborate dinner to go with it, which is disappointing.” Lucy scowled.
“A toast then.” Val raised her glass and they joined her. “Happy birthday to the very much loved, and sorely missed Joanna Pearson.”
“Happy birthday, Mother,” Audrey and Lucy chorused.
Just then the door opened again and Jake entered. “I wondered where you’d all got to. The house seems too big and quiet now it’s nearly empty.”
“I was thinking the same, Captain.” Valerie poured him the last of the wine.
“You must play chess with me, Captain,” Lucy said. “Audrey is totally dreadful.”
“Very well, but I warn you I’m rather good at it. I played against my father for many years and he was an excellent player.” He smiled and Audrey had to turn away. His mere presence sent her heart into a twirl. In the last week he’d not been so distant and had tried to forge some kind of friendship between them again, but this time she’d held back. She didn’t want just friendship. He hurt her too easily with his harsh words and hot and cold manner. When he was being kind and considerate, her love blossomed, overwhelming her in its intensity, but she knew how quickly he turned again into someone morose and remote.
As Lucy set up the board again, she pointed to the letter Valerie held. “What do you have there?”
“News.”
Audrey looked up. “Oh?”
“It seems I’m going away.” Valerie tried to look happy, but failed miserably. The paper in her hand shook. “Unfortunately, the army nurse corps has remembered me, and that I have a lovely home here. They obviously feel that I should be somewhere less comfortable.”
“But why now?” Audrey whispered, the blood draining from her face.
“You know it was only a temporary arrangement to begin with, Aud.” Val smiled. “We were lucky that I slipped through the cracks and was allowed to stay on here as long as I have.”
“Where will they send you?”
“I’m joining a replacement unit that’s heading for Normandy.”
“France?” Lucy’s eyes widened, shock holding her rigid. “But the newspapers report that the Germans are on the run. The Americans have captured St Lo. They say Paris is in their sights.”
“I don’t understand why they are sending you now? It makes no sense to me.” Audrey murmured, believing that Val wasn’t as shocked about this abrupt news as she should be. “You won’t be coming back, will you?”
Valerie shook her head. “No, I shouldn’t think so, not until after the war. I’ll come back and see you then.”
Audrey put her hand to her throat, sadness seeping into every pore.
Valerie stood and hugged her. “It’s my time, Audrey. I don’t mind really. Those nurses on the front line deserve a break. In fact I’m glad I’m going.”
“You’re glad?” Lucy gaped, astonished.
“Yes. Other nurses, closer to the battle fronts have had to do their job in terrible conditions, under fire. Why should I be spared from it?”
“But—”
“There is no but, dearest. It has been decided and I’ll follow my orders like all the others have done before me.” Valerie unfolded the letter and then folded it again.
Suspicious, Audrey drew a quick breath. “You asked for it, didn’t you? You requested the transfer. The truth now.”
Her cheeks reddening, Val nodded. “Yes, I did. I had to.”
“Why?” Audrey whispered, ignoring Lucy’s intake of breath.
“I’m not needed here anymore.” Val glanced at Jake. “And I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do my bit in the war.”
Audrey stood so fast her chair rocked. “You have done your bit! How can you say otherwise? What we’ve done here isn’t nothing.”
“I know, dearest, I know.”
Jake cleared his throat. “Perhaps Valerie wants to do her share at the field hospitals and make herself available for promotion.”
“Promotion?” Audrey glared at him in confusion and then at Val. “Is this true?”
Val fiddled with the letter in her hand, but held her chin high. “Partly, yes. Nursing is my career. Being tucked away in the country won’t see me rise in superiority.”
Audrey blinked, finding it difficult to take in. “This is so important to you that you’d put yourself in danger?”
“Of course. I must, as others have done also.” Val shrugged as though it wasn’t an issue. “Captain Harding understands.”
Audrey turned on him. “Did you encourage her?”
Valerie grabbed Audrey’s hand. “No, he didn’t. I told him afterwards. Don’t blame him or anyone. I wanted this.”
“When do you leave?” Audrey murmured, her heart full.
Stuffing the letter back into the envelope, Valerie glanced up at them. “Tomorrow.”
“So soon? How long have you known?” Audrey glanced wildly from Valerie to Lucy to Jake. She desperately wanted him to hold her, but he wouldn’t, and she couldn’t rely on him for the kind of comfort she badly needed.
“Since this morning.”
“Why didn’t you say something earlier,” Lucy begged, tears spilling over her lashes.
“I didn’t want a fuss, dearest.” Valerie reached across and gripped Lucy’s hand. “This is going to be hard enough without you being upset. So, stop your tears.”
Jake stood, the chess game forgotten. “Sister Lewis isn’t the only nurse to leave. Nurse Nugent and Williams will be going with her. I’ve been informed that there won’t be another intake of patients for some time, if at all.”
Audrey stared at him. Everything was changing, shifting like sand to make her unstable in her own home.
Val straightened. “I need to speak with the other nurses and then pack.” She looked at Jake, becoming businesslike. “Nurse Jones will be the senior nurse once I’m gone, Captain Harding. Nurse Proctor is very reliable but may need some guidance as she continues her training.”
He smiled reassuringly. “I’ll take care of them.”
Valerie nodded and glanced at Lucy, who sobbed quietly into a handkerchief. “Don’t cry, Lucy, I beg you. This is hard enough as it is.” She paused by Audrey to grip her shoulder for a moment before walking out of the room.
“This is just awful!” Lucy ran from the room in tears.
Silence filled the room and Audrey shivered. In the space of ten minutes everything had altered. All that had been normal for the last few years gone.
Jake fiddled with a chess piece. “She’ll be fine in France. Nurses are—”
“Please don’t speak, Captain Harding.” Audrey gave him a withering glare. “Nothing you can say will help. Valerie is like a sister to Lucy and me and she’s going off to war. Keep your words of comfort for your patients.”
“I’m simply—”
“Simply what, Captain?” she snapped, hating him for not loving her as she wanted, for not wrapping his arms around her and driving the world away.
“I’m trying to be your friend.”
“I don’t want or need your friendship, Captain. I already have plenty of friends.”
He spread his arms out hopelessly. “It’s all I can offer.”
“No, it’s all you think you can offer because you’re a coward. You’re too frightened to live your life again!” She spun on her heel and ran from the room.
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