I now I had this book not so long ago, but I really liked the story and now I have author Alexa coming by and making a few good points.

Keep Forever by Alexa Kingaard released in March in the Historical Romance, Women’s Fiction genre.

Paul O’Brien’s idyllic childhood in Southern California comes to a halt when his mother dies in the summer before his senior year of high school and a very different persona of his father emerges – isolating himself inside the house, turning to alcohol for comfort, and barely noticing his only child. Simultaneously, the war in Vietnam is sending shock waves around the world and young men from one coast to the other are being called upon to serve. Paul enlists in the Marines before receiving his draft notice. 

Elizabeth Sutton is eager to gain some independence from her father’s old fashioned notions and looking forward to her first year in high school.  At fifteen years old, tragedy strikes with the loss of both parents in an auto accident, turning her childhood into one of responsibility and worry overnight.  The four siblings are scattered when her nine-year-old twin sisters are sent to live with their Aunt and Uncle on Nantucket Island, and Elizabeth is left behind in Boston with their grandmother.  Her older brother, Sam, enlists in the Marines, eager to join the conflict a world away as opposed to dealing with the one unfolding at home. 

A bond develops between Paul and Sam in Vietnam, and both are injured in a bloody battle that costs Sam his right hand and sets the stage for a lifetime of nightmares and sleepless nights for Paul.  Matched by similar tragedies at a young age, Elizabeth and Paul’s first introduction by Sam upon their return from Vietnam is the beginning of friendship and love that survives five decades. 

After marrying, welcoming their first child, and inheriting a small beach house, the couple adapts to their new surroundings, but distant memories of Vietnam continue to haunt Paul.  In an era when veterans refuse to speak of their pain and the government denies that thousands of soldiers are coming home irreparably damaged, he is left to deal with the challenge of caring for his loved ones amidst his his erratic flashback episodes and moods. As their lives unravel from the lingering effects of PTSD,  Elizabeth learns to accept the burden that Paul brought home, and together they make their own memories to keep forever.

Inspired By A True Story

Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51374899-keep-forever

Purchase: B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/keep-forever-alexa-kingaard/1127607364

iBooks: https://books.apple.com/ca/book/keep-forever/id1318857390?mt=11&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/keep-forever-2

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The author

ALEXA KINGAARD, a California native, currently resides in Carlsbad and is the mother of a son and daughter who continue to be her biggest fans and cheerleaders.

October 13, 2011, was the day that changed her life forever when her ex-husband, a Vietnam veteran, took his life during a PTSD flashback episode. Inspired to share this tragedy that continues to rob husbands and wives of their spouses, children of their parents, mothers of their children, brothers and sisters of their siblings, and comrades of their friends, Kingaard relied on her own experiences to shed light on this crisis. The burden brought home is not partial to Vietnam, but is an insidious aftershock endured by combat veterans of all conflicts.

Kingaard continues to pursue her literary career, writing about nostalgia and the human condition, the common denominator of our lives. 

Hi Alexa, and thank you for being here today. The story is set in the Vietnam war time, but do you think its message is particularly important today?

When you consider that nations and people have been at war, fighting for territory, natural resources, glory, control, and religious freedom for generations, part of our population has always been put in harm’s way. Mostly young men – the last few decades, women – are witness to experiences that I don’t believe the human psyche can process. These veterans of war who see combat first-hand, coming home damaged and disfigured, will always be a part of our society and deserve to be cared for and respected for the rest of their lives.

The VA, which was only established in the late 1980’s, has jumped a few hurdles to incorporate better care with combined mental and physical physicians and additional funding, but the new generation of veterans are coming back with wounds they never would have survived in previous conflicts. Saving soldiers on the battlefield with loss of limbs, blindness, PTSD, traumatic brain injury and more, has put even a bigger burden on the health care system. Unfortunately, even though many are given 100% disability and medical care for the rest of their lives, it falls to the wives, children and loved ones of the returning veteran to deal with the aftermath long after their husband, wife, brother, mother, sister, father, uncle, aunt, cousin, friend has come home. It never affects a single generation, but trickles down to the rest of the community and ultimately our country who bears a responsibility to provide for and protect these men and women who have laid down their lives for our freedom. Until there is no war, messages like mine will always be relevant to our society and family units.

I hope in some small way, that KEEP FOREVER has added to the conversation in a realistic, compassionate way, and that readers will enjoy the “factional” account of one veteran and the family who loved him.

Author links:

https://www.alexakingaard.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17377658.Alexa_Kingaard

https://www.facebook.com/mynameisrosebook/

https://www.instagram.com/alexakingaard/

https://twitter.com/alexakingaard

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This post is part of a tour. You can find the schedule here (http://xpressobooktours.com/2020/02/18/tour-sign-up-keep-forever-by-alexa-kingaard/).

Giveaway:Tour-wide giveaway (INT)

• $50 Amazon gift card

Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d04251233643/

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Xpresso Book Tours