Homeland Heroes (Fleisher)

Flooded with panic, two words burst through Erin's mind: GET HELP. She ran for the door, but someone grabbed her, twisted her arm behind her. Erin's shriek was smothered by a cold, clammy hand. "Shhh-" Breath tickled her ear-"Just take it easy. . . ." Surrounded by the oppressive sand, heat, and tension of Operation Desert Storm, soldiers Erin Grayson and Christina McIntyre shared a special bond. But when an ugly secret from Chris' past shattered their close friendship, they went their separate ways without even a goodbye. Four years have gone by since that day in the desert, but Chris has spent her entire life running from the past, hiding her deepest secrets from those who care for her most. And now tragedy has ripped apart her life. She sees no hope in tomorrow. It's a good day to die. . . . Overcoming her own anger and doubt, Erin rushes to Chris' Colorado cabin. When Chris' fear of God and Erin's faith in Him collide, they are involved in a different kind of war that only one of them can win. As Chris wrestles with grief, fear, and ghosts from the past, Erin fights to pull her from the brink of self-destruction. She will not lose Chris again. Chris' life is at stake . . . as well as her soul.

A new home. A new life. To have both, she must outlast a bitter storm. Once Chris fought for her country. Now she's fighting for her faith. And she's about to fight for her life. This is no mere storm. It's a deluge of catastrophic proportions. Swollen by record rains and a ten-inch snowmelt, the Willamette River is hammering Portland, Oregon, with the flood of the century. In Chris McIntyre's heart, a different kind of flood-a rising torrent of emotions-threatens to sweep her away from the community of Kimberly Square. Her newfound faith keeps her from running. But how can she stay? Her push-the-limits personality may have made her a perfect soldier, but it sets her apart from the people at her church. And it sets her at odds with Scott Mathis, the husband of her closest friend, Erin. Fearing for Erin's safety, Scott resents his wife's high-risk friendship with Chris. But when Scott and Chris are forced together to help Kimberly Square residents ride out the storm, a different, equally lethal danger descends on them. Death or redemption rest in the hands of one person-a woman with a warrior's heart.

Can Chris forgive the unforgivable? If not, is she willing to pay the cost? A cost that may be more than she ever imagined . . . There's nothing Chris McIntyre hates more than child abuse. And now one of the children at Kimberley Square's new gymnasium is showing the signs-signs Chris knows all too well. With no evidence to take to the police, the tough-as-nails former soldier knows it's time to take matters into her own hands. But her anger at the abuser goes deeper than defending an innocent child. Memories haunt Chris-memories of her own childhood and her own father. As these memories locked inside her well up into a rage that threatens to consume her, she finds it impossible to forgive. But how can she continue as a Christian while harboring hatred in her heart? One remarkable man may hold the answers to help Chris sort through the agonizing secrets of her past. To help her find a road to peace. But the route threatens to take her to a place she thought she'd never again have to go-a place she swore she'd die before ever seeing again.

Chris McIntyre has found a home at last. And life is good, with Chris savoring her status as a new aunt while she and Jason continue to explore their evolving relationship. But it's going to take a hero's heart to defend the community she treasures. It's the sweltering summer of 1996, and the quiet life of Kimberley Square is shattered by the sound of screeching tires as rival gangs battle to claim the neighborhood that has become home to Chris. This new kind of turf war between gangs is far more frightening than anything she and her buddies encountered on the battlefields of Desert Storm. Even as she guards her home, Chris also wonders if she dares to let down her guard emotionally. Will she have to choose between her love for Christ and her growing love for Jason? Standing Strong is the fourth novel in the Homeland Heroes series by Donna Fleisher