Review of Point of Contact by Melanie Hansen

Welcome to the book tour for Point of Contact by Melanie Hansen. It's a raw and rich love story that captured my heart. I invite you to check out an excerpt and then read my review. Please leave comments for the author. You can also follow along the tour hosted by Goddess Fish for even more chances to win the $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card giveaway.

Disclosure: Some of the links present are affiliate links. Should you make a purchase through one, I may earn a small commission to help support my websites. I also received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. None of this influenced my thoughts and opinions in any way.

Point of Contact

There'd forever been a thread running through Trevor Estes's life—his son Riley, strong and constant like heartbeat. But when Riley is killed in combat, everything in Trevor's life unravels into a mess he doesn't know how to mourn.

Until Jesse Byrne, Riley's friend and platoon mate, arrives on his doorstep with a box of Riley's things. Jesse's all-too-familiar grief provides an unlikely source of comfort for Trevor; knowing he's not alone is exactly what he needs. Trevor never imagined he'd find someone who fills his heart with hope again. As the pair celebrate Riley's memory, their unique bond deepens into something irreplaceable—and something neither man can live without.

But diving into a relationship can't be so simple. Being together means Trevor risking the last link he has to his son...leaving Jesse to wonder if he'll ever be enough, or if Trevor will always be haunted by the past.

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Read an excerpt:

Trevor reached up to brush Jesse’s tears away, letting his thumb linger along his cheek. “So thank you. Thanks for letting me see my son through you.”

Jesse’s lips trembled. “I miss him. I miss him so much.”

Trevor slid his hand to the back of Jesse’s neck. “I know.”

With a small sob, Jesse reached out to wrap his arms around Trevor, pulling him close. His body was shaking, tremors of grief Trevor knew only too well wracking him from head to toe. All around them the world ebbed and flowed, oblivious to the fact a twenty-year-old boy had been torn from it, leaving behind two people who’d loved him and who now clung together, their shared pain a strange sort of comfort.

Trevor stroked Jesse’s hair as he shuddered against him, biting his own lip against the tears that stung his eyes. This was Jesse’s fight, and Trevor marshaled every ounce of composure he could, determined to be strong in return for this man who’d given him so much.

“It’s okay,” he murmured over and over. “It’s okay to miss him. I miss him, too.”

**My thoughts**
It's been a while since a book grabbed my heart as strongly as this one did. You start out getting to know Riley, as well as Jesse and Trevor. You get to feel the strength of their relationships and that intense bond between best friends and then a single man and his beloved son. I think I even fell in love with Riley a bit myself. And then you know that he is going to die, yet when that part comes, you're still completely overwhelmed. Grab a box of tissues. You'll need them throughout.

The loss of a child is one of the most brutal experiences a parent can go through. It's bad enough for the rest of us, but unbearable for the actual parent. Losing a good friend also rips you to the core. And perhaps the recent loss of a beloved friend made me feel that part even more than I would have reading this at another time.

When you're trying to find your way to a new form of normal that is passable for living generally permissible to the world around you, you find yourself alone when others don't understand what you're going through. Jesse and Trevor have one thing in common, Riley. Their shared love and loss is different and yet the same. They knew and loved the same young man, though they knew different facets. By putting their memories together, they put together a complete picture of their beloved. Their shared bond provides for them an understanding that no one else can match, making them beautiful partners. I found myself crying several times throughout the story as I shared in their joy tinged with pain.

About Melanie Hansen

Melanie Hansen likes to consider herself a cynic, but at heart she’s a hopeless romantic. Every morning she gets up before dawn to spend time with her characters, creating stories that are deeply emotional, sometimes heartbreaking, but in the end where love always wins. Melanie’s proud of the fact that two of her books have been named as RT Book Reviews Top Picks.

She grew up with an Air Force dad, ended up marrying a Navy man, and has lived and worked all over the country. Melanie hopes to bring these rich and varied life experiences to her stories about people finding love amidst real-life struggles.

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Melanie will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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