Wounded Healer

Homeland Heroes #1

by Donna Fleisher

Homeland Heroes is a four-part series of Christian novels, focusing on the friendship of two women who meet in the U.S. Army in 1991 during Operation Desert Shield. It takes place during the first nine months of 1996 in a neighborhood inside the heart of Portland, Oregon, whose residents have named Kimberley Square. Titles (#1) Wounded Healer; (#2) Warrior's Heart; (#3) Valiant Hope; (#4) Standing Strong.

Genres: Fiction, Christian Fiction, Christian, Military Fiction, Ebooks

310 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Donna Fleisher, like her father and brother, is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. Her previous novels include Wounded Healer, Warrior's Heart, and Valiant Hope. She lives on the Oregon Coast and is in a never-ending search for sand dollars.

Reviews

[Jodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book by Donna Fleisher. Granted, Donna Fleisher has a style of writing that kind of drives me bonkers, but the storyline is excellent and the characters are the ones you are rooting for. There were some things in this book that I thought should not have been in there, but otherwise this was an excellent book.

[Ellen White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Serving together in Desert Storm, brought them close. Newspaper article draws Erin attention, and felt Chris needed her. Her husband Scott didn’t want her to go, but she felt the urgency to go. Uncertain if Chris would even see her, and what the outcome would be. Friends of Chris knew she was troubled and needed help, but how. With prayer and patience, could she get thru to Chris. Finding out what was behind Chris thoughts, losing a man she loved, was a deep moving story. Loved the characters of Chris and Eri. And felt story was well written.

[Kaitlyn Huff · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars is generous tbh. This was so cringy and boring and repetitive. Also, it was like it was trying to be a historical fiction but never got there and wasn't at all. Just There were some good messages and lessons in here for sure, but was just poorly written. I almost DNFed and lowkey wish I did 😅

[Allison Anderson Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique story, well-developed characters, but after a while, it was just too much drama and struggle. It became tiresome because of the main characters struggles - it needs more levity to make it enjoyable.

[Teresa Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story of foxhole friendship that survives difficult times and thick walls. Can’t wait for the next book in the series!

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've wanted to read WOUNDED HEALER for awhile, and I'm glad that I did, since I read it in a day. The story has a lot of good things going for it, but be forewarned that, at least for me, there were several things that were also so irritating I often wanted to throw the book against the wall.

Erin Grayson and Chris McIntyre served together during Operation Desert Storm. Although they obviously came from different backgrounds and had different belifes (Erin was a Christian and Chris was not), the two formed a close friendship during the few months they served together. Until Erin caught a glimpse of the reason behind Chris's emotional stress, and a tragic accident caused the death of a fellow serviceman. After that, the two women went their separate ways with no further contact.

That is, no contact until Chris is involved in another tragic event that once again results in death. Erin, resolved that God wants her to help her old friend, hops on a plane and heads to Chris's side, determined to help her through the hard times, no matter how long it takes.

And it's going to take awhile. Chris is battling personal demons, ones that have been with her since she was a child. She finds solace in alcohol, doesn't want to hear a word about God and his plans for her, and is convinced that her current lot in life is all that she deserves.

What follows is a story told in present day, with Erin hoping desperately that Chris will come to find God's love, interspersed with sections of story dedicated to the women's time in Desert Storm.

First, the good: These two characters are great, easy to relate to, and the dialogue is, for the most part, believable. Although I absolutely cannot stand Scott Mathis, Erin's husband, I'm hoping that my attitude towards him will change when I read the second book in the series. I really enjoyed the parts of the book set during Desert Storm, and came to love the secondary characters of the story.

The not so good: Although I enjoy Christian fiction, Ms. Fleisher has a way of pushing the religious aspects on the reader. I know a lot of very religious individuals, but I've never met anyone in real life who literally prays with every other breath - about every single thing - like Erin does. These parts of the story irritated me, but the backbone of the storyline was interesting and enjoyable enough that I kept reading.

Overall, I'm not sure I'm a fan of Ms. Fleisher's writing style, but thankfully her storyline is intriguing enough that I plan on reading the rest of the series.

[Shira Karp · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I was not a person who could wade through the preachy. Although not my faith, I enjoy many Christian fiction works when the religion is merely one part of the story. Because of that, I download pretty much all of the free Christian fiction novels, including this one. I didn't finish it, so I don't know how it ends but I can guess.

Bottom line: if you enjoy Christian fiction where the main plot-line is to help a character find Jesus and become a practicing Christian, you will enjoy this book. If, like me, you only enjoy Christian fiction where the religious plot is a background plot, you probably will be irritated by this book.

I really enjoyed this book at the beginning. Chrissy's tragedy and the backstory was very interesting and I felt it was fairly well written. However, once Erin became a character, almost every other line was an italicized internal conversation G-d or Jesus on Erin's part. I basically skimmed over those. Even with that, I stuck through it through more than half the book because the backstory of Chrissy and Erin in Iraq was extremely interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed those parts. However, by the time Erin got Chrissy to come stay with her for a bit and we met some of the other Vets that they served with, it became obvious that the backstory was basically done and the rest of the book was going to be dedicated to this bunch of people helping Chrissy accept Jesus into her heart as that will somehow make her abusive childhood and the violent death of her boyfriend who died to save her... I don't know, matter less? Make the pain more acceptable? At that point I decided I'd gotten as much from the book as I could and closed it.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took me some time to read since it was on my e-reader and I generally only take it with me to appointments and such. But I finished my last library book and was close to finishing this so did so tonight. I found it very slow going at the beginning and considered not continuing, but did persevere and am glad I did. It was a free download, as were the sequels, so I will continue with the series, but not right away. Chris and Erin served together in Desert Storm, Chris as a medic and Erin a nurse. Erin was wounded and Chris blames herself even though she also saved Erin's life. The story picks up four years later although there are flashbacks. Chris has been forced to kill again and is on a downward spiral when Erin, now married and expecting a baby, arrives to help.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing!!!!! I loved reading this book and had looked forward to the rest of the series. Chris has such a strong personality. And she stops at nothing till she gets her way. She didn't let her past keep her from her potential to help others.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book about faith and friendship. In each of the women characters, Erin and Chris, you see the tough side and the soft vulnerable side. Erin was a good reminder to never give up on people. It wasn't a sappy, girls book about friendship, but it was about honestly loving someone, and believing God for what He wants to do in that person's life. The message of salvation was very clear.

[Lillie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Erin credits Chris with saving her life in the war. Chris blames herself for Erin's injuries and the death of another soldier. Erin is a Christian; Chris, who has severe emotional damage from childhood trauma, is not. When Chris suffers another trauma, Erin is determined to help her. Chris is determined she won't be helped. I lost patience with both of them throughout the story, but the final result is good.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book in terms of demonstrating that behavior we often judge and reject without an attempt to understand, can have some deep wounds at the bottom of it The characters were a bit contrived, but still fairly realistic. It is a good example of how one's relationship to a loving Lord encourages one to persist in caring despite initial discouraging results.

[Darice Taipalus · Rating 1 out of 5]

not loving this book.

Very preachy and the friendship, which I know is platonic because it is a Christian book, at the beginning seemed much much more. The story would have felt more true/real if it was but instead it just makes it feel like bad writing.

Stopped in chapter 5

[Amy Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great series of books! Hoping this author writes more!

[Sandi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Christian Fiction was new to me when I picked this book from Amazon's free kindle offerings. Seems contrived and overly preachy.

[Deloris Mercer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Excellent storyline, the setting is wonderful and the characters are so true to life. Thank you Msn. Fleisher. Look forward to more from this author.