Dakota

by Karen E. Baker

When U.S. Marine Dakota McKnight returned home from her third tour in Operation Iraqi Freedom, she carried more baggage than the gear and dress blues she had deployed with. A vicious rocket-propelled grenade attack on her base left her best friend dead and Dakota physically and emotionally wounded. The marine who once carried herself with purpose and confidence, has returned broken and haunted by the horrors of war. When she returns to the civilian world, life is not easy, but with the help of her therapist, Janie, she is barely managing to hold her life together...then she meets Beth.

Beth Kendrick is an American history college professor. She is as straight-laced as they come, until Dakota enters her life, that is. Will her children understand what she is going through? Will she take a chance on the broken marine or decide to wait for the perfect someone to come along?

Time is on your side, they say, unless there is a dark, sinister evil at work. Is their love strong enough to hold these two people together? Will the love of a good woman help Dakota find the path to recovery? Or is she doomed to a life of inner turmoil and destruction that knows no end?

Genres: Lesbian, LGBT, Military Fiction

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 7, 2015

About the author

Karen E. Baker lives just outside of Portland, Oregon with her wife Nancy. She is a U.S. Navy veteran who served in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm (the first Gulf War) on the hospital ship USNS Mercy. Hailing from the social customs taught in the deep south and reinforced by her years of military service, Karen has never dropped the courtesy of saying “sir” or “ma’am.” This sometimes gets her into trouble with her sister for calling her “Ma’am.” These days when not rock hounding for semi-precious beauties, she fills her time writing and chasing Nancy around their home to stay in shape.

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Pin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dakota has a lot of (just about all) typical flaws of a first novel (dialogue, plot, characterization...), and it was quite difficult to read in places (had to put it on hold for some time), but I had to finish reading to see what would happen in the end.
The premise of the story was interesting and I actually liked it. Main characters were not Dakota and Beth, but Dakota's PTSD and voices in her head. Beth and her daughters were too good to be true, and they are written somewhat like characters from a fairytale.
The book requires considerable editorial intervention (structural/heavy editing), and with that it could have been an amazing story. In this state it is pretty jumbled, to say the least.
And another thing -- I do not know about the paperback, but the ebook version has a number of bad formatting issues.

[Nikki · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story opens with an introduction to Dakota and her ‘voices’, which is good, as that’s basically what the entire story is about. The story itself is melodramatic, with whiplash occurring between "EVERYONE HATES ME AHHH THE VOICES I NEED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL" to the very next scene being "ok lover, we're on a date now" with no transition. Also some form of “voices” was used 170 times in this book. Which, even for someone having a lot of voices, is A LOT. The book wasn’t formatted correctly as an ebook, and there exists no paragraphs as a result. Which has the unfortunate side effect of rambling chapters consisting of two lines of text broken up by double-spacing with no structure. That itself is frustrating, but even with correct formatting, the narrative is a mess. It is basically a character becoming increasingly erratic with her post-military PTSD, experiencing the exact same cycle over and over until the book ends. This is unfortunate, as PTSD is a serious problem that deserves a lot of discussion. Oh! And characters get introduced with no backstory so you have no idea who they are. “Val” introduces these two with no real understanding (on my part) as to why, aside from “I thought you’d like each other” then disappears for the rest of the book until Dakota brings her up as someone that’s “always been there for her.” Say what?

[Melissa Hensley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enlightening

I really enjoyed this book. I had no idea what someone who suffers from PTSD has to deal with on a daily basis. I really love the relationship Dakota and Beth have and the unconditional love Beth has for Dakota. This is a highly moving story that brought strong emotions to the surface. Yes it made me cry. I found the story very moving. This is a very good debut story and I will be looking for more from Ms. Baker.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The novel DAKOTA is kick-butt accurate and faithfull to the storyline that US Navy veteran Karen E. Baker created during her own struggles with war-related PTSD. Though the book is neither a biographical nor a wartime narrative, her experiences in the Gulf War eventually led her to the paths of other war veterans learning to deal with PTSD following their return home from war. DAKOTA was created as a perfect example of the challenges our loved ones face amid a society that is unaware of the mind-blowing triggers that may affect their ability to love, trust and carry on with their lives. I highly recommend this book to all readers, family and GLBT military veterans alike. At the time of this post, DAKOTA has earned nominations for awards in the 2016 GCLS (Goldie) and Lambda Literary competitions.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emotional

This book....is emotional, exhausting, but extremely informational. I think, if Dacotas issues were more brief and book went bit deeper it could be 5 star read.

[Charlotte Lowry Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took a bit of hunting down to find this book but I don't regret it. Dakota suffers a lot from her PTSD and its is raw. The relationship she has with Janine and Beth is inspiring and shows what effects mental health can have on those around them. I wasn't a fan of the big page gaps but I think this is down to a print issue. Overall worth the hunt it took to find it and am glad to add to my bookshelf.

[Blink51n · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the writing style difficult at first, but it really matches Dakota's scattered brain. Most of the book feels like a whirlwind of events dictated to the reader which isn't my personal preference in a narrative. The characters are great and well developed, however and the author does a good job of showing how both parties are affected by mental illness.
3.5 stars

[Joelenne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dakota

This book was alright. I really liked the idea and and book topic but I found some of the dialog to be pretty corny and unfortunately found myself breezing through pages. However I did like Dakota and the other characters.

[Margaret L. Hedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly moving.

Wow. I read this book in one sitting. I couldn't put it down. What a heart wrenching story. It really made me think of all the returning vets and the problems they face. Beautifully written.