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Common Ground
Only love can begin to heal the deepest of battle scars.
Rachel Raymond has always loved her job - she's a strong, independent foreign correspondent and has built up an illustrious career chasing stories across the world. But her life suddenly changes forever when at the end of a tour based in war-torn Afghanistan, the vehicle she and her team are travelling in hits a roadside bomb.
Liliana Howell is over the moon when her long lost best friend returns unexpectedly the week before Lily's wedding in the South Australia Riverland. But it doesn't take her long to realise that something is different about Rachel, even though her old friend refuses to talk about why she's finally come home.
Fireman Tate Cassidy has also made the trip to the Riverlands for the wedding and finds himself instantly drawn to the mysterious journalist. Tate has his own demons to fight, but when he finds himself falling for this woman who's seen too much, can he use their common ground to help her through her darkest time? And will Rachel let him close enough to show her that love can heal all wounds?
Rachel Raymond has always loved her job - she's a strong, independent foreign correspondent and has built up an illustrious career chasing stories across the world. But her life suddenly changes forever when at the end of a tour based in war-torn Afghanistan, the vehicle she and her team are travelling in hits a roadside bomb.
Liliana Howell is over the moon when her long lost best friend returns unexpectedly the week before Lily's wedding in the South Australia Riverland. But it doesn't take her long to realise that something is different about Rachel, even though her old friend refuses to talk about why she's finally come home.
Fireman Tate Cassidy has also made the trip to the Riverlands for the wedding and finds himself instantly drawn to the mysterious journalist. Tate has his own demons to fight, but when he finds himself falling for this woman who's seen too much, can he use their common ground to help her through her darkest time? And will Rachel let him close enough to show her that love can heal all wounds?
252 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2015
2 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
Cheryl Adnams
12Ìýbooks31ÌýfollowersCheryl Adnams has published four Australian rural romance novels and three Australian historical novels. Cheryl has a Diploma in Freelance Travel Writing and Photography and has lived and worked in the United States and Canada, and spent two years working with a tour company in Europe.
While she loves to travel overseas, especially to Italy, her favourite writing retreat is her own home on the stunning blue coastline of South Australia's Fleurieu Peninsula.
When she's not writing, Cheryl is still creating in her busy full-time job as a learning designer
While she loves to travel overseas, especially to Italy, her favourite writing retreat is her own home on the stunning blue coastline of South Australia's Fleurieu Peninsula.
When she's not writing, Cheryl is still creating in her busy full-time job as a learning designer
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 25, 2017
I've really enjoyed this read by Cheryl Adnams, one of her earliest books I think. It takes a clever and emotional look at post-traumatic stress disorder in both the hero, Tate, and heroine, Rachael. He is a fireman, currently off work after a serious injury in a fire where a child died; and she is off work too, after being injured when a bomb exploded as she was covering a news story in Afghanistan.
Now they meet for the wedding of Rachael's best friend Lily, and Tate's best friend, Brett.
None of the PTSD is glossed over. I felt the 'unravelling' of Rachael throughout the book was incredibly well done. She's convincing everyone 'she's fine'; but slowly imploding the entire time.
The South Australian setting is gorgeous. Very familiar to me as I've been to Walker Flat and Mannum, and to the German Arms, The Lane, The Parade and so many other wineries and places mentioned.
I recommend this. It's romance with a whole lot of story to go with it.
Now they meet for the wedding of Rachael's best friend Lily, and Tate's best friend, Brett.
None of the PTSD is glossed over. I felt the 'unravelling' of Rachael throughout the book was incredibly well done. She's convincing everyone 'she's fine'; but slowly imploding the entire time.
The South Australian setting is gorgeous. Very familiar to me as I've been to Walker Flat and Mannum, and to the German Arms, The Lane, The Parade and so many other wineries and places mentioned.
I recommend this. It's romance with a whole lot of story to go with it.
May 12, 2015
There are still a lot of readers out there who tend to shy away from the romance genre thinking that it’s all “fluff� with protagonists jumping in and out of bed with each other with no depth to the story. As a reviewer, I feel that those readers just need to find the right book and this latest by , could possibly change their mind, if they give it a chance because she is an author who writes with substance.
Cheryl doesn’t write romance inasmuch as it’s boy meets girl, girl falls in love with boy and they live happily ever after. Yes, her romances (like most) do have happy endings but it’s her characters that have so much to offer us in terms of real life issues � in this novel, it is PTSD, alcoholism, survivor’s guilt and the profound emotional impact on both the sufferers and those closest to them.
In a departure from her Muller’s Field winery series, Cheryl brings us Common Ground in which she gives us the story of Rachel Raymond, a war correspondent who has returned from the frontline in Afghanistan, broken not only by the things that she has seen but the injuries she sustained from an exploding IED - stark reminders of the human cost of bearing witness in an increasingly hostile environment.
Returning to the Howell’s home in the Riverland in South Australia for the wedding of her best friend Lily, Rachel isn’t looking for anything more than time to heal her shattered soul and body. Suffering with debilitating nightmares and fatigue from the lack of sleep, she is exhausted � physically, mentally and emotionally � and can’t seem to find her way out from the chasm that threatens to suck her right in. Her mental health is in tatters but, for the sake of her friend Lily’s special day, she hides all this from those she loves. Until she meets the groom’s oldest friend!
Fireman, Tate Cassidy, hasn’t been lucky in relationships and prefers to keep the fairer sex at arms-length since his break-up. After suffering his own trauma in the line of duty, he, too is healing. He is drawn to Rachel who brings out the sensitive side of him and, while it’s taken more than a year for him to make the decision to go back to work, witnessing the strength she displays for the benefit of others while being keenly aware that there are deeper issues at play, is what allows him to put his own life and recovery into perspective. They definitely share common ground but he just can’t seem to break through the barriers she has erected so that he can help her through her latent trauma. If only she can overcome her reluctance to seek help so that her healing process can begin.
It’s been a few days since I lay this book down, but the subject-matter of this latest novel by Cheryl Adnams continues to haunt my thoughts. She definitely doesn’t disappoint as she brings the larger issues to life and, by the time I turned the last page, my emotions were all over the place.
Whilst the Prologue efficiently sets the scene for the tone and mood of the novel, Cheryl (as with most contemporary romance authors) has structured her novel from the points of view of Rachel and Tate and she has also made use of some fantastic dialogue (in particular the scenes involving Tate, her nightmares and the fireworks) that both moves the story forward and enhances the characterisation of both her main protagonist and her secondary characters, allowing the reader to get the “bigger picture�.
She writes with an assured confidence that exudes from the pages of this novel and the sheer complexity of her characters shows that she has gotten to know them inside and out. Given this and, while I loved the relationship that grew between Rachel and Tate, it was the pure minefield of emotions Rachel found herself dealing with and the utter tenderness that Tate showed towards her that saw my eyes constantly being flushed with tears.
Cheryl's research about the situations that both our men and women in the armed forces as well as journalists find themselves in and the impact of the sights and sounds they are surrounded with is impeccable and a few times I caught myself trying to reach out and help Rachel get through her pain as her vivid nightmares and flashbacks stirred something deep within me.
In order to keep this review as concise as possible, I have only touched on a few of the elements that Cheryl has utilised but, as a whole, the result is an absorbing story about two people not quite sure how they’re going to reach the end of that long road to recovery which touched my heart. In the grander scheme of things though, this is a story about the pain that a PTSD sufferer can hide in private along with the secrets that they are too ashamed to talk about.
All in all this was an extremely satisfying reading experience from an Aussie author who has earned pride of place on my watchlist!
For my full book review, please visit:
Cheryl doesn’t write romance inasmuch as it’s boy meets girl, girl falls in love with boy and they live happily ever after. Yes, her romances (like most) do have happy endings but it’s her characters that have so much to offer us in terms of real life issues � in this novel, it is PTSD, alcoholism, survivor’s guilt and the profound emotional impact on both the sufferers and those closest to them.
In a departure from her Muller’s Field winery series, Cheryl brings us Common Ground in which she gives us the story of Rachel Raymond, a war correspondent who has returned from the frontline in Afghanistan, broken not only by the things that she has seen but the injuries she sustained from an exploding IED - stark reminders of the human cost of bearing witness in an increasingly hostile environment.
Returning to the Howell’s home in the Riverland in South Australia for the wedding of her best friend Lily, Rachel isn’t looking for anything more than time to heal her shattered soul and body. Suffering with debilitating nightmares and fatigue from the lack of sleep, she is exhausted � physically, mentally and emotionally � and can’t seem to find her way out from the chasm that threatens to suck her right in. Her mental health is in tatters but, for the sake of her friend Lily’s special day, she hides all this from those she loves. Until she meets the groom’s oldest friend!
Fireman, Tate Cassidy, hasn’t been lucky in relationships and prefers to keep the fairer sex at arms-length since his break-up. After suffering his own trauma in the line of duty, he, too is healing. He is drawn to Rachel who brings out the sensitive side of him and, while it’s taken more than a year for him to make the decision to go back to work, witnessing the strength she displays for the benefit of others while being keenly aware that there are deeper issues at play, is what allows him to put his own life and recovery into perspective. They definitely share common ground but he just can’t seem to break through the barriers she has erected so that he can help her through her latent trauma. If only she can overcome her reluctance to seek help so that her healing process can begin.
It’s been a few days since I lay this book down, but the subject-matter of this latest novel by Cheryl Adnams continues to haunt my thoughts. She definitely doesn’t disappoint as she brings the larger issues to life and, by the time I turned the last page, my emotions were all over the place.
Whilst the Prologue efficiently sets the scene for the tone and mood of the novel, Cheryl (as with most contemporary romance authors) has structured her novel from the points of view of Rachel and Tate and she has also made use of some fantastic dialogue (in particular the scenes involving Tate, her nightmares and the fireworks) that both moves the story forward and enhances the characterisation of both her main protagonist and her secondary characters, allowing the reader to get the “bigger picture�.
She writes with an assured confidence that exudes from the pages of this novel and the sheer complexity of her characters shows that she has gotten to know them inside and out. Given this and, while I loved the relationship that grew between Rachel and Tate, it was the pure minefield of emotions Rachel found herself dealing with and the utter tenderness that Tate showed towards her that saw my eyes constantly being flushed with tears.
Cheryl's research about the situations that both our men and women in the armed forces as well as journalists find themselves in and the impact of the sights and sounds they are surrounded with is impeccable and a few times I caught myself trying to reach out and help Rachel get through her pain as her vivid nightmares and flashbacks stirred something deep within me.
In order to keep this review as concise as possible, I have only touched on a few of the elements that Cheryl has utilised but, as a whole, the result is an absorbing story about two people not quite sure how they’re going to reach the end of that long road to recovery which touched my heart. In the grander scheme of things though, this is a story about the pain that a PTSD sufferer can hide in private along with the secrets that they are too ashamed to talk about.
All in all this was an extremely satisfying reading experience from an Aussie author who has earned pride of place on my watchlist!
For my full book review, please visit:
July 2, 2015
This book was some kind of awesome reading! Rachel's character is strongly portrayed and once she meets Tate fireworks and clashes start straight away! Striking characters, strong story and emotion charged segments had this reader absolutely enthralled.
Lots of devastation in this read. The first chapter had me in shock.
5 Stars
Full review on Talking Books Blog website.
*Review copy received from the Publisher for an honest review.
Lots of devastation in this read. The first chapter had me in shock.
5 Stars
Full review on Talking Books Blog website.
*Review copy received from the Publisher for an honest review.
October 12, 2015
Common Ground wastes no time in throwing the reader into the life of its main character, Rachel. She immediately comes across as a woman whose dedication and hard work and her mental and emotional toughness have landed her in the middle of a traditionally male world of foreign correspondence journalism and middle-eastern warfare. Yet there’s something about the way Rachel interacts with her colleagues early on that hints at a softness within her too. She’s gutsy and straight talking and completely dedicated to her job, but you also get the sense that the relationships she’s built in Afghanistan have become an important source of her strength. When a catastrophic event occurs at the end of the prologue we already have a looming sense of the devastating impact this will have on Rachel’s life.
The settings within the chapters that follow couldn’t be further removed from war torn Afghanistan. We’re shifted to an idyllic rural property on the banks of the Murray River in Australia. It’s owned by Rachel’s lovely ‘adopted� family, the Howells, who are about to celebrate the marriage of their much-loved daughter Lily to nice-guy Brett. But even before the first scene is over you sense that Rachel’s scars, both emotional and physical, are going to be ripped apart within this family paradise. But because Common Ground is a romance, you also know there will be someone around who will both challenge her to reclaim the life and happiness she deserves and be there to support her as she does it. Tait doesn’t disappoint in this role.
Tait is traumatised both physically and emotionally by his own past. He should be running a million miles from Rachel, but there’s something beneath Rachel’s brittle fragility that draws him to her. She’s drawn to him too because she senses there’s a gentle if battered determination and toughness in him that’s already ‘been where she is�, and which will give her the strength to face her own demons and support her as she does.
Because of the background situations of the two main characters, Common Ground could easily have descended into an overload of emotional drama and sentimentality, but it doesn’t. Instead, Tait’s and Rachel’s stories unfold in a very natural way as they interact with each other and other characters, and react to events leading up to the wedding. Common Ground is a sensual story, but essential to the physical relationship between Tait and Rachel is a very tender romance where trust and hope builds slowly, not because of fireworks-style attraction, but because of an affinity between them that comes from deep within. A lovely story.
The settings within the chapters that follow couldn’t be further removed from war torn Afghanistan. We’re shifted to an idyllic rural property on the banks of the Murray River in Australia. It’s owned by Rachel’s lovely ‘adopted� family, the Howells, who are about to celebrate the marriage of their much-loved daughter Lily to nice-guy Brett. But even before the first scene is over you sense that Rachel’s scars, both emotional and physical, are going to be ripped apart within this family paradise. But because Common Ground is a romance, you also know there will be someone around who will both challenge her to reclaim the life and happiness she deserves and be there to support her as she does it. Tait doesn’t disappoint in this role.
Tait is traumatised both physically and emotionally by his own past. He should be running a million miles from Rachel, but there’s something beneath Rachel’s brittle fragility that draws him to her. She’s drawn to him too because she senses there’s a gentle if battered determination and toughness in him that’s already ‘been where she is�, and which will give her the strength to face her own demons and support her as she does.
Because of the background situations of the two main characters, Common Ground could easily have descended into an overload of emotional drama and sentimentality, but it doesn’t. Instead, Tait’s and Rachel’s stories unfold in a very natural way as they interact with each other and other characters, and react to events leading up to the wedding. Common Ground is a sensual story, but essential to the physical relationship between Tait and Rachel is a very tender romance where trust and hope builds slowly, not because of fireworks-style attraction, but because of an affinity between them that comes from deep within. A lovely story.
April 8, 2018
(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)
Rachel Raymond has always loved her job - she's a strong, independent foreign correspondent and has built up an illustrious career chasing stories across the world. But her life suddenly changes for ever when at the end of a tour based in war-torn Afghanistan, the vehicle she and her team are travelling in hits a roadside bomb.
Liliana Howell is over the moon when her long lost best friend returns unexpectedly the week before Lily's wedding in the South Australia Riverland. But it doesn't take her long to realise that something is different about Rachel, even though her old friend refuses to talk about why she's finally come home.
Fireman Tate Cassidy has also made the trip to the Riverlands for the wedding and finds himself instantly drawn to the mysterious journalist. Tate has his own demons to fight, but when he finds himself falling for this woman who's seen too much, can he use their common ground to help her through her darkest time? And will Rachel let him close enough to show her that love can heal all wounds?
*4.5 stars*
Australian romance fiction is usually categorised as light and fluffy, usually in a small town in the Outback, and have two perfect protagonists - rich and beautiful and all those things that make Mills & Boon books popular. This book is different.
While, essentially, it is still a romance novel, this story digs deeper into the characters - and their lives - to give the reader a wholly different approach to characterisation. These two characters are damaged, flawed - and you can't help but feeling drawn to their stories. Rachel's physical and mental scars are huge - yet Tate is drawn to her, despite his own traumas. How they find "common ground" makes for very good reading.
A seriously good story that not only brings to life these two characters but also the Murray River region in South Australia. Lots of real life places get a mention, adding authenticity to the settings.
If you are looking for something more than fluff and filler, then this extraordinary novel is just the thing for you.
Paul
ARH
Rachel Raymond has always loved her job - she's a strong, independent foreign correspondent and has built up an illustrious career chasing stories across the world. But her life suddenly changes for ever when at the end of a tour based in war-torn Afghanistan, the vehicle she and her team are travelling in hits a roadside bomb.
Liliana Howell is over the moon when her long lost best friend returns unexpectedly the week before Lily's wedding in the South Australia Riverland. But it doesn't take her long to realise that something is different about Rachel, even though her old friend refuses to talk about why she's finally come home.
Fireman Tate Cassidy has also made the trip to the Riverlands for the wedding and finds himself instantly drawn to the mysterious journalist. Tate has his own demons to fight, but when he finds himself falling for this woman who's seen too much, can he use their common ground to help her through her darkest time? And will Rachel let him close enough to show her that love can heal all wounds?
*4.5 stars*
Australian romance fiction is usually categorised as light and fluffy, usually in a small town in the Outback, and have two perfect protagonists - rich and beautiful and all those things that make Mills & Boon books popular. This book is different.
While, essentially, it is still a romance novel, this story digs deeper into the characters - and their lives - to give the reader a wholly different approach to characterisation. These two characters are damaged, flawed - and you can't help but feeling drawn to their stories. Rachel's physical and mental scars are huge - yet Tate is drawn to her, despite his own traumas. How they find "common ground" makes for very good reading.
A seriously good story that not only brings to life these two characters but also the Murray River region in South Australia. Lots of real life places get a mention, adding authenticity to the settings.
If you are looking for something more than fluff and filler, then this extraordinary novel is just the thing for you.
Paul
ARH
June 14, 2017
Romance, sharp wit, and the deep ties of friendship swirl through this book, anchored by a set of truly likeable characters, and one not so likeable but still highly entertaining. But don't be mistaken by thinking this is a light and fluffy read. At the heart of this novel is a very important story about a very real issue within our society. The author handles the deeper moments with sensitivity and skill, while still maintaining an engaging narrative throughout. There are moments where I laughed out loud and moments where I read through tears. This is a great book and I highly recommend it to those who love a contemporary Australian story with the lot. My only disappointment was that it finished! I look forward to reading more from this author.
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May 4, 2015Have to put this aside for a week or two...
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