Carolina Man by Virginia Kantra

Carolina Man by Virginia Kantra is about Luke and Kate.  Luke is a Marine who years prior ended up with a daughter he was never told about.  Kate is a former military brat and lawyer, boss and friend to Luke’s former flame.  When his ex-girlfriend dies suddenly Kate notifies Luke that he has a daughter and what is he going to do about it – expecting him to give up his paternal rights and leave the child with her maternal grandparents.  Instead within hours he has left the war zone and headed home to meet this 10 year old, Taylor. Taylor is afraid to let anyone close after losing her mom and is prickly but comes to love her new extended family while her dad finishes his tour overseas.  Luke and Kate end up working together to heal this child’s heart and to protect her from the world, in the process falling in love.

This book is part of a series that I will follow.  The author creates worlds you can picture and characters you come to love. Personally, I love a good “man in uniform” story and Virginia shows the honor and commitment that embodies that ideal.  I love how Luke does the small things like braving his ex’s parents to try and get a picture for his daughter and when that doesn’t work he keeps trying.  The protective instinct of a father and a military man comes to play at several points in this book as Luke discovers Taylor’s uncle terrifies her and why.  This leads to major life choices for this man who planned to make the military his career. Ms Kantra does a great job building her story.  I am looking forward to discovering more from this author.

4 stars