Books & Spoons Review for A SOLDIER'S SONG by Irene Onorato

Can love conquer all?

All Special Forces sergeant Jason Dexter ever wanted was to serve his country—with his father’s blessing. Although the elder Dexter has yet to make his peace with his son’s decision, Jason has no regrets. Still, he has mixed feelings about returning to his upstate New York town. But his perspective changes at a friend’s wedding, where he meets a lovely, gifted musician. Now Jason has a new mission: to get to know Aria Greco better. 

The daughter of Jason’s commanding officer, Aria dreams of becoming a concert pianist. Meeting the handsome soldier transforms both their lives. But Aria’s ambition, Jason’s unresolved family conflicts, and jealousy over rivals on both sides soon threatens their blossoming relationship. As Jason prepares for a dangerous deployment, will the mounting tensions tear them apart, or is their love—and the faith they share—powerful enough to heal the past and embrace the future?

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A poignant and tender tale of a soldier's struggle to find peace, love, and balance in his life with troubled father relationship, alcoholic tendencies, and a wounded heart from the past relationship. 
This series has been an inspiring and uplifting experience. Each story is unique yet every one of them testifies to the fact that we can overcome the hurdles of life, that faith in God gives a solid foundation to build a life upon, and all things are possible for those who believe so. 
Jason Dexter is a hero easy to like. He is charming and fun, his compliments come from the heart and he is not shy about sharing them. Everyone loves him and wants to be around him, and that might be a problem to a budding relationship. His former girlfriend cheated on him, yet is vindictive and goes out of her way to ruin any possibility for Dex to be happy with someone else. His father had other plans for Dex's future than the army and wants to remind him about that every chance he gets. I don't blame Dex for wanting to stay away from him and his belittling and admire Dex for the willingness to give new chances to his father. 
Aria Greco is a sweet, kind, and thoughtful heroine. Her music career has been in the center of her life until she meets Dex and falls hard for the handsome soldier from her dad's team. To balance the career, the budding long-distance relationship and the drama Dex's career, family, friends, and addiction bring to them is a new kind of challenge to Aria and test her patience, understanding, and perseverance. 
The author has a uniquely realistic and life-like way to tell a story that still has the magic of a romance tale yet portraits characters that are far from perfect yet willing and able to work on their issues and search for solutions in the battles their face.
The tale pulled me in and kept my interest cause I was emotionally invested in the story, and cared for the characters and wanted to cheer them on with the constant hurdles life was throwing at them. 
A sweet and clean story, yet filled with deep, churning emotions of passion and love and well as life hurdles and challenges that had the characters growing both personally, in their relationships, and in the faith in God. 
~ Four Spoons with a teaspoon on the side

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Irene Onorato was born and raised in Bronx, New York. Her father, a first-generation American whose parents were born in Italy, was an Army veteran who had served with the 178th combat engineers during WWII. He told numerous stories of battles, hardships, tragedies and triumphs. The glimpses he gave into the hearts of many American warriors would later become the inspiration for much of Irene’s writings.

In 1972, a few months after graduating high school, Irene met James Onorato, a soldier who had just returned from Vietnam. After dating two weeks, they married, raised three children, and are still happily married today.

Irene and James, both radiation protection technicians, retired from the nuclear power industry in 2014 and now reside in Louisiana.

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