Book Details:
Book Title: Roses in December (Hamilton Place Book 2) by Mark A. Gibson
Category: Adult Fiction 18 yrs +, 358 pages
Genre: Family Saga Fiction, Thriller, Historical Fiction
Publisher: Hamilton Press (Self)
Release date: April, 2024
Format available for review: print (print - softback / USA and Canada) and ebook (EPUB and PDF)
Tour dates: Feb 5 to Feb 23, 2024
Content Rating: A soft R for the following: Language, although appropriate for situation, does have a smattering (perhaps 5 uses over 350 pages) of the F-word. Sexual situations are more so implied than graphic, although there is one soft description of fellatio. There is no use of derogatory descriptions for persons, sexes or races. No graphic violence is described.
Jimmy Hamilton overcame childhood tragedy to become a hero in Vietnam, only to die there in 1967. All but forgotten, Jimmy leaves behind a young wife, an infant son, and a man wracked by guilt.
Circumstances allow Becca, his young widow, to be manipulated into an abusive, loveless union with Jimmy’s brother and into raising her son ignorant of his father’s true identity—a wrong she knows must be set right…but how? When?
Like Jimmy before him, James, Jr. is an intellectually gifted, albeit troubled man. Hamstrung by the false narrative of his life and then tormented by an unspeakable loss, his days are spent treading the knife’s edge between present day reality and a past he’s incapable of forgetting.
With his final act of bravery, Jimmy unknowingly saved the scion of a powerful Washington family. In so doing, he set in place circumstances that just might draw his son back from the abyss…but only if he can somehow make it home from Vietnam.
Roses in December concludes the Hamilton Place series, an epic family saga extending from the Great Depression to present day. Through war and peace, love and loss, triumph and tragedy, follow the Hamilton family on their journey from a run-down farm in South Carolina, through the jungles of Vietnam, to the top of the world in New York City, and through the gardens of stone at Arlington.
Mark A. Gibson is a physician who practices Cardiology in the mountains of rural North Georgia. He was raised on a small farm in upstate South Carolina—the last postage-stamp sized sliver of a much larger parcel granted to the family by land grant from King Charles II in 1665—and may or may not have once gotten in trouble for digging up his mom’s calla lily bed in search of the family’s long-lost charter.
Dr. Gibson graduated from the Citadel in Charleston, SC with a BS in Biology. Afterwards, he received his medical degree from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia, SC. He received his Internal Medicine training through the University of Tennessee Medical System and Cardiology training through the Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center. He served for eight years on active duty with the US Air Force, before leaving the military for private practice.
Although a cardiologist by profession, Dr. Gibson is a dreamer by nature. He is a self-styled oenophile who enjoys travel and fine food. In his spare time, he builds sandcastles and dreams of distant shores.
Roses in December represents Dr. Gibson’s second offering to the world of literature, and the conclusion of his Hamilton Place Series. All previous publications have been of the professional, peer-reviewed, medical variety, and make for lovely sleep aids.
Connect with the author: amazon ~ X/Twitter
My Thoughts
Roses in December is book two in the Hamilton Place series. The series is written by Mark A. Gibson. This series has been such an amazing read. This was a new to me author, and I’ll be on the lookout for his work moving forward.
Jimmy Hamilton overcame childhood tragedy to become a hero in Vietnam, only to die there in 1967. All but forgotten, Jimmy leaves behind a young wife, an infant son, and a man wracked by guilt. His wife is shattered when Jimmy dies. She soon finds herself in an abusive marriage with Jimmy’s brother. Oh my heart broke for her. She wants so desperately to right the wrongs of the past and keep Jimmy’s memory alive.
The author has created such a variety of characters. They are flawed, have pain, relatable and all have an important voice in the story. This series was such an emotionally wrecking story. He did great research to bring this Vietnam era book alive.
Thank you to the author, publisher and IRead book tours for allowing me to read a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.
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