From the New York Times bestselling author of Triangles comes an exquisitely told story about a young woman torn between passionate first love and the gripping realities of war.
Meet Ashley, a graduate student at San Diego State University. She was raised in northern California reading poetry and singing backup in her best friend's band. The last thing she ever expected was to end up a military wife. But one night she meets a handsome Marine named Cole. He doesn't match the stereotype of the aggressive military man she'd always presumed to be true; he's passionate and romantic, and he even writes poetry. Their relationship evolves into a deeply felt, sexually charged love affair that goes on for five years and survives four deployments. Cole desperately wants Ashley to marry him, but when she meets another man, a college professor, with similar professional pursuits and values, she begins to see what life might be like outside the shadow of war.
Written in Ellen Hopkins's stunning poetic verse style, Collateral captures the hearts of the soldiers on the battlefield and the minds of the friends, family, and lovers they leave behind. While those at home may be far from the relentless, sand-choked skies of the Middle East and the crosshairs of a sniper rifle, they, too, sacrifice their lives and happiness for their country at war. And all must eventually ask themselves if the collateral damage it causes is worth the fight.
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"A great read! This is the reason I was read this author. The story made sense - and was so much better than the last one. It picked up right where the other story left off and left out the side story of his son - which I still think is ridiculous. All that said, this was a Holly Barker book - not a Stone Barrington book. Oh, he was there; but, in such a minor role it wouldn't have mattered if he was part of this story or not. He sat in on random meetings for no particular reason; but, other than that this is all Holly. It was a great story - and one I read in one afternoon - as it was a fast-paced, taut story!"
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Kristine (5 out of 5 stars)