“The Difference a Day Makes” by Barbara Longley begins with Paige Langford losing her marketing job because of her boyfriend’s betrayal. Along with the loss of her job and income, she is coping with the duplicity of a so-called lover. She decides to visit her brother and sister-in-law, Noah and Cee-Jay in Perfect, Indiana, near Evansville. Her brother is a returning veteran who has conquered PTSD and has started a business with his brother-in-law creating and building furniture.

In the meantime, Noah has contacted Ryan Malloy, who served in his outfit and is struggling with PSTD himself. In fact on the very night that Noah called, Ryan was drinking and playing Russian roulette as a way to end his haunting remembrances of the war. Ryan accepts Noah’s offer and heads to Perfect, Indiana.

Paige and Ryan do not hit it off at first meeting. She is wary of trusting and loving again and he doesn’t think he is fit company for anyone. He has built a wall around himself that he wishes would insulate him from his memories and nightmares.

I really enjoyed this book, not only because it takes place near my hometown, but because it is well written and easy to read. Evansville, Indiana was at one time a furniture manufacturing city and there is an area near there where Perfect could actually be located. I very much enjoyed the interaction among the various characters of the story and the story line of the novel.

I received a free advance reader’s print copy of this book for my honest review from the publisher, Montlake Romance. The opinions expressed here are my own.

You can read this review on my blog at http://wp.me/p2pjIt-4X. ( )

On the night his drinking and playing Russian roulette would have turned deadly, army war veteran Ryan Malloy gets a phone call from his former lieutenant asking if he’d like to come work for his American-heritage furniture company in Perfect, Indiana. Because he knows he’s in a dangerous spiral, Ryan accepts. Meanwhile, his lieutenant’s sister, Paige Langford, is fired from her first job when her boyfriend at the firm sabotages her. Licking her wounds, she flees to Perfect and her brother. When Paige and Ryan meet, sparks fly, but both resist because their self-esteem is at rock bottom. As they get to know each other and work at the furniture company together, however, their attraction and their sense of self-worth build. Longley successfully attacks issues associated with returning veterans as well as those commonly associated with finding oneself as an adult and recognizing true love. Neither Ryan nor Paige can truly be there for the other until both dispel their demons and become whole.
— Pat Henshaw ( )