My Little Rock Airman by Brittany Fichter
Military Romance. 324 Pages. 5 Stars
Synopsis:
Jessie has one rule: No dating airmen. Unfortunately, Derrick Allen doesn’t seem to care.
But what does it matter? Prince Charming had a horse, not a cargo plane.
Jessie
A strange silence settled over the car. And though I scrolled through my inbox, I found myself more and more unsettled by the man sitting beside me. Which was stupid. This was Derrick, the guy who tormented me for half of our relationship and spent the other half playing pranks and begging me to help him avoid his boss.
So why I did I feel like I was really meeting him for the first time? And why did it suddenly feel like maybe…maybe it was time to rethink the rules after all?
***
Derrick
It had to be the uniform. Women were weird about uniforms. It was just something I wore every day. It had function and utility. Once I’d accidentally terrified a group of kids in a gas station, who I quickly realized were from another country. But Jessie didn’t look terrified. She looked…curious.
And though that would have concerned me two months ago, now I couldn’t help but wonder if I liked it.
***
My Little Rock Airman is the first in the My Air Force Fairy Tale series, clean and wholesome standalone novels about life and love with military men. Read it today to find love, truth, laughter, and the magic of happily ever after.
My Review:
A moment to gush: GUYS!! First of all, I adore Fichter, so perhaps I’m biased, but this proved to be every bit as satisfying as her fantastic, fantasy adventures. This woman can write a story! And I’m ever-increasingly amazed by her style. I love how she tells stories with such realistic elements and yet infuses such hope and joy in each one. It’s hard living in a messy, broken, rotting world sometimes, but Fichter sees such light and brilliance and she’s masterful at weaving that into her tales.
The story is set in Little Rock, Arkansas. I’ve never been, myself, but I sure felt like I had by the time I finished this delectable story. Right down to the exit names and building descriptions, I truly felt like I had more than set foot in the town, but like I had lived there since I was fifteen, too. I’m not typically a huge contemporary fiction fan because I love fantasy worlds and cultures and politics, etc. But this felt like reading a story that I could connect with on a different level, a story that could really happen, one I could be a part of one day. And that was a bit of a new experience for me.
Let’s talk Derrick and Jessie. And Jade and Melissa and Sam and Amy and parents. Wowza! What a cast! I’m not the least bit surprised that Fichter’s characters wormed their way into my hearts. Shoot, I let the guard down quick now when I pick up her books. She has a way of writing real people, regardless of the world, people whom I could spot walking down the street, people whom I could call or text myself, people who could be my own friends. And I love it. I love getting to know their stories, watching how they react, celebrating their triumphs, flicking them on the head when they do stupid stuff, and yelling at my kindle when they do exactly what I beg them not to. Jessie is scarily someone I could relate with way too much. The teacher in me reveled in her teacher quirks and the bookworm in me definitely grinned at that warehouse! It was like we were on a team, facing the summer together. And Derrick. Man, Fichter, why you gotta go and write a man like that? I’d blame you for feeding into my fantasies, but he was so beautifully realistic. I loved his cracks, his faults, his frustrations, and his pokes and prods. I loved how their relationship developed and grew (and if I hadn’t known you as the sucker you are for a happy ending, I’d have been worried there at one point! In fact, I WAS!). The cast of side characters rounded out the story so beautifully and each had their own distinct, imperfect, endearing personalities. Ugh, can I just move to Little Rock and meet these peeps already?!
The story follows these amazing characters in this all-too-real world through one very colorful summer and then a little beyond as the consequences of that summer unfold. It was a page-turning, heart-melting, absolutely delightful read. The changing points of view were like a guilty pleasure. I loved getting inside Derrick’s head!! And the short chapters made it easy for me to look up and find I’d unknowingly buried myself in for far too many hours.
There is no foul language, almost no violence (just some storm damage at one point), and the sweetest, clean romance. I’d highly recommend the book to anyone who melts at frustrating misunderstandings, under the gaze of big-hearted uniforms, and roots loudly and proudly for people who don’t even exist.
Note: I was graciously given a free ARC and the above are my unhindered thoughts on book 1 along with my quite blatant, sob-cheering demand for books 2 and 3.
More:
My Air Force Fairy Tale Book 2 is My Carolina Airman (5 Stars)
Book 3 is My Las Vegas Airman (5 Stars)
The above are rated and reviewed on Goodreads. Follow the links for more information.
These are standalone novels and don’t need to be read in any particular order.
On GraceBought
See my review of the next book in the series here!