Point of Contact

Title: Point of Contact
Author: Melanie Hansen
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: March 26, 2018
Genre(s): Military, Hurt/Comfort/Healing
Page Count: 451 pages
Rating: 5+ stars out of 5

Read book blurb here

Kintgusi is the centuries-old Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by joining the pieces and emphasizing the fractures with gold, silver or platinum. Instead of hiding the breaks, the fractures become part of the restored piece, showing there is beauty in the imperfect and broken.

In much the same way, Point of Contact shows lives that are crushed, destroyed, ended ... yet the reconstruction creates a new beauty, a new life that is not simply a repair of the old, but a new creation that will forever be different than the original, but no less valuable and precious.


In another writer's hands, this story might have been a brief introduction to Riley - Trevor's beloved son who dies in Afghanistan - with the bulk of the story about Jesse, Trevor's platoon mate, and Trevor getting to know each other, falling in love, and having lots and lots of hot sex. A good read, yes, but nothing to really touch your heart.

Point of Contact gives us Riley - his birth, childhood, young adulthood - in loving detail, as well as glimpses of the man he might have become. And when he dies, it falls to his best friend Jesse and his father Trevor to put the pieces of their lives back together, and create a new life together. Jesse gives Trevor the gift of sharing the man Riley was becoming, while Trevor gives Jesse the background of how Riley came to be the caring, kind, goofy, loving 20-year-old he was.

 And along the way - slowly and gently - the two men fall in love and their story is so, so beautifully written. I especially love how Hansen crafts Carl (Trevor's former fiance) who is not the villain of the piece, despite leaving Trevor. And Riley's combat mates from Afghanistan are also lovingly fleshed out as well.

Yes, there is a lot of grief and heartbreak, and I shed a lot of tears while reading Point of Contact, but it was worth every tear and I highly recommend this book. 5+ stars for Point of Contact.