Golden Hour

By: Kat Jackson

Narrated by: Lila Winters

Lina Ragelis prides herself on her bravery and strength, two traits that have served her well in her career in the US Army. Having been disconnected from her family since she turned eighteen, Lina has learned to rely solely on herself—and her slightly overbearing best friend—and she swears she prefers it that way.

It's an easy lie for someone who has spent her entire life dodging love. Lina's pretty certain that she's damaged goods. But the truth is, she's the kind of person everyone wants in their corner, and the kind of woman many women want to love.

Having had more than her fair share of challenges and hardships, there isn't much that scares Lina. Life would be so much easier if she were afraid of something basic—like spiders—instead of something significant. Something like real, true, healthy love.

©2022 Kat Jackson (P)2022 Tantor

This was an excellent book

It is important to talk about post trauma of people who served the country and this books deals with that. It was very well written, and narration was good as well.

Enjoyed the story

This book kept me well engaged. from beginning to end. Excellent writer Kat Jackson and narrator Lila Winters.

Brilliantly written, Heart-tugging story

Let me start by prefacing this with a few things:
* This isn’t a generic review (little summary)
* What I say are my honest reactions and opinions, and is not meant to be fluff or smoke up this author’s skirt
* This is based on reading the book and listening to the Audible version simultaneously (I tend to miss things in one or the other)

I started this story, Lina’s journey, on November 1 without having read any previous reviews or synopses. I prefer not to have any preconceived information going in.

Golden Hour isn’t a traditional cutesy, sweeter than cotton candy romance, although there is romance in it - good romance. This is a love story about finding out how to love yourself enough to untether from your past, and how to accept genuine, unfiltered love in return.

Lina’s escape to the Outer Banks is unclear at first. To address her past? To refresh her present? To find her future? Turns out all three. The more I read and listened, the more I had to address things in my own distance and recent pasts that weirdly aligned with Lina’s. The Good, Bad, and Ugly.

I tip my glass of Malbec to the author who, with absolute grace and respect, laid bare Lina’s demons as well as letting her ultimate desires sprout slowly.

Lina likes to think she’s broken or at least parts of her are broken. This is the part I hated for Lina but also connected with her. I don’t think she is completely broken despite her relationship traumas and her PTSD. She’s more bent and bruised. Totally repairable.

Lina has a support system who tells her like it is, but Lina is stubborn and knows she has to deal with things on her own, for the most part. Caitlyn is Lina’s proclaimed bff but she wasn’t my favorite. I found her to be a bit shallow and selfish. Mallory, Caitlyn’s girlfriend, is Lina’s voice of reason, that little voice she needs to hear to straighten out her thoughts. Keeley, Lina’s battle buddy, is her true bff. They’ve been through a lot together, highs and very low lows.

But the one thing missing is someone who doesn’t know Lina’s history. Someone who comes in with no preconceived notions. The Universe drops Regan into Lina’s orbit via a farmer’s market and some corn. (I wish the author would do some kind of give away with this book and…corn.)

From the very beginning Regan treats Lina like an equal, human being…loving, caring, direct, honest. Lina’s former “partners” objectified her for their own needs and whims, and when they were done with her they put her up on a shelf until they wanted her again. And to an extent, Lina is aware of this but she handcuffs herself to the idea that one day, maybe, they’ll want more.

The numerous flashbacks in this story give us an insight into Lina’s internal struggle with being available when these women come in and out of her life. The more time she spends with Regan Lina begins to understand what it’s like for someone to care about her and want to be with her for no other reason than because they want to and they like her for her. And throughout the story we see Lina’s personal growth to get to where Lina accepts Regan’s love. Regan takes the time to want to know Lina, everything about her, something Lina isn’t used to.

The walls Lina has up aren’t your standard sheetrock and plywood. Her walls are thick layers of concrete, steel, barbed wire, and fire breathing dragons…maybe even an alligator filled moat. But Regan sees and knows this and lets Lina know how she feels about her, but also lets Lina decide when she’s ready to let her in.

And eventually, Lina realizes that she doesn’t want to be without Regan and wants the love she’s never experienced before.

Lina’s journey is difficult and fun to watch at the same time. A lot of things, small things, in this story made me smile for various reasons. Some also squeezed my heart, and I had to stop reading or turn the Audible off for a while. I see Lina and Regan in people I know and in parts of myself. This, again, attests to the superb writing style and storytelling prowess of Ms. Jackson.

The descriptions the author creates throughout this book put me directly into the story. I felt Lina’s anguish. My body reacted to the fireworks and PTSD. I felt the sand annoying me. I saw each golden hour. I’m a self-proclaimed weather nerd, and there were many little bits of weather descriptions included that I loved. Again, the descriptions were not fluffy or inflated. Every single detail was described with concise, brilliant precision.

“The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.” - Maya Angelou

Great character development

If you judge this book by its cover (like I did for about 3 seconds) you might miss out.
I enjoyed the storyline, and the romantic unfolding was sweet.

Romance at its best

Wonderfully deep and developed characters who’s journey you admire and can’t take your ears off or stop reading. Highly recommend.
Note: PTSD warning but I would say low on angst anyway. Pleasant read.
Note 2: wonderful narration!

I loved the storyline

The characters were very well developed. The way that she handled the reactions of the main character to her situation was extremely well done. It was the first time I've listen to a book written by this author and I very much enjoyed her work. The narrator today wonderful job. I have since sought out other books by this author and by this narrator. It has been added to my favorites.

Dealing with PTSD and more

Lena has loved in her relationships but she has never had it reciprocated. She's always chosen the wrong women. after Afghanistan she then has to deal with PTSD. She runs away to the Outer Banks, and there she finds Reagan. Reagan is the sunshine to her darkness and Lena starts to heal.

A story of healing

While I have been following Kat Jackson on TikTok for a while, and I met her last summer at GCLS, I had never read any of her books until now. I have a signed copy of In Bloom, which I’ll read someday, but at the moment, my ears are much better at focusing than my eyes. And then Golden Hour appeared in my Audible suggestions, and I’m a sucker for sunsets, so voilà, I didn’t read the blurb, I dived in and let Kat Jackson’s words and Lila Winters’s voice carry me away.

A military lab technician, Lina believes she’s unlovable, or not worthy of love. Her parents, then her lovers made her feel like she was never enough, and then, there’s her PTSD. I don’t know if anyone can come back from active war zones one hundred per cent healthy, and PTSD on top of her low sense of self-worth has convinced her no one deserves to be burdened with her. And then she meets Regan, a gorgeous, sweet, funny, strong, gentle nurse, who makes her want to at least try.

This audiobook was at once pretty hard to listen to and extremely cute and healing. As someone with my own PTSD—I’ve written about it in previous reviews—I’m always mindful of potential triggers, even though I manage it a lot better now than I used to. I loved Regan’s open mind, her understanding, her absence of judgement, her patience too. Her calming presence and her respect and love for everything Lina is felt utterly believable to me. As did the descriptions of the physical and emotional manifestations of PTSD-related episodes. Jackson’s writing is efficient, to the point when the reader is in Lina’s head, mellower when Regan is on page. I enjoyed Lila Winters’s narration a lot as well, to my ears it fit each character to a T.

Read all my reviews on my website (and please get your books from the affiliation links!): Read all my reviews on my website (and please get your books from the affiliation links!): judeinthestars.com

A must read

This book is well researched and written from a kind perspective. The narrative was spot on. Characters very well developed without going overboard.

No spoilers here, just listen….

Another Amazing Kat Jackson Book

Kat Jackson knows how to write the hell out of a book and Lila Winters really does a good job of bringing them to life. The pacing was great and the voices worked well for the characters. Definitely worth a listen.