Beau and Tess Johnson have a marriage filled with love and future plans. Both are at the top of their game in their respective fields and when Beau gets an opportunity to boost his career as a photographer in Iraq Tess agrees it is advantageous. It is part of their '5 Year Plan' but soon after Beau leaves for Iraq Tess discovers she is pregnant. Unsure of how she feels about the pregnancy and how Beau will react, she puts off telling him. Unfortunately Beaus helicopter crashes in a remote part of the desert and his body isn't found.
Tess is convinced Beau is alive and refuses to give up hope, even in the face of a breakdown. Beau's parents and best friend urge her to plan a memorial for closure but still she refuses and they go ahead without her.
Beau is gravely wounded but alive. Found by two women, Suha and Samira, on the run from the violence of honor killings, they keep him safe and alive.
What follows is an emotional telling of two people in love and how they are handling this traumatic event apart. I found this story to be enthralling. It was hard to see Tess falling apart while here friends and family were convinced she was going crazy from the stress of losing Beau. As the reader, I knew Beau was alive but although Tess is convinced for the first few months, she begins to doubt.

Beau becomes increasingly close to Suha and Samira and her two boys. He is empathetic to their plight and feels a fierce protection for them. Although injured badly he resolves to help them get to a safe place.

Here is the Book Summary:Tess Johnson has it all: her handsome photographer husband Beau, a thriving business, and a newly discovered pregnancy. When Beau accepts an overseas photography assignment, Tess decides to wait to reveal her secret—only she’s never given the chance. Beau’s helicopter crashes in the desert.

Tess struggles with the news of Beau’s death and tries to put her life back together. Alone and dealing with a pregnancy that only reminds her of what she has lost, Tess is adrift in a world of failed plans and fallen expectations. When a new client appears offering more than just a new project, Tess must confront the circumstances of her life head on.

Meanwhile, two Iraqi women who are fleeing honor killings find Beau barely alive in the middle of the desert, his body ravaged by the crash. Suha, a doctor, and Samira, a widow and mother of three young children, nurse him back to health in a makeshift tent. Beau bonds with the women and children, and together, with the help of an underground organization, they continue their dangerous escape.

What happens next is a test of loyalties, strength, and love.

I loved this story!