She hated him because she loved him ... While World War II rages in Europe, Catherine McKinney's internal war boils over. Since her parents' deaths, Catherine retreats into herself, growing to believe she's unworthy of love. Yet her growing feelings for Henry Bradley threaten to change everything. Henry, her twin brother's best friend, is the best dancer and biggest flirt in town. Outgoing and arrogant, he's the most unexpected person for Catherine to fall in love with. When the men take up arms to defend their country, Catherine must shoulder the full responsibility of running the family home as well as encourage her brother and Henry on the front line. As the atrocities of war take a toll on Henry, he finds solace in his letters with Catherine, in which they share their fears and hopes. As their connection grows, Catherine must choose the fate of her internal war: crush her true feelings and life in isolation or conquer her fears and let Henry into the fortress of her heart. Will she ever be able to be vulnerable enough to let anyone else take care of her? And does Henry, now war-torn and broken, have the strength to fight Catherine for her heart? "Catherine is fiery, temperamental, and determined. Henry is handsome, debonair, and her twin brother Caleb's friend. He also delights in knowing " how to spark the fire that would appear in her normally ice blue eyes ": a habit and skill that doesn't necessarily ingratiate him to Catherine. It's clear that there are fireworks between these two disparate personalities even in the first sentences of Catherine's War ; but things heat up in an unexpected manner as events drag Catherine and Henry into something far greater than a stormy relationship between the two. Cat and her brother are committed to fixing up the old family homestead; a venture that taxes their strengths after full-time work during the day and places them at odds with each other when Caleb needs some time away. But Cat's bristly nature - especially around Henry - doesn't just come from his ability to press the wrong buttons, but from his talent at bringing up memories of a past Cat is working hard to forget. While the nutshell of their encounters appears early in the story (" Her icy blue eyes met his in a strong visual battle. She found his closeness unsettling and fought hard to maintain the barriers to her heart ."), events will spiral them both away from their set courses in life and headlong onto a road neither anticipated. Catherine's War is a romance, on the face of it; but it's also a story of friendships, family ties, long journeys, and the juxtaposition of the glories of enlistment over the sacrifices of love. Catherine and other women face tough times as their objects of affection and sources of support vanish, leaving them both vulnerable and strong in new ways they couldn't have anticipated. Separation, war, and the uncertainty of a familiar home to return to beset Henry and his fellow fighters as much as they do Cat and those whose lives are forever changed by events wider than their relationships and family ties. How does a man leave everything he loves, descend into the pits of hell, and return again to pick up the pieces? How does the woman he loves cope with challenges that have changed the course of their lives and forced upon each a maturity that in turn creates a new vision of the future? Catherine's War delves into these transition points and their meanings and impact on love, and though its characters are not deeply presented as complex psychological creatures, they are understandably human in their efforts to survive war, peace, and love. As Denise Micka's characters dance through the compulsions and controversies in their lives, so readers are drawn into a heady saga about what impacts the evolutionary course of love in a leisure read recommended for anyone who enjoys a good love story laced with the lasting impact of war." - D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review