New Zealand Fiction

The missing ingredient They say love will set you free, but do the orphans of war ever really experience that freedom? Ambitious and dedicated, Jackie Coles is the shining success story of a once abandoned child. But as her 40th year approaches, the realisation that something is missing in her life is overwhelming. How can someone who has everything lead such an empty life? A chance meeting Rescue pilot, Jeff Hunter, fell in love with Jackie the first time they met. Years later, a chance meeting brings all those same feelings flooding back. When Jackie’s stepfather falls ill, she makes him a promise that she will return to the country of her birth and meet the family who abandoned her as a baby. But what will she find in Vietnam? The answer to her loneliness? A truth she never knew she was searching for? Can Jackie really have it all? And what about Jeff? He’s more than perfect and falling in love with him is far too easy. But what if Jackie’s trip back to Vietnam threatens to destroy every chance at happiness with Jeff? Will she have to choose who she can love and who she can’t? Or will Jeff make that choice for her? An emotional story of discovery, loss and second chances. The Return is Jackie’s story.