What an interesting look at women in the field. Squared Away is the first book I have read from this author and I hope it will not be the last.

Strong characters and engaging storyline. Suspenseful and intriguing. All of these characteristics is what makes this such a great read.

This book was different; well at least different to me. It's told in the first person, by a female Army veteran/journalist; Joelle Mc Coy. It was interesting to get her "take" on things while she was enlisted; but, there is little detail about her day-to-day army life and more of it centering on her and her "battle buddy", Concepcion Chapa. Joelle is a mid-westerner and Concepcion is from Miami. It wasn't an "instant" friendship; but, it was a lasting one. Joelle is devastated to learn that her best friend was killed in a traffic accident in Miami. Concepcion had joined the FBI when she left the service and Joelle isn't really convinced that her friend died. This story is Joelle's journey of discovery of herself and coming to terms with the death of a friend. I enjoyed the story and the character development; it flowed well; but, to me it's just missing something that I can't put my finger on, that kept it from being a great story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and did not want to put it down. The author’s writing style is suspenseful and kept me engaged. I look forward to more of Ms. Dill’s work.
Many thanks to White Bird Publications and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

In Squared Away, Alicia Dill has written one of the perfect strong women warriors novel!
Where two women meet during basic training and develop a ride or die friendship.
And things are never as they seem in the military.
The ending was unsatisfactory to me, so I feel sure there will be a sequel!
Solid four stars. I’m looking forward to this story continuing!

Thank you NETGALLEY for my ARC, you are the BEST!

This was a bad cable book for me'; meaning if I would have had cable at the time I might not have read it. It was okay, but the writing was stilted to me but I know writing is hard. The best part was that at least our heroine seemed real, and Joelle was endowed with al these incredible talents that usually destroy a books chances.

Former Army soldier Joelle MCcoy doesn't believe her battle partner's death is the accident it is reported as and she seeks to get to the truth.

Joelle has been in the military for long enough. She goes back home to MIssouri and her life slowly rolls on - she works as a free-lance reporter for the local paper and is re-habbing an old farmhouse that she bought. She hears that her best friend - Concepcion - has been killed in a car accident. But something seems fishy to Joelle. She drives to Florida for the funeral and becomes more convinced that something isn't the way it should be. Is she right - or is Concepcion really, truly dead?

A fascinating realistic view of a woman's struggle in a man's military and the friendship that grows therein A very strong female with enough flaws and insecurities to keep fairly realistic..

This author needs better friends. Without professional editors, independent authors need friends to read and make honest comments. Here they have failed.
The characters are OK, besides some very strange decisions, the language is sometimes stilted, and the plot is totally lame. There can be no good story without a proper plot, so this could have been much better (I'm trying to be nice here).

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Thanks NetGalley!

Such an easy read. It's on the shorter side for sure.
I'd label the basis as friendship.

It's a short and easy read with female friendship as a main theme. I would say it is a book that everyone can read though it's nothing really ambitious.

My main complaint was too little description of emotions. The voice of narrator says what is happening or what was happening in the past but not much about feelings. We know that she's sad or happy because it is said that she cried or laughed, but... I don;t know, I wish the prose was more complex in this aspect.

Overall, I liked this book as a one evening read and I recommend it to every woman who knows how important is friendship and what is worth to fight for it.