Rating: 5/5 stars
Genre: Romance
Pages: 348
Summary: Calida is recovering from being in an abusive relationship. She’s shut herself off from the world and is focused on raising her young son, Shawn. Malcolm is a childhood friend and wants to prove to her that she can find love again: with him. Both must decide what they’re willing to risk for a chance at happiness.
So, this book sort of found me, instead of the other way around, and I’m sure glad I decided to read it. (Read: I won it in a giveaway on Twitter!)
There’s a lot to love about this romance. And yes, I know some of you are going, wait Cheyanne read a romance, what? And she liked it? But yes, that’s what happened.What I liked about this book is that instead of centering on a broken relationship, it focused on the aftermath of an abusive relationship. Moreover, it focused on the recovery and the difficulty in learning to trust again, and the difficulty that the loved ones of a person who was in an abusive relationship might face. It’s a very raw book in places, but also very touching.
I thoroughly enjoyed the way that Malcolm was portrayed. He’s a good guy, and he wants to do what’s best, but that does not mean he’s perfect. He makes mistakes, he stumbles and most of all he is human in a fantastically real way. My favourite part is the absolutely adorable relationship between him and Shawn. I love it when men are shown with great parenting skills (there are lots of amazing dads out there!).
Calida is a woman who has shut herself into a glass case and won’t let the rest of the world in. She hides so much of her pain from her family and friends. I loved her journey throughout the story, I won’t get too specific cause spoilers, but I think it speaks volumes about the nature of pain and its relationship to the people around us.
The relationship between the two characters was fantastic. I didn’t feel like either character compromised too much for the other, rather there was very much a sense of what can we do to be better for each other, together. Relationships are a two-way street guys, so it’s nice to see them written that way.
My one complaint is that it felt like Calida and Malcolm’s relationship came to a natural climax (yeah, I’m giggling at this wording too) and then everything resolved itself really easily and then there was a long drawn out part about the happy ending. I guess, I just feel that the build-up to it was great and then it was a little anti-climactic.
But seriously, I highly recommend this book. It’s a raw book about the struggles of healing and finding love after a great pain and a testament to the strength of the human heart.
To buy it click here.
If you want more information about Meka James and her books, check out the links below:
Website: http://www.authormekajames.com/
Twitter: @AuthorMekaJames