I agreed to be a part of the Ready to Love Again blog tour, though it is in the midst of my own blog tour for "Someone Always Loved You." Honestly, I find it hard to turn other authors down when all I want to do is help them out!
As part of the tour, I decided to read the book and post a review to go along with the other things. I wanted to see what it was about myself and write up what I honestly thought. And I honestly loved this book.
Let me start with the characters. They're real people! I mean, they're fiction, but they feel real. They are sweet and kind, but they have histories and flaws as well. In most romance novels, you know who is going to end up together from the very beginning and those two people bumble around and fight the urges to be together and so on and so forth. I was pleasantly surprised when early on in this book, the male character simply asked the female character out and they started a relationship. It felt different and more real and genuine.
That being said, the characters both have their problems...the male character, Chase, is a surgeon who lost his wife a mere three years back. He has two children and all of them are grieving. The female character, Katie, is divorced and has to deal with her young son's antics along with her ex's drama. Trying to reconcile all of those details and form a new relationship isn't easy. But again, the issues are so real that it was believable in every way.
The book switched perspectives back and forth from the two main characters, but it was very seamless in the way it was done. I almost didn't notice the changes and instead just felt like I was sitting and watching a movie rather than reading. The characters were so likable I genuinely cared for all of them and wanted things to work out well for them in the end. Even the children characters had real issues they had to deal with because of their circumstances and they all felt very much like something that could happen in the real world.
The only thing I found a bit unrealistic was the Chase's sister. She is a Godsend to him because she helps with his kids and his life and everything in between. While she seems to have a life of her own, she also seems too centered around him. He almost takes advantage of her kindness and willingness to help, I felt. It was hard for me to imagine a sister going to the lengths that she did to help him, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen!
This book did have a few love scenes in it, but they were pretty tastefully done. You get the point without having the details lined up and graphically laid out for you. I felt the scenes were classy as far as those types of scenes go and they didn't bother me, even when I was reading while rocking my baby to sleep. :)
I really enjoyed this book and would definitely read more from this author. It was a sweet romance that dealt with real life issues. It was also well written with no complaints at all from me in that area. It flowed well and kept me turning pages whenever I had even a second of a chance!