Leaving Annalise by Pamela Fagan HutchinsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Leaving Annalise by Pamela Fagan Hutchins is a 2013 SkipJack publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Leaving Annalise picks up right where Saving Grace left off. Katie is stunned to find that Nick has traveled all the way from Texas to see her. Now if you read the first book in this series, having Nick show up sort of left me conflicted. I felt like Katie had gone through enough and was finally going to have a little peace and then BAM! the source of so many of her troubles shows up and opens up all those old hurts again.
Things are not always as they appear and Nick ,as it turns out, has a plausible explanation for his behavior. He also has his hands full with family issues. His sister has a child and is on the run from her psycho boyfriend. Nick has promised to help her which means he can't stay with Katie. So, Nick goes back to the States and Katie stays and works on her home. But, one thing after another keeps the work on the house from ever making much progress and Katie's former boyfriend, Bart, didn't take the break up all that well.
Just when it seems that maybe Nick and Katie will finally have their happy ever after.... yep you guessed it. Life interferes and Katie will have to chose between staying in Annalise or going back to the States with Nick.
I really love this series. In this second chapter we get to finally find out why Nick was such a little jerk in the first book and we can catch up with all the people we met in the first book.
The charm of this series is that the author doesn't weave an epic unrealistic fairytale type romance. ( although I'm a sucker for those too)
Katie's life is a challenge as she tries to stay sober, deal with a long distance relationship, an exasperating best friend, an ex boyfriend with a vendetta', and becoming a "mother" to Nick's nephew.
Katie and Nick do the best they can with the cards they are dealt. This is what true love is all about. It's not always hearts and flowers. Life is tough and Katie and Nick don't always see things the same way and they argue, but they also work things out.
Katie has done some real growing up since we first met her. She is doing a great job of staying sober and taking on some rather unexpected challenges.
Nick is actually good for Katie after all. He still gets under her skin especially when he is the calm voice of reason and she wants to be mad.
Once more there is a lot going on with Bart going off the deep end, Ava still trying to become a star, the sabotage on Annalise, crimes, intrigue, tragedy and yes, our ghost is still making an occasional appearance. There is laughter, tears, heartbreak, fear, anger, and disappointments, and there is also love, commitment, family bonds, and hopefully and there will be more adventures like this one in the new book due out next month! Stay tuned! Overall this one is an A.
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