By K.A. Tucker

Like all the other wonderful novels that I have read by K.A. Tucker, I wasn’t able to put this novel down after reading the first chapter. It was all consuming and I was in a wonderful bliss, until I tuned on the evening News which seems to be a little much for my mental health most days. This novel was the much needed hope that I needed to start my year off (First novel of 2021), it was wonderfully done. The character development was perfectly timed, the plot line was smooth and fast, the characters are amazing (the only downside, is that I want more of Keith’s character) and that ending was fairytale worthy. This novel explored very tough situations and experiences, handled it with all the grace and empathy that is needed to share the emotions of what it would take to live through something like that. 

“Twenty-four-year-old truck stop waitress and single mother Catherine Wright has simple goals: to give her five-year-old daughter a happy life and to never again be the talk of the town in Balsam, Pennsylvania: population two thousand outside of tourist season.

And then one foggy night, on a lonely road back from another failed attempt at a relationship, Catherine saves a man’s life. It isn’t until after the police have arrived that Catherine realizes exactly who it is she has saved: Brett Madden, hockey icon and media darling.

Catherine has already had her fifteen minutes of fame and the last thing she wants is to have her past dragged back into the spotlight, only this time on a national stage. So she hides her identity. It works.

For a time.

But when she finds the man she saved standing on her doorstep, desperate to thank her, all that changes. What begins as an immediate friendship quickly turns into something neither of them expected. Something that Catherine isn’t sure she can handle; something that Catherine is afraid to trust.

Because how long can an extraordinary man like Brett be interested in an ordinary woman like Catherine…before the spark fades?” – Synopsis from Goodreads 

I felt that K.A. Tucker did a wonderful job at displaying all the raw emotions that Catherine’s character discovers and learns about her repressed past experiences. This novel shines a bright light on the issues of people being able to get away with inappropriate behaviour because of money and power. This novel also displays the tough decisions that parents have to make in raising children and how crazy intense young love can feel. Catherine’s able to reflect back on her life to see that maybe her memories are different than what happened and now that she is an adult she is able to see the signs of grooming and that maybe she was taken advantage of. 

The secondly characters in this novel are amazing! I wish that I could have a whole novel just on Keith’s character alone (he is amazing and so loving). The support system that Catherine creates around herself is the family that she always wanted and she is so grateful for the love and support. My first job was working as a dishwasher girl in a little family run restaurant, K.A. Tucker has the dynamic of what it is like to work and belong to a special workplace that thinks of every member as family. Working for a family run business means that you have someone looking out for you. 

If you are looking for a romance novel that believes in second chances and finding true love this is the novel for you. Also, if your a fan of the NHL then this novel might be for you as well. 

I do feel that something was missing but I haven’t put my finger to it yet so it is a 4 stars out of 5. I have ordered two more of K.A. Tuckers novels and I can’t wait to read them! 

I hope that everyone is staying safe.

Keep on Reading,

The Reading Dyslexic