Review: The Calm After (Into The) Storm
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 29, 2014
I had the pleasure (and the honor) of receiving an ARC of this story prior to release.  Like a lot of readers, I was impatiently waiting Showdown's story because of the utter devestation he went through in Behold The Stars and was anticipating how Ms. Fanetti was going to navigate him through it.To put a visual to the first three books in this series, Move The Sun was like a slow, rollercoaster ride to the top, the introduction of a brand new couple, the supporting characters and the town they inhabit.  Behold The Stars was that heart-stopping drop after reaching the peak with fast paced action, intense drama and violence.  In the case of Into The Storm (despite making the reader think we're headed for another catastrophe with the word `storm'), this book is that calm, level rail after that plunge to the bottom so riders can catch their breath a bit while watching a tale of healing and finding love unfold.Robert `Showdown' Ryan has not only been through the worst kind of hell and lost his family in the process.  In BTS we found out exactly what kind of sad family life he had with a wife who shut him out emotionally (and physically) because she couldn't manipulate him to give up the one thing he won't - the club, the very same club responsible for the personal loss he endured.  He is now a shell of a man, completely shut down and void, with no one but the club he has given unquestionable loyalty to, using alcohol as a means to cope while refusing to even enter his family home which has been abandoned.Enter Shannon Bannerman, the new manager of the B&B; whom we also met in book 2.  We sense an interest on her part in Show, but it's unrequited.  Little by little with patience (and some creative cajoling on Shannon's part) they find themselves in each other's company, each building a level of comfort with the other.  Shannon has her own issues ( which include a reason why she left a big city for the small town of Signal Bend), but she seems more willing to bend and take a chance than Show is.  Again, patience is the key here as they come together and, for a man who had been kicked out of his ex-wife's bed for 8 years, their coming together is explosive.And just like Isaac and Lilly, these two talk.  We're dealing with mature 30-somethings and beyond, so if you're fretting there'll be OTT theatrics, hysterics or storming out, don't worry.  And when they do talk, we find out more about them on a personal level which brings the reader closer to them as actual people.  When Shannon finds out about Show's marriage and how his ex treated him, her initial response was how he could've stayed as long as he did.  Show's reply, which became my catch phrase for him was, "I'm not built to leave.  I made a promise."  If you don't fall in love with this man after that admission alone, you are not a red-blooded female!Even though the club drama is tame (as it should be because the town is in a rebuilding phase and taking a breath of its own) there is concern for the high-profile status the town has earned and the `hollywood' aspect of it.  It's minimum, yet enough to keep the club involved as a character of it's own, which allows Show and Shannon's story to keep center stage and shine.The twist of the book is what Shannon had run from, which is a nice contrast to Show who `sticks it out'.  These are two people who have made sacrifices in their own right which is the common ground that brings them together.  And it's together that they help the other reclaim what was taken from their lives - Shannon a sense of finally feeling as if she belongs somewhere and Show, a reason to take a chance and start again.  Perhaps his best scene is where he finally puts his foot down with his exAll in all a wonderful, feel-good `calm after the storm' after being brought `into' it.  Their ending was as it should be and perfectly in line with Show's characterization.  Signal Bend has become my favorite reader vacation spot!