Review: The Whole Package
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 11, 2014
After the whirlwind that was Give Me Love by Kate McCarthy I wasn't sure what to expect from the second book in the series, Give Me Strength.  What I got was a funny, witty, touching, exceedingly gratifying read that was engrossing and that I never wanted to end.  Everything about this story was unexpected.  I wasn't expecting to love it so much.  I wasn't prepared to miss it so badly once I finished it, and I had no idea this book would ensure that there is a spot reserved for Kate McCarthy on my must read list from here on out.I definitely wasn't expecting Quinn, a girl that can give every single one of my favorite leading ladies up to this point a run for their money.  A girl who is cute and real.  A girl who is a bit clumsy, especially when outside of her comfort zone,  a tad insecure without being annoyingly so, much like the vast majority of us, and is stronger than she knows or gives herself credit for and is willing to fight for what she loves.  In fact, I really wasn't expecting Quinn at all, I was thinking more along the lines of Mac having her say in this one, but I couldn't have been happier to have been introduced to Quinn.I wasn't expecting the transition between stories to be so seamless.  The beginning of Give Me Strength was perfectly interwoven with the ending of Give Me Love and the introduction of Quinn was threaded into what we know of Evie's story so flawlessly and so comfortably it was like continuing on to the next chapter of one long story instead of picking up a new book, with a new focus, and new central characters.  It gives you a real feeling of coming home.  Coming home to good friends with the wonderful cast of quirky, funny, lively, charming characters.  Coming home to an intricate and thrilling storyline that surprises and captivates.  Coming home to writing that is absorbing and emotive.  And coming home to the bountiful band of hotties, the Badass Brigade, who can stir up a fiery inferno at the drop of a hat and can make you swoon with every utterance.I wasn't expecting to be introduced to someone outside of this tight-knit group of characters that we have all come to know and love and for that person to mesh so well and fit in so nicely that she is almost immediately considered family, loved, and cherished, not just by the characters in the story but by readers as well.  Quinn fell right in with the group as if she was always meant to be there.  She grabs onto your heart and simply refuses to let go.I wasn't expecting Give Me Strength to be so humorous.  I simply adore a book that can make me laugh.  Really laugh, like make a fool out of myself in public by laughing out loud, fully on belly laugh.  I haven't had so much fun while reading a book in quite a while.  I was constantly snickering, giggling and smiling.  Despite some tough issues and a whole lot of drama, every time I picked this book back up (that was after  I had been forced to put it down in the first place) it never failed to make me feel good, to put a smile on my face, or to lift my spirits with playful banter, amusing situations, and liberating love.Ok so I was kind of expecting an amazing epilogue.  Give Me Love's epilogue was so perfect that it set the bar pretty high for Give Me Strength.  Meeting my high level of expectation for this epilogue turned out, of course, to be no problem for Kate McCarthy to reach, in fact I would say she surpassed it.  An incredibly heartwarming, fulfilling, and deeply emotional conclusion, there is just the right length of time that has lapsed between the end of the story and the epilogue.  Not too long so that we feel like we have missed too much and just enough time for some monumental events to occur making you feel all warm and content and bringing Quinn and Travis' story to an ideal end.I expected Give Me Strength to be good, maybe even really good.  I even hoped it would be great.  In truth it was fantastic.  Give Me Strength is both comical and emotional.  It is both slow and tender and fast paced and action packed.  It is the whole package and then some making me a real fan of Kate McCarthy and of this series and leaving me anxious and elated to read Casey's story, Give Me Grace.