Review: 3.75 Sweet and Sassy Stars
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 22, 2013
“They say that true love is a once in lifetime thing. But I think sometimes, it can be twice in a lifetime. It can be two different people, or even with the same person but at different times in your life.”This is the first book that I have read by Erika Ashby and it won't be the last.  I really enjoyed the story line for the most part.  Her character development was good and the story flowed fairly well.  The struggles that her characters go through are believable and relatable.Dani, at the age of 28 has returned after being gone for the past 10 years.  She left home after high school graduation and never looked back.  She cut ties with everyone and set out to start over, to make something of herself.  Now that her father has passed away she has returned home to be there for her mom.  And what she gets is even more heartache form her older half siblings.  Dani's, character is very independent, caring and strong.  She puts everyone else's needs before her own.  When her ex-boyfriend Gage comes walking back into her life, she tries to make him understand that she only wants him as her friend.Holden Reynolds, returns home from the Navy and goes to work in the oilfields for his father.  Moving from town to town, wherever the work takes him.  Keeping busy gives him less time to dwell on his past.  He lost his best friend and the one girl he really ever loved to his cousin.  What he never expected was to find someone like Dani.  She breathes life back into him.  Makes him want to be a better person and want more for his life than what he is currently doing. He is so sweet with her.  Making sure they they take the time to get to know each other.  He doesn't want to rush what he feels for her.“I think we all go through things in our life that are meant to bring us to the person we are absolutely meant to be with.”When Holden asks Dani to move with him to his next job, his father steps in and creates hell for both of them.When tragedy strikes Dani once again, Holden is not there to help her, Gage is.  He seems to pull out all the stops to win her back.  When Gage's past and current actions come to light, Dani asks him to seek help and make his life better.  Thinking this is the one way to win her over, he agrees.Will Holden and Dani be able to overcome the issues of their past and find away to make a life with one another?  Or will there continue to be obstacles in their way?  When Dani's sister offers her a way for her life to be more complete, will she take it?I really enjoyed all the supporting characters..Especially Adyn, Dani's best friend.  They work together at the local convenience store.  Their crazy banter is great and you can tell that they truly have each others backs.  I wish we would have seen more of Tyler, Dani's older brother and Rusty, Holden's friend.Overall I did enjoy this book.  I loved the dual POV.  It is a sweet read with the HEA that we all long for.  I really like the epilogue and that really brought it all together in the end.  I did feel like some of the dialogue between Dani and Holden was more like rehearsed speeches. But the banter and whit between them was refreshing. I felt the editing could have been better also.  And I found myself questioning the research that was or was not done regarding certain topics in the story. If you are looking for a cute, sweet read.  Then this is the book for you.