Review: 3.5 Stars! Sweet book that leaves you with the warm fuzzies!
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 11 12, 2013
Not Alone is the debut novel by Amber Nation. It has heartbreak, angst, swoon worthy moments and of course a super hot man that is the full package. For being her debut novel I think Amber did a really good job. She sucked me in from the very first page.Emmalynne was dealt hand that no one should have to deal with. Her douchebag husband, Bryce, treated her like crap. He berated her constantly and wasn't the man she thought he was. Luckily, she didn't have to deal with him anymore and could focus on her son Tucker and her bookstore. Emmalynne isn't your typical model thin lead character. She has curves and her self esteem is shot. She feels that she isn't worthy of love and isn't good enough for anyone. At times, she drove me CRAZY. I wanted to reach through my kindle and smack some sense into her. It got old hearing her say over and over how she wasn't good enough even though EVERYONE told her differently.Enter Grady Finnegan. Ex-military and new to Brown County. He came to town to take over his uncle's bar because he is retiring. Grady oh Grady. He is smoking hot, sweet, sensitive, and he cooks! HE COOKS! I love that he gave Emmalynne a run for her money in the cooking department. Grady had thought he knew love, he didn't, not until he met Emmy Lou as he affectionately calls her. Emmy is everything to him and loved his ways of showing it.It wasn't insta-love between these two but it was really close. They did have great chemistry though and watching Emmalynne start to open up to him was nice. Grady also has a great relationship with Tucker which I loved. I love that he realizes that Emmy is a package deal and Tucker comes with her. Emmalynne is a great mother and her relationship with Tucker was awesome. It had been just the two of them for so long they relied on one another and Amber did a great job of showing their relationship.I can't forget about the secondary characters in this book because they played such a huge part in the story. I love love love Toby and Tessa, Emmy's best friends. Tobey has a flare that is all his own. Tessa is the type of girl that everyone wants to have as a best friend. They both are there for Emma through everything that happens in this book and they are also there to tell her to get her crap together and stop feeling sorry for herself.There are multiple moments that happened in this book that I didn't see coming at all. It is not all roses and rainbows and I liked that it added some angst to the story to help break it up. I liked that we get to see both sides of the story and get to see what Grady and Emmalynne are thinking. There were times that Not Alone was predictable and it felt like I read this story before but all in all it was a good read and left me with that warm fuzzy feeling at the end of it.