Review: Compelling story of second chance love
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 6, 2014
I couldn’t wait to read this sequel to The Return.  I was fully engaged in the lives of Eve and Jake and felt so many emotions with their relationship.  Again, as in The Return, it brought some painful memories from my marriage/divorce and I could empathize with the couple.Eve and Jake have many issues to deal with and their relationship suffers.  They love each other but their past experiences cause them to think they can’t be enough for each other.Eve has returned to Newport to resign from her judge position, pack up her house, put it on the market, etc.  Jake is worried that once she returns to Newport, that she will find excuses to stay there.I loved that Eve’s 20 year-old daughter Clarissa, who is studying in England, encourages her mother to move to Colorado and even talks to Jake by phone several times.  She is aware that her mother is so much happier and she wants her mother away from the snobbish, back-stabbing people in Newport and the father/ex-husband.  Clarissa is instrumental in reuniting Eve and Jake, talking to both when there are problems, etc.  Clarissa shows up unexpectedly in Newport and Eve is overjoyed to spend time with her, as she doesn’t get to see either daughter often. (The 14 year-old daughter decided to go to boarding school after the parent’s divorce.)  Jake thinks that Clarissa looks and acts very much like her mother.  He is crazy about her and thinks of her as another daughter.  He is angry that Clarissa and her sister Amber have had to deal with the actions of their father and his new wife.We meet Eve’s ex-husband and his wife, who you can’t help but hate.  After seeing how Eve has changed due to her relationship with Jake, her ex-husband Brad decides he wants her back (after remarrying and having 2 more children!)  Brad shows up several times in the story and I detested him more each time – such arrogance and always looking for a way to put someone down.Again, due to their life experiences, Eve and Jake let their worries cloud the relationship and it is off and on again.  I was getting exasperated with all of these off/on times, but when you read about their thoughts/feelings, you certainly understand why they think and act like they do.No matter their problems, you always know that Eve and Jake are crazing in love, they just need to figure out how to work on their issues.  I liked that the characters are older and closer to my age and I enjoy second chance love stories. There were several events that happen in this story, where you just wonder what will happen next and I hated for the story to end.I was happy to receive this book as a gift for an honest review and because I loved The Return so much.  I am now a fan of A. L. Parks and look forward to reading more of her work.