Review: Great Read!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 6, 2013
I was asked to read and review Jani Kay's Open Your Eyes for RAW Books as a guest reviewer, so here is my honest review. This is a great story about second chances. And sometimes you get more than one second chance. Natalie's daughter Olivia wins two airfare tickets to New York over the Christmas holidays. Olivia loves to shop, spending money she has been saving while Natalie gets tired of shopping and she heads back to the hotel for a rest. But she winds up at the Museum of Modern Art to get out of the rain. She is sitting on a bench when a handsome stranger starts talking to her. When she realizes that he is the photographer, she thinks he is only talking to her to get her to purchase a photo. When he invites her for coffee to show her that he wants to spend time with her, she thinks that he is way out of her league. They begin to see each other every day and feelings are surfacing for both of them.But Natalie is still married, although separated for almost two years, her frozen heart begins to thaw as Nick shows her around New York and pays attention to her with little touches here and there, soft spoken words. He show that he cares for her. After Olivia and Sarah, Nick's niece, come back from bar hopping on Christmas Eve, Natalie thinks that the girls might have been drugged. Nick calls his friend, a detective, to get him on the case. Who would drug two young girls and who were they trying to get to? Nick takes Natalie, Olivia and Sarah to his house in the Hamptons to spend the rest of the holidays there. With each passing day, Nick is falling more in love with Natalie and her feelings are getting stronger too. Then on New Year's Day, Natalie's son, Daniel, calls her and Olivia to tell them Gabriel, her husband, has had a heart attack. Natalie and Olivia hop on the first plane back to Australia. There was no time for a proper goodbye with Nick. When Gabriel is better, he tells Natalie that he wants her back and wants to make their marriage work. Her heart is in turmoil and she doesn't know what she wants.After a few weeks, Nick shows up in Australia to try and win her back. When Natalie decides to give Gabriel another chance, my heart broke for Nick. He has not had the best time where love was concerned and now Natalie was choosing Gabriel. He doesn't think that he will survive without Natalie, she is like the air he needs to breath. Gabriel takes Natalie to Tuscany for a second honeymoon of sorts, they renew their wedding vows, and Natalie thinks she sees Nick through the church window.  With Sarah and Josh, Nick's nephew, at the wedding, it is hard for her to look at Josh, as he looks so much like Nick. Then she gets a note from Nick to come see him, she goes but not sure why. When Gabriel shows up at Nick's house, he is very possessive of Natalie and tells her to get in the car. She tells Nick that she has chosen Gabriel and he must move on. Another heart break for me as Nick seems so sweet and truly in love. When they get back home, things are good, the kids are happy; as are Natalie and Gabriel. But Natalie still thinks about what might have happened with Nick. She sees he has moved on, and that makes her somewhat happy but also makes her heart hurt.Then on New Year's Eve, while their kids go out, Gabriel has a surprise for Natalie. He has lit candles and ran a bubble bath for them. After a long night of lovemaking, Natalie is awakened from a dream about Nick and finds Gabriel has died from another heart attack. It is hard to move on after a loss, and almost two years later when her friend Miranda tells her that Nick has broken off  his engagement and is waiting for her, does she go to him and hope that he still loves her or does she leave him be? There are a few twists and turns, but I will not spoil it for you. Read it, you will enjoy it as I have. This story was real for me; second chances are few and far between, so if you get a second chance, take it. It just might make your day and life better. This is the first for me by Jani Kay and I look forward to reading more from her.  I give this one 4 stars!