Review: Good, but I had issues with Ben's past
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 25, 2014
First of all, this book has one of my most hated plot devices ever, the giant secret that will ruin everything if it comes out.  That made me like the book a lot less than I might have otherwise.  It was well-written and emotional, but the secret thing, ugh!Grace is a wreck.  She was raped by her boyfriend a year prior, and she's not living, just existing.  She knows she needs help but feels sort of paralyzed by her fear.  She meets Ben, who is trying to find work as a full-time counsellor, and he starts working at her coffee shop.  They start a friendship and Grace starts to open up to him, and he tries to help her.Ben is a really nice, sweet guy.  He's attracted to Grace instantly, but takes things very slowly, knowing she needs time.  They begin to date, and this is where Ben should have come clean about his past.  I don't understand how he thought this wouldn't come out eventually?  Of course it tears them apart, and then we get the back and forth angst.  Ben spends a good chunk of the book afraid of telling Grace and it began to get tedious.  TELL HER ALREADY!There were also a lot of questions left unanswered for me.  What happened with Grace and Theo after the rape?  Was he aware of why she left?  She's afraid of him coming after her again, but what made her think that would happen?  How did Ben have any money to live on?  He seems to be forever looking for work, but unable to find anything.  How is Grace able to run the whole coffee shop by herself most of the time?  Logistically, it seems almost impossible.  I'm nitpicking, but these things were floating through my head as I read the book.