Review: Sweet love story about two people falling in love and challenging each other to be better
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 12, 2013
I am really big into the contemporary genre right now so when I saw the opportunity to review A Risk Worth Taking I had to take it! I am such a sucker for small town romances and I thought this was just a beautiful, heartwarming story about two people falling in love and realizing that life is all about the journey- not the destination.I liked our main character Summer a lot. Upon graduating college, she has decided to come home and help out and do the books and inventory for her father's farm. Her parents have recently divorced and upon finding out about their separation Summer's world has been rocked to the core. She is at a loss for how two people, who she thought loved one another and didn't have problems, suddenly decide to part ways. We are under the impression that it is Summer's mother who is the instigator in the divorce, therefore causing a huge rift between them. Summer refuses to speak to her mom and she doesn't understand how her dad can be so okay with the fact that she left him. Summer really begins questioning everything she ever knew about life and love after this. She breaks up with her boyfriend, not able to provide him a reason as to why she does this- but once she does, she realizes she's not upset or hurting like she should be after breaking up with him. Summer has always been a planner- she has a logical brain and therefore tends to only see the practicality of life. Meeting Ford O'Neal changes everything for Summer and soon she finds the walls she's constructed around her heart against love and passion are being destroyed by a blue-eyed farmhand with a passion and zest for life.Oh, Ford. He was such a great character. I love his free spirit, how philosophical and introspective he is, and oh boy can he make a girl swoon! He and Summer are immediately attracted to one another, but she is not interested in getting to know him on a deeper level. She is insistent she needs to find herself again and discover who she is as a person, since she feels lost. Her life does not have that stability it used to have and she is teetering on the edge of dangerous precipice. She now has to make the decision to jump headfirst into the exciting, new, unknown Ford offers or if she is going to hang back and play it safe. Ford challenges Summer in every way and that is why I like their relationship so much. They communicate with one another and he is determined to make her see things from a more open perspective. Ford is all about spontaneity and freedom of choice- yet he is just looking to live in and for the moment. He is not a planner like Summer- logic doesn't work for him. He is about the excitement of the unknown. He doesn't know where he will end up or where life will take him and that's what makes life worth living for him. Meeting Summer complicates these ideals, as the more time he spends with her and the more time he opens his heart to her- he realizes that maybe his goals and dreams for life are changing. There is a deadline on Summer and Ford's time together and as much as they try to ignore it and live in the moment, both are very aware that their time together will come to an end and they will have to say goodbye.Summer and Ford's relationship was a beautiful one and I loved the direction their romance took. Summer is all about keeping Ford at a distance, claiming she needs to find herself. However, what she doesn't realize is that by spending time with him she is slowly opening her heart back up again and he is showing her what it is like to live freely and fiercely. He shows her that love and life are full of risks, and she can't hold back from taking them or she will miss out on the opportunities life presents her.We have some incredible side characters in this book too! I love Casey, Summer's best friend and Ford's roomie, the most. Casey is essentially the brother Summer never had and their playful banter is a lot of fun. Casey and Summer care for each other and have each other's backs too. Casey doesn't want Summer getting hurt and he doesn't hesitate in letting Ford know that- friends or not. Uncle Frank and Summer's dad are also great. I like seeing families play a greater role in novels and both of these guys are great. Summer has a really supportive family and even though her and her dad don't see eye to eye on the mom situation, I still like seeing how close they are. Summer's mom, Cathy, does not have a large physical role in the story, but her and Summer's tumultuous relationship is very important to Summer realizing certain truths about her family and herself.Overall, this is a sweet story about two people falling in love, challenging each other to be better and learning to think about the world in a different way. Both Ford and Summer will have to make decisions that will shape the rest of their lives and realize that sometimes it's not about giving up your dreams- it's about finding new ones.