Review: Good way to move Luke and Reese's story along
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 3, 2014
Resisting Ryann picks up shortly after the end of Raising Ryann. Even while they are apart, both Reese and Luke continue to keep the other in their mind. Luke is trying to protect Reese, while she just want to move on from the hurt of his leaving.Luke left Phoenix and has found himself in a tough spot. By trying to keep Reese protected, he can’t have contact with her. His struggles take him from knowing he’s doing the right thing to wishing he could handle his trouble any other way. His situation was constantly full of danger and tension, and those scenes added a darkness that was a complete one-eighty from the feel of Raising Ryann.Meanwhile, Reese is dealing with the emotions of Luke’s disappearance. She is confused and hurt by the way he left. She tries to move on the only way she can, by gathering Gia and Logan close (but keeping them close brings it’s own frustration as they are so happy together, and Luke is Logan’s best friend), and exploring the possibilities of a new boyfriend. Her new interest is a nice, sweet guy with a lot of patience, but even in her eyes, he is just not Luke.There was such a lack of contact between Reese and Luke that during the few times they did see each other, a desperation hung over them. Reese wanted to know what was going on, but Luke couldn’t tell her why he was gone, where he had gone, or even when she would see him next. That lack left so much confusion that as much relief as Reese felt at seeing Luke, there was always a feeling of unfinished business and disappointment when he left again. Because they are operating under different levels of understanding of the situation, it was hard to watch how each dealt with the lack of contact.There is not as much story set in the gym this time, as most of the main action between Luke and Reese takes place outside of work this time. In fact, most of the book takes place with each in different places, not interacting at all. I missed that interaction and the quick banter they had formed.In the end, I was left with a whole new set of questions and wondering how the lack of communication and misinformation will play out in Breaking Ryann. There is a cliffhanger; this story is definitely not over, but I felt like there was enough resolution of the plot points followed here that even without the series revolution I wasn’t left completely hanging.This was a fun, quick read. I started it as my 3 hour plane ride was taking off, and was just about finished by the time we were taxiing to the gate. As the middle of a trilogy, it was a great combination of explanatory information and moving the main story line along. I can’t wait for the conclusion in Breaking Ryann, as I have really come to love these characters.I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.