Review: A Beautiful & Heartbreaking Story
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 24, 2014
A beautiful and heartbreaking story of love, loss, grief, and second chances.Sadie met the love of her life at five years old.  But after only a few years of wedded bliss, she lost Jake suddenly and tragically.  Two years later, she’s still not ready to say goodbye or even fully allow herself to grieve because that would mean accepting the finality of the situation. Her family insists she reach out to some of the organ recipients in the hopes that it will help her find some peace.  Sadie feels nothing but anger and hate for anyone who benefitted from Jake’s death, but she agrees to appease her concerned family.Sadie is prepared to hate the organ recipients, but she never prepared herself for Zander McBride.  She certainly never expected to feel attraction.  She is horrified and guilt-ridden but she can’t seem to deny the fact that she and Zander connect in a way she hasn’t felt in a long time.  But she can’t let Zander into her heart unless she’s willing to let Jake go, and Sadie hasn’t even dealt with her grief, much less gotten to a place where she can move on.VITAL SIGN is an emotional read.  I generally avoid books that deal with the death of a spouse or child; it’s too horrifying and I don’t like to think about it, much less read about it.  But I also can be a bit of a cover whore, and Vital Signs really drew me in with its beautiful cover.  I decided to give it a try, and despite the overwhelming sadness I experienced reading about Sadie’s journey, it also had a lot of hope and love in the story.  If anyone could be worth working through the grief, it would be Zander.  He was open and caring and above all, understanding.  He had his own dark past that made him feel less than worthy of Sadie but it didn’t stop him from giving it everything he had.VITAL SIGN did a great job of not glossing over the pain of losing a significant other—Sadie was unapologetically broken.  If you’re a fan of emotional stories with a silver lining, you’ll enjoy VITAL SIGN.<i>**Complimentary copy provided by the author/publisher for an honest review.</i>