Review: Quickly becoming one of my favorite authors!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 21, 2014
Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.First, I want to come out and say that I absolutely LOVED the first book in this series, Take My Hand. Yes, it had some minor angst, but what NA burgeoning-love story doesn't? So when the last book ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, I had been waiting not so patiently for this installment to come out.So I dove right in and....Put it back down. I couldn't read it. It was really, really difficult to read. Mind you, not because there was anything wrong with the writing or characters, it was that I hated seeing these characters, which I have become quite fond of, in such incredible pain. I really had a hard time making it through, stopping every few chapters to take in something a little lighter. This allowed me to go back and refocus without getting too down about what was happening. At about 75% or so, especially with the introduction of Jeff (you'll know what I mean when you meet him), I had gotten to the point where I didn't want to put the book down, I was again fully immersed. Dexter's downfall was gritty, and dirty, and Ms. Haken pulled no punches, but ultimately, Dexter was able to redeem himself, with a little help from some friends.In the first book we meet Dexter who is a recovering drug addict. He had gone to England to start a new life, aware from all of the triggers that led him down the path of drugs to begin with. But when a family tragedy sets him back, he quickly finds himself looking to old ways to self-medicate. Ms. Haken really captured the desperation of drug addiction. Not only the desperation of the addict himself, but of his family. Any family with a loved one suffering from any type of substance abuse will tell you it is not just the addict that is affected by their actions. The entire family suffers. It was especially difficult to see Emily deal with Dexter because while she had grown so independent and strong over the course of Take My Hand, she really wasn't prepared to deal Dexter in this element. However the fact that she stood by him to the end is a testament to her maturity.I was glad to see that Dexter's recovery wasn't simply glossed over and that everyone knows and understands that he will always be an addict, it is just how he deals with it that will be the true test of how he remains in recovery. I liked that Jeff was unconventional, because not everyone responds to the same approach towards recovery.I loved reading more about Emily's relationship with her brother Chris. He truly came through as a champion on her behalf and you could feel the mutual love and respect between the two of them. At the end of Hold On Tight we learn some disturbing news about Chris, and I fear that once again I'm going to be facing an ugly cry at some point. I am very eager to find out how that situation is going to play out.I'm also looking forward to learning more about Rachel in the next book as her presence in this book was minimal, and you could feel that. She really does bring some comic relief (something that this book could have used at certain points, though I understand why it didn't). The relationship between her and Emily suffered greatly while Emily was in the States tending to Dexter and his needs, so it will be interesting to see if the two can go back to the way things were. I'm looking forward to more banter between Dexter & "Snickers". ☺Five stars once again to Ms. Haken; she has taken these characters to a whole new level. I love her style of writing and the way that she really gets into the heads of her characters. I love the honesty they have with the reader (especially when it comes to Dexter's sense of humour!) and it feels like we are a part of the narrative, rather than simply an observer.