Review: Did not like the heroine; hero is a bit of a doormat.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 10 28, 2013
I haven't read the other books in the series, so I am not familiar with William's history - so this review is based upon this book alone.Cally Fisher returns to her hometown of New Hope after being away for 7 year. She left when she was 16 and deeply and hopelessly in love with her one true love, William Bailey. William sounds perfect. He dated her for a year, never asking for sex; waiting until she was ready. She moves out of town with her mother and is supposed to return for William's prom night. But after months of not returning his calls, texts, etc - she dumps him. She hurt him big time.Now it's 7 years later and she shows up. Her mother has passed away and she needs to leave her two younger sisters with her absentee father since she is unable to raise them herself.This is where the book just falls apart. (sorry - this is like chapter 3?)William throws himself at Cally. Like the 7 years of hurt never happened. Never asks her WHY she dumped him. Never asks her to explain. He just loves HER. So all is okay.Cally is obviously hiding a big secret. Wow. One major bomb drops after another.Yes...we are supposed to feel like she did all of these things to save her family I get that.I understand that she doesn't want to tell him anything because her past is pretty dark. I get that.Then WHY WHY WHY does she still sleep with him and live with him when she knows it will KILL him when she leaves again???? To me -that is PURE selfishness. yeah - you are 23, but girl, you need to let the poor boy alone. You hurt him so badly once, don't do it again!!!I lost total respect for him when she kept weaving him more and more into her life. There are other options. She has friends there that can help! She can be more aggressive with her dad to help out monetarily. But she takes on the world on her shoulders and makes really bad decisions.William almost deserves her. He throws himself at her over and over again, even when she keeps telling him that she is leaving. Then when the proverbial SH** hits the fans and a TON of bad dark secrets come out. His reaction? It doesn't matter. I love you. What you did is okay.Yeah - I get a bit of that, but shouldn't he be pissed that she left out some seriously BIG details of her life?!?!?! Brandon is a BIG DEAL.I was so annoyed with her throughout the book. I guess the other readers that gave this book 5 stars are more forgiving than I am. But I guess the romance worked out. William is willing to be a doormat and Cally is willing to walk over him (not in a mean way, but she keeps doing things that would hurt most mortal people).Cally is also sad most of the book. I can't imagine her smiling nor laughing. And William seems like he can be a very happy guy. He spends more time worrying about her and saving her than laughing and enjoying life. That makes me sad for him. He seems to deserve someone that will make him laugh and enjoy his life since he didn't have parents to love him.Her sister, Drew is supposed to be a sassy funny teenager, but she just came off as being a selfish little brat.Sorry - I just was annoyed at Cally for most of the book and couldn't get into it.The friends also seemed more interested in drinking to wash away problems than to really help each other. Yes, they show up to help out with fixing things up, but where is the emotional support? If you can't confide in your friends, then are they really your friends? Drinking buddies can be found anywhere...So my assessment of this book is that you can like this if you look at William being a total good guy for seeing Cally's deep love for her family and for William and can overlook various decisions she made as her need to help her family and protect William.Ugh - I just couldn't.Positives?HEANo CliffhangersGreat sex scenes