Review: Heavy Issues with Happily-Ever-After
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 8, 2013
I have loved almost all of Sarah Mayberry's Harlequin Blaze books.  This one is a Harlequin SuperRomance.  Less lustful and less explicit than a Harlequin Blaze and much more emotionally involved.  I didn't dislike the book, but it wasn't as engaging to me as Sarah Mayberry's Blaze books.Leah is a doctor.  About to hit her thirtieth birthday and ready to finally take control of her life.  In this case, change her career a bit from the path her parents expect her to take.  Still a doctor, but a different speciality.  It takes a lot of courage from Leah to tell her parents about the change.  I admired her for meeting the hostility head on and yet still being vulnerable and hurt when she wasn't accepted.  She was authentic in her reactions and I appreciated that she struggled with her problems, but still chose to take the difficult path.Will is the musician with a brain tumor.  He's living next door to Leah while waiting for surgery.  I found it very complicated that he didn't tell Leah about his health issues, mostly because as a contrast to Leah wrestling with her problems so much and digging deep to find her courage, Will just sort of lets it go because he doesn't want Leah to treat him differently.  I understood, and so did Leah, but it left me a bit conflicted.When Will and Leah first have sex, and she doesn't know about his tumor, I screamed a bit inside and said "that is so cliched".  It fit the story just fine, but there was definitely an "aww no" inside me.  Mostly feeling like, who would think now is the best time to have sex for the first time?!The love story developed slowly and easily.  I appreciated how Will and Leah became friends and were there for each other without having to Insta-Lust everything.  Their motives were well understood the whole time and they were both sweet, caring characters.  They each were capable of giving and receiving love and were genuinely nice.  Will was capable of dealing with tears.  Leah was able to deal with Will's pain and fear.  I was relieved that these two acted like adults and weren't disparaging or angry at the other when issues came up.While the book felt very weighty with all the issues Will and Leah have to deal with, I didn't feel like I was drowning in their sorrow.  We get the general sense of their feelings, but we're not so overwhelmed that the happily-ever-after love story is swept away with pain.  I was glad for that, in the sense that I wasn't crying every time something sad happened.  But I did feel the peripheral weight of Will and Leah's issues.This was a touching story with two characters that deal with their monstrous issues in a healthy, adult way.  Not quite a tear jerker, but close.  Don't read on the day you just need an escapist pick-me-up.  Do read when you're looking for inspiration and courage to deal with your own life, or when you need to be reminded of the indomitability of the human spirit and ability to still find happily-ever-after in difficult situations.