Review: Great Characters make a Great Story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 21, 2014
This is the first work I have read by Regina Bartley, but definitely not the last. I like the style of Escaping Heartbreak. Dual point of view can be difficult to write, Ms. Bartley has a great handle on doing it well. The story flows almost like a conversation; like listening to someone tell the story of their life. The characters are very well developed and the plot is well thought out.Sawyer is a beautiful young woman who has suffered too much loss in her young life. Her life was thrown into turmoil when she lost her parents. Her Uncle Jake takes in her and her brother Dane, raising and supporting them as his own. Sawyer and Jake have a special relationship but after six years she decides it is time for her to live on her own. She decides to live at her family's lake house, a place full of memories of her parents and her first love, Travis. Sawyer blames herself for her parents death. While she is very strong, her memories haunt her. She worries about her brother, Dane and his self destructive behaviors. She also worries that Uncle Jake still needs her to take care of him. When she moves into the lake house she runs into her first love.Travis is handsome and aged beyond his years. He, like Jake, was left to care for someone in his family when he was far too young to do so. Jake has been caring for his younger brother Waylon since his father died and his mother left. Waylon is scarred by events in his past. While he is very bright he tends to not apply himself at school. Travis has never forgotten his friend, Dane's younger sister, his first love. He hurt her deeply without meaning to. He thought he would never see her again, much to his surprise she is back in his life. The book centers on the struggles of these two broken souls to heal each other. The action flows well and the reader becomes attached to Sawyer, Travis and Waylon. There are several twists in the story that surprise the reader. The epilogue leaves some unanswered questions for some of the characters. While the ending may not be a cliffhanger it definitely leaves the reader wanting more of these characters.