Review: Good, but everything happened a bit too fast.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 1, 2013
Rachel Hanna had posted so many things on Facebook about this book that I was dying to read it. I won't say I was disappointed, but I definitely would have enjoyed if the pace had a been a bit slower and everything a bit more developed.Willow Blake has a secret past that she works hard to keep from people. After she and mother move and start their lives over, Willow meets Reed, a good guy with no haunting past who wants to be with Willow. She can see what he has to offer and feelings start to develop, but she's worried about how he will react to her past. Enter Kellan, her felon of a step-brother who understands what it's like to have a painful past and to crave forgiveness. As Willow helps Kellan on his path to forgiveness, feelings grow, and she finds herself stuck choosing between Reed and Kellan.The forgiveness theme is strong in this book, and the emotion and drama that comes with it seems realistic and feels powerful. I love the idea of forgiveness and that the characters can admit that they have not completely moved on from the painful things, but that they have grown without letting the bad weigh them down. I was also a fan of Reed and his very preppy, clean cut self.What I didn't really like was the idea of Kellan and Willow together. The step-brother angle is one that I think is kind of weird, although Hanna did not write it that way. I didn't really like that Kellan was introduced as a love interest, whether or not she ends up with him. I also felt like everything was rushed. The emotional impact of what goes on could have been improved just by slowing the pace a bit and developing characters and situations more.Overall it was enjoyable, but not a favorite. I would recommend it still as it was a good story, and I do imagine that I will be reading more by this author.