Review: Lovely book of hope, forgiveness, and second chances
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 19, 2014
This is Audrey Decker’s story and for those of you who have read ‘For Nicky’, you see how truly awful Audrey treats her sister Beth.  Audrey was truly a character you could definitely dislike, or even hate, due to the extent of her bullying and controlling.Ms. Ellis showed us how much love and forgiveness was needed in ‘For Nicky’ and she interweaves various issues in this story also.  Audrey and Beth lost their mother at a young age and their father couldn’t cope with the loss of his wife.  He turned to alcohol and didn’t pay much attention to his daughter’s.  We know from ‘For Nicky’ that Audrey went to a therapist, who works very hard to determine what cause’s Audrey’s bullying.  I thought I knew what happened but it was more involved than could be imagined.  Audrey learns that she needs to control all situations from a young age and her sister especially gets the brunt of her hatefulness.Audrey goes to the Torey Hope Education Center to see her sister and meets almost 4 year old Beckett Jordan.  Like Nicky in the first story, Beckett has several physical problems to deal with, along with struggling academically.  Audrey tends to stay away from anyone with such obvious disabilities, but after becoming friends with Nicky, something draws her to Beckett.  The more I read about Beckett, I fell in love with him and his wonderful personality.  He was such an old soul, had such insights to people, and could have been a therapist himself!  He believed in love, forgiveness, and giving second chances.Due to Audrey’s history, she wants nothing to do with anyone in the military.  She speaks to Beckett’s father, Jeremiah, by phone about a birthday party for his son, not knowing his son is Beckett.  When she realizes Jeremiah was previously in the military, she decides to meet him but tell him she can’t plan the party for him.  They realize that they have already met but didn’t know each other's names.  After Jeremiah convinces Audrey to plan his son’s birthday party, Beckett shows up to her surprise and they hug.  Jeremiah has gone through so much with his ex-wife leaving him with a newborn with severe disabilities (and possibly due to her drug and alcohol use), but he falls in love with his son immediately and devotes all of his time to him.  It makes him feel good that Audrey and Beckett already like each other. I loved how Jeremiah made every effort to spend time with Beckett and show his love.Unfortunately, there are several ups and downs in this book as Audrey struggles with her issues, her therapy, and the relationship between her and Jeremiah.  This book will definitely tug at your heartstrings but I enjoyed every minute!  I love epilogues and this one was truly lovely and offered even more about the various characters.  I love the playlists in the books and the information listed at the end of the book about the various issues addressed.  I have found a new author to follow and can recommend this book.