I saw this book on Instagram, and since I love finding new authors, I decided to give this debut book a chance.
How did that pan out for me? Well, overall it was good.
Jake has been in the military for 14 years, but faced with a career ending injury he has decided to spend time at home where he has to face the prospect of an uncertain future, along with the anger of his teenage son.
What I liked about this story:
> A very realistic portrayal of an angry teenager
> The positive representation of getting professional help for mental issues
> A warm, caring family and brothers that were serious and supportive when appropriate, but also dished out requiste and copious amounts of hiliarious crap
> Mature characters - I love when an author doesn't use cheap plot elements like miscommunication or immature behavior to drive conflict
What I think needed some developing:
> More backstory of Shea and Jake's correspondence while he was in the military; we know from the synopsis they had been writing each other for years, but the way it was introduced in the story felt abrupt and sort of off-handed
> There were a lot of typos - as someoone who reads a good deal of indy-published books, I've gotten better at ignoring mispelled/wrong words, etc (and I admit this is a me problem because I am incapable of reading anything without using my "proofreading" eyes), but when there are a bunch I make note of it in hopes that at some point down the road I can say "this author has upped her game and found proofreaders who really polished her manuscript!"
Sidenote: I generally don't take stars off my rating for proofreading issues, unless the number/type of error is egregous, which is definitely NOT the case here, AND it's a more seasoned author.
I think this author has a very encouraging start with this first book in her Windsor Peak series. She seems to stay away from the things that make me cranky and has the things I appreciate - likable characters dealing with realistic situations and good dialog. I'm also a big fan of close families and small towns. I enjoyed this book...but it did also take me a week to read it, which tells me a lot (and reflects in my rating). That said, I am definitely looking forward to the next book in the series because I am a total sucker for a second-chance love story!