Shane Kensington has dedicated his life to serving others as a police officer, sworn to protect the community and people that he loves. But a tragic mistake he made three years ago shattered his confidence and turned his world upside down. Since then, Shane has become a shell of the person he once was.
Until the day he met Heidi...
Heidi Griffin is a single mother struggling to make a life for herself and her troubled young son. Still grieving her husband's untimely death, Heidi is adamant that she won't open herself up to love - and loss - again.
The sparks that fly between these two are undeniable, but as they hurtle closer and closer to each other, a devastating secret may force them apart...forever.
Contemporary romance author Clare Kenna has always been in love with a good love story. With that in mind, she writes emotionally gripping, compelling novels with true to life characters that stay with her readers long after they have finished the last page.
Clare, a lifelong storyteller, originally hails from the Eastern United States. She has now escaped the cold and enjoys digging her toes in the golden sand beaches of Southern California with the two loves of her life: her sweet husband and feisty rescue pup.
When she's not writing, Clare enjoys reading a wide range of novels, exploring new places around the world, and fitting in a serious game of bowling now and then (she was a state finalist in high school, but more about that later).
There wasn't anything wrong with this. I just found it a bit boring. There aren't any surprises at all in the story line - it's very predictable. The hero and heroine are both emotional wrecks, but I didn't really feel it. And I'm not sure about the kid - he seemed like a prop to bring out when drama was needed. He's 10 years old and apparently stays at home by himself while the heroine works 10 hour shifts as a nurse at the hospital. And she must always get the day shift in the ER because there's never any talk about needing to find someone to stay with the kid while she works overnight. Odd.
This was an excellent book,and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants an excellent read. I look forward to reading more of this author's work.
To start, I read the first 5, maybe 6 chapters, and skipped to the end. Here is why:
The books starts off decent and the characters are very likeable. However, in the first few chapters we find out that the main characters are both suffering from deaths that happened 3 years ago, both accidents. There is no surprise in the rest of the story, and made it very predictable. I skipped to the end hoping there was a twist, but there wasn't. Both main characters are affected by the exact same accident and neither one knows it until the end, even though it was completely obvious from the beginning.
How could these people possibly have been involved in an accident, like they were literally present during the accident, but neither recognize one another, or know the name of the people involved in a fatal crash? That makes no sense. Especially when one of them is a police officer. There is no way at all they could have been clueless about the parties involved for years and years. Then there is the cop's partner who also doesn't recognize the woman or her name, when he too was at the scene of the accident. I want to hit my head on the wall.
The lasagna thing bugged me too, and granted it's a small thing, but based on previous indicators I'm thinking there is more fallacy as the story goes on. So, what's his name gets a lasagna from his sister to give to what's her name in order to say sorry for the broken finger. The lasagna is frozen. But he can smell it enough to know it smells really good? Then he brings it over and what's her name got some on her finger and says it tastes really good? They can do all of that with a frozen lasagna? Again, I am so confused. It's frozen!
Don't even waste your time. Whatever you think will happen, happens.
A predictable story - the OMG moment telegraphed far too early on in the book so that I ended up bored, waiting for the actual moment when it was all revealed. And.. don't nurses work 12 hour shifts? and nights? It was all a little... slapdash for me to be drawn in.
And... sigh. Another huge family - brothers and sisters coming out of the woodwork in preparation for a series of further stories.
The plot of this book was well thought out and engaging, but the writing style was awkward and rough at times. I think the author must have rushed to publish without adequate revising. The characters and the dialogue were somewhat "wooden" too.
This story, while it delivers on its promise of a happy ending, does so in a woefully predictable manner. Each event is so well presaged there's little to hold the reader's interest.
I feel like the story definitely has potential. Two grieving characters fall in love and have to face their tragic pasts that may be connected. Not a totally new plot but not that cliché, and with better writing, this could certainly be a gripping story about love and loss, with deep analysis on grief, survivor’s guilt, widowhood, single parenting, etc. But at the end it was just a standard romance novel. Some may find it boring and predictable, but as a certified reader of trashy romances, this was actually quite decent in terms of storytelling for me. I kind of like the predictability, making it a pretty easy read. The protagonists, Shane and Heidi were a little unrealistic and flat, but still bearable, not complete jerks or picture perfect people. Shane and his struggle could be really heart wrenching if explored probably (which it wasn’t). Also, the little kid, Zachary, was merely an object. He was just there for romance built up between his mom and Shane, he didn’t even feel real, should have made him a little older, might not help much but at least the way he acted and talked can be more tolerable and relatable.
My main issue with this book was the writing. It started out pretty good. The writing was captivating, almost Nicholas Cage’s level, and the way the author described the scenes and emotions really captured my interest and sucked me into the world of the protagonists. But that was only in the first 20 pages. By page 50 it became very lackluster. The amount of time she used the word “cringed” made me cringe so hard I started laughing when the scene was supposed to be sad. Didn’t she know any other words to describe embarrassment and discomfort other than “cringed”? She also rushed through the interactions and scenes way too quickly towards the end, as if she was also bored herself and just wanted to finish the book for the sake of publishing it. By the end the emotions fell flat, the ending was supposed to be climatic, and the idea did felt quite interesting, but the execution ruined it.
Overall, the book is not that beautiful or engaging, drama and romance fell flat at the end, but it could be nice for someone who just want something to read without high standards. Not interested in reading others from the same series though, the siblings seems pretty annoying.
For me, although the characters were not completely unsympathetic, especially Shane came along as a bit too sensitive, too emotional (notice I did not use the word "whimp"),and somehow I could not see him as a cop. Zachary - well a 10-year old roaming the streets on his own would lead to child services being on to his parents, or in this case, his mother. The whole plot seemed too obvious for me: mysterious hints about accidents in both the main protagonists' lives made me think from Chapter 2: "oh really? Naaawwww.". From Chapter 3 onwards my reaction was more like "yeah, seen that coming, what a coincidence" (that was my more polite reaction). A police officer going out of his way to catch a killer despite strict and implicit instructions from his superior to the contrary? The narration style was not too bad, actually, although the fact that in the end, every problem all of a sudden was solved, or rather, put aside because there was another life threatening incident? That would come back to bite you after a while, so even the ending was not convincing to me, sorry. Add to that numerous spelling errors either the author or the editor overlooked. Do I want to read more in this series? Sorry, not really.
Unbelievable, this book almost cause me a heart attack because of the plot's upheavals. I like the author's writing style. I like the way she narrates the events, it was more exiting with each page and each word. It puts me in various situations from grief, sadness, joy, to thrilled.
The start of the story was weird and hard to get till you reach the third or fourth page, but it was good for grasp attention, I like it though.
This story puts me on hard wave. It made. My heart's beats drop at lowest and rise at highest, what an enjoyment.
I felt to attached to the story, I admire the theme of family's love, so dramatic.
And, I loved that the story ended with happiness. It will be so sad if it is doesn't.
What I found it critical is the Title. I couldn't match it with the story. Along the reading process I tried to figure out the title in the story, but I couldn't get it. Despite this, everything is great.
If you like drama, and romance; and you liked to be thrilled. It is the right book for you.
Oh my sweet heart! I absolutely loved it! Now this is my kind of this book 😍❤️
Shane worked at the desk duty due to his accident about three years ago so, he wanted to go back to patrol on the street but his chief Phalen won’t let him do yet patrol cause he wasn’t ready yet..
Until Heidi came along with her son Zachery since he disappeared for a while so Shane made a call to his mom about his disappearances…she worked at the emergency room nurse and make a living for herself and her son..
Unfortunately, Shane was the one that he told her about the accident three years ago and, Heidi was pretty upset and didn’t know that he was the one that he killed her husband John…she had to break up on their relationship..
I was so scared that Shane didn’t make it at the hospital because some killer shot him a couple of times but, he made it thank goodness!
I’m soooo looking forward to the next series of the book soon…
she is raising her son alone, hes 10 and already running away and cutting school in 5th grade.
hes a cop who is stuck in the office after 3 yrs of not being ready to go back in the cruiser.
her husband was killed in a car accident, the other driver fell asleep. the cop was in a car accident, he fell asleep while drivng and the other driver died
they met each other when her son ran away, not knowing who the other one was , and fell in love
then he read the report he didnt read in 3 yrs and found out he was the one who killed her husband. he told her, they broke up
he got shot and almost died at work, she told him she loved him and they got back together.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I didn't hate this book but I can't say I really enjoyed it either. I found the premise to be unpleasant and not very well done. I also don't understand how she became an RN working in an emergency room, 10 hour day shifts, in three years, after going to school part time. I have read books about people dying in car crashes that I actually enjoyed, even though I find it sad and hard to read. Some of them were amazingly well written. This one....not so much. But it was a quick read and the romance was ok.
Heidi is trying to raise her son alone after her husband died in a car accident 3 years earlier. Shane has been behind the desk at the sheriff's station since a bad car accident happened. He hasn't been able to feel normal since. He helps a young man to start playing basketball and falls for his mother. Little do they know their livres have crossed before.
This book was all in all a great book! It will send you on an emotional journey. It had me in tears at times, laughing, angry, and happy! The descriptions in this book are so detailed, I felt like I could see what the characters were seeing and feel their emotions.
Ok the storyline was a great plan. The characters very predictable. Details (accurate) matter very much for reading a book. It was ok, it was not my favorite, but it is a predictable escape from our everyday. It just didn't reach out a grab my attention fully. The cover is amazing that did draw me in and so did the blurb. Read Feb. 2021.
I loved this story! I usually like straight reomantic books, but have become disallusioned when so many of the authors just keep putting expicip scenes through each chapter. I am not a prude, but don't like so much sex to keep a story interesting. This author just gave us a great sotry without those scenes and it made it more page=turning. Thank you Clare Kenna!
I am not saying that love doesn't conquer all, but ThereE Are plot holes in this story big enough to drive a semi through. A police officer falls asleep at the wheel and three years later meets the love of his life through a runaway son who just happens to love basketball.
This book deserved 5 stars all the way till the epilogue. The ending seemed very rushed like the author decided they were done with the story and ended it in 3-5 paragraphs. Honestly, it could have benefited with more. But still it was a good book.
This book was hard to put down. Loved the characters. Even though I had the mystery about their pasts figured out early on, it didn't take away from the rest of the book .Highly recommend it and have already ordered the second book in the series.
Everyone loves a second chances/ love story novel. I believe that things happen for a reason, and this story I think that it was Heidi's husband's time to leave Earth and for her to meet Shane.
This was a very interesting story. At one point the victim refused to sue because accidents happen but when faced with a life alteration colors changed.