This month's book club selection came to us - literally. Several Indulgent Bloggers attended Lora Leigh's RAW again this year and one of our favorite events was something a little new and different. Part Speed Dating, part Round Table discussion - attendees were seated at tables and the authors rotated in five minute spots throughout the room. Mari Carr plopped down in our empty chair and started chatting with us like long lost friends. How can you not love that? Even better was the premise of her latest series: Second Chances. The story of six women who live in the same apartment complex and their dedication to their wild range of New Year's resolutions. But the deal was sealed when the author told us she had modeled these characters after her best friends - giving them each the happily ever after she would wish for them. Sigh!
Fix You
Second Chances, Book 1
What if love can’t heal all wounds?
After too many years of secretly loving her best friend, Zoey realizes she’s been shortchanging herself. It’s time to take action. This New Year’s Eve heralds the year she’s going to tell Rob the truth. Even if he is on the road, reaching for musical stardom with his band.
Her plan is derailed when she discovers a lump in her breast—and it’s not “nothing to worry about”. How can she ask Rob to take a chance on love when her future is so uncertain?
Rob has spent his entire life chasing his dream, but the moment he hears Zoey’s voice on the phone, he realizes he’s been running the wrong race. Zoey never sounds like she’s been crying. Ever. Without a second thought, he books a flight for home, determined to give her everything she needs. A shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold…and nights of intensely emotional, passionate sex.
His biggest challenge, though, is convincing his best friend that he’s in it for the long haul. Because he finally knows what he wants, and it’s not fame and fortune. It’s her—and her love.
Warning: This book runs the emotional gamut between scorching-hot passion and the pain and fear associated with cancer. Keep a box of tissues next to your glass of ice water.
Review:
Mari Carr has ruined me for all other contemporary romance writers! Completely sold on the premise of the Second Chances series just from the blurb, Fix You kicks off a true emotional roller coaster of a love story. Gritty and real, so real in fact that parts are actually painful to read through, Carr creates a cast of characters that every reader will want to have over for weekly wine and girls' night!
Zoey's New Year's resolution, like many of her girlfriend's, was to get healthy and take charge of her life. Putting those pesky doctor's appointments off was a critical error. The lump she finds kicks off every woman's greatest fear and the journey she undertakes is portrayed with sensitivity and stark reality.
Rob, her rocker roommate, has been around for years, popping in and out of her life. However, when the chips are down, he drops everything to be her rock. They stumble their way into a scorching, passionate romance that neither was prepared for. But life is like that - sugar and spice, bitter and sweet - and Carr dares to ask and answer the age old question "Is there ever a good time to fall in love?"
Rob, her rocker roommate, has been around for years, popping in and out of her life. However, when the chips are down, he drops everything to be her rock. They stumble their way into a scorching, passionate romance that neither was prepared for. But life is like that - sugar and spice, bitter and sweet - and Carr dares to ask and answer the age old question "Is there ever a good time to fall in love?"
The best part of Carr's characters are their amazing realness - these are no twenty- something virgins with overly dramatized lives. These women are Everywoman - so easily identifiable: divorced or single parenting, married too young or waited too long, they struggle with weight or money or insecurity. Their battles are both external and internal. But more than the love stories provided to them are the moments of friendship and solidarity, support and empowerment they provide to one another.
Lest you think this tale merely a maudlin Terms of Endearment take off - just stop right there! The intense romance between Rob and Zoey burns hot enough to singe your fingers as you turn from page to page Amazingly well written, this story grabs the reader by the hand and drags them headfirst into the kind of wild ride that keeps the lights on long past bedtime. Bring tissues and feel free to take a break if necessary but read on because with a simple turn of the page, the fog in your eyes becomes steam on your glasses!
RATING: Five Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries and the prized Ultimate Indulgence book award!
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