A Life of Their Own by Pauline Tait

Three stars
TW: domestic violence

I wish I could give this book more than three stars but something about it just doesn't work for me. As a long-ago victim of domestic abuse, I get it. I get her fear. I get her inability to tell others while it was happening. I get her wanting to get as far away as she can. And I get her not turning him in. What I don't get is Kate's desperate need to get to Colorado.

The book starts off with a bang. Living in New York City, Kate is married to a monster and has finally wheedled away enough money to get herself and her two young children out of the house and on a train to ... Colorado, where an ex-boyfriend lived. They hop a train, then another, then another and so on until they reach their destination near Colorado Springs.

Kate quickly finds a cute bed and breakfast run by an older couple who take her and her children under their wings. How perfect! And if Kate does some housework her small family can stay there indefinitely. Perfect!

And so it goes that everything lines up perfectly for Kate. And I mean everything. Annoyingly so. Until the climax, which I could see coming from page 1. *sigh*

Here's one of my problems with this read: We know Kate was in an abusive relationship but almost no details were given about his treatment of her. The book would have been much stronger had the author spent more time on the front end of this story.

My second issue was how perfectly everything went for Kate after she left New York City. She needed perfect, but in real life that rarely happens.

And finally, and it's just a small tick, but the author uses English idioms and spellings in a book based in the U.S. I don't think in Colorado kids call their parents "mum," nor do they "tuck in" for supper. I expect and even enjoy that when I'm reading a novel is set in the U.K. I expect local language nuances and I didn't get that with this read.

All of that said, this book will be devoured by certain readers, and I do think it belongs on the shelves of those who enjoy romances because the writing style is quite good. It just wasn't for me so much.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Read this review on Amazon or Goodreads.

The Light in the Hallway by Amanda Prowse

I chose to read this beautifully written novel a month after I lost my mom to dementia. That's perhaps not the best timing on my part because the book opens with Nick losing his wife to cancer following a long battle with the disease. Prowse deftly maneuvers the emotions of watching someone close to you die: the pain, the grief, the rage and the guilt are written with such expertise as to ensure you'll need a box of tissues near you as you read.

When Kerry dies, Nick is left alone to see their son off to college, a son who refuses at first to acknowledge his mother's death. Soon, though, Olly experiences the entire range of emotions and Nick finds himself comforting a boy who is at odds with himself and his feelings.

The remainder of the book delves into moving on and beginning to find pleasure and happiness again. Nick finds a new friend and has to deal with his sister-in-law's and son's feelings about that. Prowse expertly writes Nick's character as a man who is both sympathetic but firm. I love how he handled all of the issues that were thrown at him.

Interspersed in the modern-day story are tales of Nick, Eric and Alex during the summer of 1992 when the three friends truly became best buds. I loved those stories so much that I found myself eagerly awaiting the next installment.

Prowse tidies things up nicely at the end for us. I'm not always a fan of that, but given the heartwrenching and emotionally draining beginning of the Light in the Hallway, I was happy to see where she went with the final chapter of the book.

Four well-deserved stars to this great read.

Many thanks for Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Read this review on Goodreads.