Photo credits: Plukje, Briam Cute - pixabay Edited by Vaishali Title: Take a Chance On Me Author: Lea Coll Publisher: Self published Year of Publication: 2020. Genre/Themes: Contemporary Romance, Format: E-book - kindle app R E V I E W... Sadie Cole is at the shallow end of faith: in people, the system and of ever living for herself. Her name is enough to open up a can of worms and start up the scornful chatter that damns her as the self-serving bad egg that covered up what had quickly become a media blizzard. In their small town, a teenaged Sadie was right at the centre of it. Years later, with a law degree under her belt and a decade between her and a crime that defaced her reputation, she's still the talk of whisper town, the disgraced girl whose silence sentenced her and left an entire town to guess. When single dad Tanner Green finds out who his daughter’s dance teacher is, both his official and fatherly instincts signal the sirens. He's heard the adverse speculation but as a non-native to their small town, he was nowhere near the furore. At 28, he never expected to be a father but he also never saw himself co-parenting with a woman who fails to put their daughter first. That's why he'd do anything for Rylan's welfare; a happy upbringing, a steady life and devoted role models to show her what parental love feels like. It's also why, much as he believes in the one woman nobody in Chestertown trusts, he can't fly sightless to a possible menace. A mistake that haunted her through high school, college and up until today, desperate to shed herself of a wrongdoer’s skin, Sadie Cole only ever believed the woman she became by version of theory and repute. When Tanner walks into her life with a little girl on his arm and without the distaste she's so familiar with, Sadie doesn't want her past to reach his ears, this man with honest eyes who might be the one to see more. Everything he is to his daughter is everything she's never had in a parent, in a family. In simple words, he’s a pie in the sky and she’s she rock on the ground who might never have the chance to touch the sky. Take A Chance on me is my first Lea Coll novel and where many romances misfire with traceable romantic developments combined with a carefully ferried plot that discusses important matter, Lea Coll writes a sweet, tense slow-burning story with emotional complexities that circumvent complicated situations. In other words, this story asserts and accentuates both while an honest love connection chimes steady, sweet and true blue. With some heavy themes, readers who have been close to/ have indirectly experienced substance abuse and have been hurt by the stigma of misunderstanding will find a relatable situation to empathise with in Take a Chance On Me. Through misunderstood Sadie, we can see how she was failed by law enforcement, the domain of public perception and the people she trusted with her safeguard. To be pulled into her tragic situation is to see the strength of this woman who has led a life alone, by her own hand and still handles every difficultly with courtesy. Sadie has a complicated life, attorney by day, dance teacher by night and supports her alcohol dependent mother who has manipulated and fearmongered her into a life of secrecy and distance. A life of walking backwards where the past, the guilt, the scrutiny and never being vindicated as a survivor with a story to tell has trapped her in what feels like an impossible, no-win situation... and through it all, her sense of moral culpability never leaves her. Although Sadie’s thoughts are geared towards the way she’s been made to feel, which is completely valid, I love that in improving her life, that also means to confront her response to the way she’s been treated. That she realises responsibility for the way she hid herself. Mistrust, in others and herself, is her biggest conflict, and with all that in mind she’s a character who makes leaps and tough choices. Her trust has been exploited and torched but as the story takes its course, we watch her slowly but surely take her life back by establishing limits, opening up and as the title suggests taking chances to love and be loved. The abandon in being raised by a negligent mother with a dependency for men and alcohol, for never having a true support system, the claustrophobia of being captive to a life hitched to abuse easily makes a reader root for Sadie’s independence and acceptance. To see her to get the guy who accepts her without condition, the one that observes her with believing eyes and sees over and above grapevine temptation. Who looks for the truth. Through her loneliness and Internalised self-accusation she still keeps close the sympathy of backing even those who deserted her while needing a life independent from the source of her problems: her mother and her addiction. While I can swoon standing still at the strength and poise of a man in uniform, Tanner is a lot more than the badge that adorns his official wear. Without being uncomfortably overbearing, he's the sort of alpha lead that has a natural readiness for protecting the people In his life with a warm, wrap-around heart - one that patiently wraps around Sadie until they become more than just two people who indulge in late night phone calls and private looks. I loved gliding steady with the intimate interlude of their romance. With Rylan at the heart of Tanner’s decisions, his fatherly worry pushes him to file for sole custody. He bears the assurance of someone who knows what he’s doing but I love that he’s written as man with real distresses too. If you can't treasure a doting father, openly gracious and reassuring, you might need a heart-kickstart to appreciate this hero. The author uses potential break-up content to challenge Tanner and Sadie's relationship but they always end up doing right by each other. Kudos to you Ms. Coll for the curveballs that never quite curb the relationship. If I did have some issues with this one, it’s largely confined to repetitious content. I realise that with Sadie’s shortage of self-belief she needs to be reassured and reassure herself from emotional blame. There are times though where the plot and pace become overtired with repetitive speculation/reflection, drawing out passages that have already made the same point. These slumbering moments felt heavy. Just like any woman misread, Sadie only wants to be seen where it matters; to have the family she’s never had, to nurture real relationships and with all the hope available, to even feel the weight of love. It’s a lot to ask for when you have a curdled reputation. It’s only that permanence - the things that last - have been hard to come by. With her attention sucked dry by problems that aren’t hers, she accepts the worst, not the amazing efforts of being a self-made woman. But a woman with a sceptical fallback is one who can’t flee the storm as long as her reputation is intact; an incident that was never forgotten, never forgiven. Take a Chance On Me is a redemptive romance set in a small town where mud sticks and silence hurts. Where a 17-year-old’s silence demonised her and admitted a town to fill in the gaps. She’s a wild card, if only by speculation but never by truth. She’s the misfit everyone sidesteps who meets a man open to staying side-by-side. The woman behind the stories and bad faith is the woman Tanner Green wants to know. Lea Coll’s sixth in series suggest a lot more about where the past should stay and how people can do better by virtue of open minds. If the past is supposed to stay in shadow, mistakes are not who we are but what we once might’ve made; to suffer what one might have already paid a price for, blameworthy or not (In this case, definitely not). This one looks at acceptance, forgiveness, family, trust, responsibility, stigma, and of course, the love we read for in a romance novel. I gave this book 4 stars - Content Warning: Alcohol addiction/abuse. Mentions post-partum depression. Mentions underage drinking and vaguely details a sexual assault. Also mentions depression, suicide by overdose and mixing pills with alcohol. Minimal use of profanity and some bedroom scenes. --------------------------------------- M Y R A T I N G S Y S T E M: ★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read --------------------------------------- _________________________________________________ R E L A T E D P O S T S: ● BOOK REVIEW: Falling For You by Lea Coll _________________________________________________ E X T R A T H O U G H T S: 1) The author mistakes Rylan’s name in place of Tanner’s ex wife, Bree a few times. 2) I was a bit disappointed by the first sex scene. It felt more like a play by play than really taking the opportunity to solidify the passion in a palpable way. Sure, I was told it was Intense and passionate and something real clicked into place, but it was written more than felt. I had an expectation that their coming together would be tailor made, their chemistry given a chance to spark? The type you really hope for when an author sets the scene for a true slow burner. 3) I like the realness and the questions surrounding addiction and responsibility. About parental worry, from Sadie’s perspective as a daughter and Tanner’s as a father, and how they've both manage emotional complexities of living/dealing with an addict. 4) At first, I did find it odd that Sadie is demonised by a whole town. An entire town? That seemed very extreme. Later, when we realise that a lot of how she lived her life was also enabled by how she perceived it, it was suggested that while some stayed indifferent and might even have been unbiased to her reputation, she fixated on the ones who had something bad to say. One thing about Sadie is she’s very principled so it doesn’t surprise me that she put every bit of blame on herself for what went wrong. In this case, I think it would have been really important to bring forward some people who might have believed in her? Made her see from a different perspective? I don’t just mean from Tanner and her grandparents but from the pool of the public. It didn’t really help that she was also abandoned by her grandparents too - something I found surprising because knowing how negligent her mum was, I did believe they could have done so much more. I love interacting with fellow readers, reviewers, bloggers and writers. Hearing about reader opinion is the fuel to my reader appetite, so get in touch and comment below! SHARE ON FACEBOOK L E A V E A C O M M E N T A N D L E T' S T A L K A B O U T |
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