Photo credits: GeorgeB2 (pixabay), JL G (pixabay) Edited by Vaishali Title: One Last Risk (An Oak Grove Novel #1) Author: Nancy Stopper Genre/Themes: Contemporary Romance, Adult Fiction, Publisher: Anderby Lane Publishing Year of Publication: 2017 Format: E-book - kindle app. REVIEW‘They swayed as one and everyone else melted away. It was just the two of them on the dance floor, wrapped up in each other, where no guilt and grief lived, where no troubles chased them.’ “None of it mattered if I didn’t have you. If you were willing to take a risk to love me, I was willing to risk losing everything for the chance to love you back.” Softly emotive, ‘One Last Risk’ is a down-to-earth small-town romance. A warm relationship with a genuine, soft and keen connection. Lucas Bennett is oppressed by fire. It also fuels him. Quick to level flame, he lives to best fire, tame it, hose it from sky to ground. He can bear to lift the load of catastrophe but it has also pigeonholed him to a point of no return. His inward ambivalence has led to self-sabotage, and his need to hold court and slay what drives him lands him demoted from the front line of firefighting service. Losing a close friend had forced him to lunge at risk, affecting his level-headed performance until forced out of the danger zone. Overcompensation has him suspended and thrust into the threshold of therapy while he’s buzzing to get back to doing what he does best: beat fire. Sarah Robinson knows that tragedy doesn’t come prescribed with an expiry date. Newly relocated to the small, sweet town of Oak Grove and its native, well-disposed group of residents, she’s looking forward to fresh beginnings with her daughter. An opportunity to build dreams that once belonged to two before a perfect photograph was ripped down the middle. The pain still ticks and the memories dial with the longest hand. Fire cost her a lifetime with her husband but this feel-good neighbourhood of warm people and baked charm promises a chance to start again. Separation anxiety dawned after a tragedy inspired by fire and Sarah is anxious at the thought of it touching their lives again. She just never thought she’d go it alone, a life partner short and followed by a crimson shadow that tells her a new life doesn't mean forgetting an old one. Change is a difficult transition because it requires a repositioning. It requires losing something to make space for something else, and for Sarah, that’s leaving behind the memory of Alex and living around the negative space that once harboured his life. I’m gradually, very gradually, making my way through the sea of authored romance, and as of late, that includes reading from new romantics who love writing romance as much as I love reading it. Not a hard labour at all if you ask me. I quite honestly love a small-town romance and ‘One Last Risk’ by Nancy Stopper lays out what is a tragic, true-to-life premise depicted gently and sweetly enough that a reader easily feels the gravity of character history while watching a committed romance nurture life into two people loyal to living bachelor-single. It’s safe to say they deserve more than that though. With new changes, reform and demons flitting through the story, I found that Sarah and Lucas were a greatly matched couple for this small-town love story. A story of character transition that kept me by their sides and willing to support their respective wounds. Lucas makes sacrifices for what hasn’t even happened, seeing his friend as a cautionary tale and working through some deep self blame. It’s also important to note that Luke’s part of the story is therapy-positive, representation that I hold a candle to because love alone is not the magical serum needed to stitch together serious wounds and fix pain like many novels in this genre would have you believe. It takes independent work to work through those demons. For Sarah, it’s reframing her life without Alex, accepting her place as a single parent and the single most fear of giving herself permission to move on for a second opportunity at love. With positive points to credit, this story does have a few drawbacks worth mentioning too. This was one of those reads that talks more about what it doesn’t always show. All the more vital to highlight an atmosphere for a small-town read. A few examples of this are being told how supportive and warm the townspeople and fire crew are. This is a nimble quirk that I love with the small-town vibe, the ability to invent a secure place with a wonderful charm that makes us glow from the inside and wish we lived the utopian life in the way only these miniverses can present. Although we do see examples of these close-knit relationships, I surprisingly didn’t feel it as strongly with ‘One Last Risk’. Another example brings forward Lily and Lucas’s forming relationship. I prefer being completely privy to whatever connections are in the developing works because I then become a bigger, inclusive part of the story. If that happens, I can willingly surrender my emotions. I honestly felt that Lily wasn’t given a space to shine - which was shame - because she was one of my favourite people. We also don’t see - with any detail - the unfolding relationship between her and Lucas, only again reassured through Sarah’s POV that they are close. To add on, In terms of Sarah’s start up business, we know she’s an accountant but there’s no further elaboration about how well her business is doing. This is a big part of her adjustment in a new town so I think this deserved more attention. The above paired with many repetitive sentences, misplaced descriptions, heavy passages which were sometimes too wordy and pitchy did unfortunately curb the read. It was conductive to this that I wasn’t a big fan of the writing style. The actual scenes themselves could use better description and careful attention. On this front, I think the story needs some reworking and better planning to really tighten it up. The side characters themselves help in creating the setting and the Bennett family are a great addition. They give this small-town story some warm and smaller-scaled colour. This story is lined with meaning and lays it out well enough, but I don’t think it’s as expressive as it could be. At face value, I prepped myself for an emotional ride because this story comes off as a heavier read, but it was actually very readable and light enough to enjoy. There’s something about losing a partner in a devastating way that hits all the vulnerable places and made me really think about this particular grief personally, and because of that, I connected with Sarah through my own sympathy. The displacement was fresh and it frames the transition of moving forward. Alex is sewn into the lining of Sarah’s life. Moving on means leaving him behind and she doesn’t know how ready she is for that. Lucas has been raised by a perfect family but can’t afford to make one of his own. He knows the occupational risk and staves off commitment in favour of making a family only to leave them behind. For Sarah, it’s facing what lies ahead without the person you planned everything with, not sure if she can lose everything a second time around. Especially for a man who plays ball with fire. Fire had stolen something from them both but it casts a second chance to love someone new. A native to Oak Grove and a newcomer. Both half in and both half out as grief moves between them. Challenged by the incline, surrendered by passion and cycling complicated feelings, it’s a time to take a leaf form their hearts and not their heads. Bravery, vulnerability, meeting milestones, brewing love, friendly folks and the dynamic of a family breathes life into a story as much as it infuses a human tone within it, most effectively in this compact setting that attests to the worth of one last risk. I gave this book 3 stars -P O T E N T I A L C O N T E N T W A R N I N G: Some swearing, a sex scene and a few heated moments with content not suitable for younger readers. There’s also an intimation of a side character stuck in a controlling relationship. Overall this book deals with lightly represented grief after death. --------------------------------------- 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 --------------------------------------- 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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