When are we really ready for second chances?

Synopsis

‘When the world says “give up”, hope whispers, “try it one more time”.’

Callie’s always been the least ambitious of her sisters but also the happiest, until fate snaps her fiance before they can say I do.

One year later, she is still putting her life back together, but she might be ready for more. With so much life left to live, she has to find a way to be happy.

Nathan knows not everyone gets a second chance at life and he’s not going to waste his. He’s left the city behind, moved to Cornwall and is starting over. When he meets a beautiful woman at the beach it feels like fate, but her heart belongs to someone else.

Could Callie and Nathan be just what the each other needs?

My review

Callie never cared that of all the siblings, she was the less ambitious one. It was also that lacking ambition that made her the happiest of the sisters. At least, that was until one year ago, until that terrible day that her fiancé had died on what was supposed to be the happiest day for them.
Even after a year, Callie is struggling with putting her life back together, but slowly, and with the help of her family, she feels that perhaps she is ready to move forward.
But having loved and lost, Callie is not ready to make another chance at love, no matter how much she likes Nathan, who has recently moved from London to Cornwall. Nathan realized that he is a lucky man, haven got his own second chance. A second chance he is ready to accept with both hand, also leaving room for romance. Yet no matter how much he likes Callie, he knows that Callie’s heart belongs to someone else… 

With each book I read from this author, I am fully prepared for an emotional rollercoaster, filled with both happiness and sadness.
I know that the main characters will have to face heart-breaking things before even just hoping for a happy end. 

And what Callie went though and how she is still carrying her pain around, truly broke my heart too…
When the story takes off, it seems that Callie just has it all, and it is going to be the happiest day of her life, marrying the love of her life.
But fate has other ideas, and turns what supposed to be a glorious day into the most terrible one. 

As I haven’t experienced such loss myself (and I hope I never will…) I could only try to understand how Callie felt not only those first moments, but throughout the whole story. How can someone overcome such a loss and move on?
I think that I would be a lot like Callie in that situation…  

It saddened me to read how she kept feeling, not seeing the beauty of life. And I liked it how the author managed to make her readers understand how that guilt makes someone feel. How can you be happy again when you have lost best thing you ever had? How can anything surpass what we once had? 

But surrounded by her amazing family (Callie just has the best family someone could have!), slowly Callie is coming out of her shell again, finding her passions again and realizes that moving on doesn’t mean you’ll ever forget.
And seeing the real Callie submerge again, was just wonderful to read. On top of that, seeing how Callie starts to make even courageous plans, in remembrance of her loved one, but also for herself. 

While Callie shows courage on many levels, it made me sad how love was out of the question. And that made me see that no matter what steps you take to overcome your grief, or how courageous you are, allowing love back in is the most terrifying step to take, no matter how amazing Nathan is.. 

When we meet Nathan, he has been through a terrible time too, and is now ready for his second chance at life.
What I liked the most about him, was his ability to see the beauty in everything. He knows how lucky he was and he wants to enjoy life at its fullest and show the world how grateful he is for the gift he received.
But he also is a very understanding man. While he starts to fall very quickly in love with Callie, something he cannot explain himself, as that is so out of character, he also understands Callie. And he respects her choices.
And he is the kind of character not afraid of changing his mind, after hearing a total different vision.  

Reading how Callie and Nathan grow closer truly warmed my heart, as these people truly deserve a second chance at happiness and love. Even only knowing each other for a rather short time, they both feel so strongly about each other, if only they would allow those feelings (especially Callie) 

It took me a while for the penny to drop what exactly happened, but once it did, everything did just make sense…
And I understood Callie’s reaction and her fear, but I also found it very beautiful how the story made a full circle. 

This story has a rather slow pace, but it needs that slow pace. We as a reader need to see and understand that feelings and moving forward cannot be pushed. Callie, but everyone in general who has faced a great loss, needs to take her own time to move forward. It can take a week (okay, that’s very optimistic…), a month or a year. You cannot rush someone to stop grieving, as it’s a whole process that needs to be endured. The only thing we can do is stand by that person’s side, showing our unconditional love and support. And slowly, at the right pace, that person will see the beauty of life again, with a heart that has been broken, but is slowly healing again however never forgetting. 

I found this a wonderful book that made me smile but also made me cry. I knew that I would get emotional over this book, and even after reaching the end, it made me reflect what not only grief can do to a person, but also love and a shot at a second chance. And that mixed with a great amount of courage for the characters, turned this book into a marvellous and memorable one…