Julie C. Gardner

I received this book from the author in exchange for a review.

The Opposite of Addie is about a young girl whose mother takes her away from her home and all that she knows and loves. Her father who had promised that their relationship would not change let her down when he didn't keep his word and basically deserted her.

Now Addie is grown up but the scars from her childhood haunts her, making it difficult for her to trust love.

Addie has become a runner, scared to face the things that hurt and afraid to trust in love.

When Jake, Addie's boyfriend lets her down Addie ran away never informing him that he was about to become a father.

Now twelve years later Jake stumbles upon Addie and his daughter Josie. Addie doesnt trust Jake not to hurt them however. As a result, she reacts in her usual fashion, moving away from the home her daughter knows to protect her fragile heart.

Unlike the last time however Jake follows, ready to fight for a chance to be in his child's life.

Even though there is a bit of romance in this story the book is more about family, love, fear, forgiveness and secrets.

This book started out a bit slow, however as I read it through the characters unfolded into people I knew and whose pain, doubts and messes I could easily relate to.

This book shows that even loving takes courage and fear can cripple us anc cause us to miss out on the best that life has to offer.

Over all I found this book to be very real. In Opposite Addie, Julie C Gardner showed a true understanding of human nature, with her characters dealing with messy emotions and issues in a very fortright way.

Her characters could easily be those persons we come across in our everyday lives.… (mehr)

This book was a bit hit and miss for me.

It was easy to read, and I was interested in finding out what happened to the characters. But at times I felt the character development was unrealistic, or poorly drawn. I was frustrated to find a lot of the early narrative propelled by a main character who refused to communicate. I suppose it allowed the story to continue, but I felt so powerless and frustrated to read about a character who refused to listen or talk to her friends and family.

This is book two in the Friendship & Secrets series. I hadn't read any other books in the series prior to reading this one, but I don't think it affected my enjoyment.

I received a free copy of this book in return for a review. All opinions are my own, and have not been influenced by receiving a copy without payment.… (mehr)

Plot:
When they were teenagers, Corie and Scarlet were best friends, basically inseperable. Now 28, Corie finds a graduation letter she wrote and completely forget about. Having to face her past, she is confronted again with what happened to her and Scarlet and Tucker. Meanwhile Scarlet also has to face facts: she is pregnant and pretty certain that she will be a horrible mother who deserves nothing good. Through letters both of them explore feelings, both old and new, they haven't figured out yet.

Letters for Scarlet is a nice, quick read that something was a bit much for me and that I didn't entirely love. But I enjoyed it for the most part.

Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2018/10/12/letters-for-scarlet-julie-c-gardner/… (mehr)