Monday, December 28, 2015

The Right Family by Susan B. Roara

Lucy has always had a soft spot for Jack. As they grow up together, their friendship turns into something more, but when tragedy strikes, Jack is whisked away, never to be heard from again. Several years pass. The boys in high school don't interest Lucy, and she continues to think about Jack - where did he go? What does he look like? Does he think of her? When she finds out where Jack might be located - halfway across the country in Indiana - Lucy drives to meet him, not knowing what she'll find, if he'll recognize her, if he'll turn her away, or if he'll even be there. But when Lucy's mom suffers a long-coming mental breakdown, shattering the family to pieces, Lucy is pulled back to Connecticut, left wondering what will become of her and her long-lost love. Blurring the line between friendship and love, responsibility and instinct, THE RIGHT FAMILY is a beautifully written story that is not to be missed. @goodreads

 MY REVIEW:

5 STARS

I would like to thank the author, Susan B. Roara for a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review. Now, that being said, I guess I'm more picky when I'm reading an author's book, I feel like I have to be more brutally honest and hope for the best. In most of the cases I have found rare gems out of these books. This is one of those cases, I loved this book. Yes, there were a few things I would have liked to know more of, but there are a lot of characters in this book and I think the author did a wonderful job at creating them. When I don't want to put a book down then I know it's going to be a treat.

This book is also written in the different characters viewpoints but it's not confusing in the least!

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Lucy and Jack were best friends as kids and just as they were growing into something more, Jack gets taken out of Lucy's life. A tragedy strikes and Jack and his brother Charles disappear.
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I actually felt very sorry for Jack's family life in the beginning and I was worried about Lucy's family life as well. Lucy has a somewhat large family and her mom has a big job taking care of all of them. There are Lucy, Kat, Julia, Thomas, Kaylan, Jessica and Mikey, they all live with their mom and dad.

The book moves forward a few years and Lucy is older, going to prom, has a best friend Amelia, graduating before long and still... thinking of Jack. What happened to him?

I will say Charles and Jack were separated and Charles ran away and left Jack, but Jack got the better end of the stick. It's one of those.. if only situations....

We don't get too much involved in Lucy's younger siblings but Kat, Julia and Thomas have big parts in the book. Kat is living a life with a big secret. Thomas has a secret of his own and Julia is just trying to help keep things together. Their mom is acting stranger and stranger, it's like she's about to have a mental breakdown. Their father is trying to do what little he can to help since he's the one that works all of the time to keep them all together.

Then lo and behold, Charles comes back to town! He forms a bond with Kat and friendship with Thomas (Tommy). When Lucy finds out he's back she is on a mission to find out what happened to Jack and gets Charles on board. He was hoping that Jack would show back up in town looking for him so he gets a job and a little apartment.

Lucy and Kat find out the place Charles and Jack's mom was born and Charles remembers the social workers mentioning an grandfather they had when they were picked up as children. And that is all it takes for Lucy to get everyone involved in going on a road trip from Connecticut to Indiana to try to find Jack. This road trip includes, Lucy, Charles, Tommy, Amelia and Kat!

And guess what? They find Jack :-) He's living on a farm and I'm not going to say why, what he's got going on, how is life is or what all has happened to him. You have to read the book :-) I love saying that!


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Needless to say Jack is so happy to see his brother and Lucy... there hasn't been a day that she's not on his mind. Well, he had a few slips there, but then he got on the right track again! :-)

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Unfortunately, while they are out of town, a tragedy strikes Lucy's family and her, Kat, Tommy and Lucy's friend Amelia have to race back home. Charles stays behind with Jack.

Jack and Charles do come back to visit Lucy and Kat and it's really bittersweet and sad. I'm really hoping it's a good ending in the next book. The end of this one is up in the air as decisions can't just be made because of what happened in the family.

How can you make the choice of love or your family that needs you. You can't really.. can you?


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Once again, I loved this book and what a wonderful story for the author's first novel! I can't wait for the next one..unless it doesn't have a happy ending.. just kidding!
GOODREADS REVIEW:

AMAZON LINK TO THE BOOK:



2 comments:

  1. Sounds like a really cool story! I will have to add it to my to read list.

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    Replies
    1. It really is, I loved it. I also loved that the main character is named Lucy, that's my sweet greyhounds name as you know! :-) ♥

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