I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review in any way.
Rose Duncan is dancing on Broadway. She's spent hours a day for the last two decades to get there, and now she's living the dream. She's happy, she's driven, and life couldn't get any better.
Ben Falco is a pitcher whose only goal is to make it to the Major Leagues. He keeps his grades up, he doesn't party, and he stays away from committed relationships – they'll only distract him.
But when Ben meets Rose, she's no dancer and she's certainly not happy. In fact, she doesn't seem to be happy at all. Yet something about her makes him want to know what's turned her into this she'll of a person, and if he can be the one o reach inside her mind and pull her out.
Ben doesn't want a relationship. Rose doesn't want to get better. But once their hearts collide, it's a whole new ballgame.
Reaching Rose is a story about Rose and Ben, and a little about their friend Johnny Gleason – a genius who has plans of his own until they too slip from his grasp. This is a tale about love, loss, and guts, and the ability to play hardball when life throws you a curve.
After getting hit by a delivery truck Rose has to face the fact that her leg has been amputated, which to her means she'll never dance again. Rose can't handle this news, she shuts down and doesn't talk, an understandable reaction to such life altering news. She's burying herself in denial, trying to escape the truth of her present situation, and by doing so she's missing out on living her new life to the fullest.
Now, I'm not going to go and criticise the way Rose dealt with finding out about her leg amputation. I can only imagine how life changing having a limb amputated would be, and I completely understand why Rose dealt with it by shutting down. Sure, there were probably better ways to react, but the girl woke up with a huge scar and no leg beyond the knee. If you ask me, that's pretty huge.
I loved that we got to meet Holly and Mick again, it took me a while to realise that they were in the same series, but once I caught on I appreciated that detail. I like when a series follows different sets of characters because there's nothing worse than an author screwing a perfectly good relationship in the second book! That's definitely not been done in the Hunter Hill series, and I'd happily read about other characters in another book.
As I was reading
Reaching Rose at no point did I feel that I was reading a piece of fiction. By that I mean that it was believable, it didn't feel I was reading a story created by J. P. Grider for our enjoyment and reading pleasure. I liked how believable and realistic Reaching Rose was, and I'd definitely read more of J. P. Grider's work.
'Reaching Rose' by J. P. Grider
Labels: 2015, 4 Stars, Book, J. P. Grider, Mending Michael, New Adult, Published 2015, Reaching Rose, Review
