Dollycas's Thoughts
I escaped right into this novel.
First we meet Nicki, a real estate appraiser with a 16 year old son, Cody, and a boyfriend, Jake, that is 11 years her junior. Things seem to be on track. They are looking for a new house and are opening a restaurant together.
Then we meet Ronnie, Nicki's father who has been incarcerated most of her life. He is being released from prison and needs to have a place to live and a job or he will violate his parole and be sent back. He wants to reconnect with his daughter and meet his grandson. He just hopes she will let him live with her.
The chapters alternate narrators between Nicki and Ronnie and I really liked that. Their own point of views to the situations made them easy to identify with. We were able to see each character develop separately and together and their relationship struggle and grow.
I knew very early in the story what the ending would be because the story followed a very natural progression. There were a few surprises along the way, like Ronnie's parole officer. That woman was in the wrong job and needs some counseling of her own. We also have Peaches, Nicki's very outspoken best friend. She brings some humor and drama to the story.
When I was asked to review this book I thought it was going to be a light read full of humor. It does have a humorous side but the book has so much more. Nicki's family was clearly dysfunctional but she turned her life around and is very successful in her own right. Yes, she does have relationship issues with men but she was clearly getting grips on that as the story continued. Her son, Cody, also matured before our eyes as he and Ronnie got to know each other and built their relationship. Ronnie is a very smart man, both from all the books he read in prison and through his life lessons. It was a joy to watch him interact with both Cody and Nicki and become the person he hoped to be with all the bumps along the way.
I loved this story. Definitely one for my keeper shelf. I am a sucker for a book with flawed characters and a happy ending.
I escaped right into this novel.
First we meet Nicki, a real estate appraiser with a 16 year old son, Cody, and a boyfriend, Jake, that is 11 years her junior. Things seem to be on track. They are looking for a new house and are opening a restaurant together.
Then we meet Ronnie, Nicki's father who has been incarcerated most of her life. He is being released from prison and needs to have a place to live and a job or he will violate his parole and be sent back. He wants to reconnect with his daughter and meet his grandson. He just hopes she will let him live with her.
The chapters alternate narrators between Nicki and Ronnie and I really liked that. Their own point of views to the situations made them easy to identify with. We were able to see each character develop separately and together and their relationship struggle and grow.
I knew very early in the story what the ending would be because the story followed a very natural progression. There were a few surprises along the way, like Ronnie's parole officer. That woman was in the wrong job and needs some counseling of her own. We also have Peaches, Nicki's very outspoken best friend. She brings some humor and drama to the story.
When I was asked to review this book I thought it was going to be a light read full of humor. It does have a humorous side but the book has so much more. Nicki's family was clearly dysfunctional but she turned her life around and is very successful in her own right. Yes, she does have relationship issues with men but she was clearly getting grips on that as the story continued. Her son, Cody, also matured before our eyes as he and Ronnie got to know each other and built their relationship. Ronnie is a very smart man, both from all the books he read in prison and through his life lessons. It was a joy to watch him interact with both Cody and Nicki and become the person he hoped to be with all the bumps along the way.
I loved this story. Definitely one for my keeper shelf. I am a sucker for a book with flawed characters and a happy ending.
