What is is about:
From the publisher:
“As an investigative reporter and the host of her own TV talk show, Faith Marin works to expose the truth for her viewers. But in her personal life, she’s anchored her world with firm boundaries in order to hide a family history she’d like to forget. By contrast, her husband Geary’s life is an open book. An easygoing pro bass fisherman, Geary is the ultimate family man–and his overbearing relatives don’t know the meaning of boundaries.
Faith and Geary haven’t been married long when their differences start to derail their tender relationship. Surely love shouldn’t be this hard. While Faith considers whether divorce is the only answer to their issues, tragedy strikes. With her life in the balance, she finds that the one she has been shutting out may be the very one she cannot bear to lose.
Kellie Coates Gilbert takes you on an emotional roller coaster as she weaves together unexpected trial, self-discovery, and forgiveness in this profoundly honest portrait of the tensions that can break a marriage–and the ultimate healing power of love.”
My thoughts:
The first chapter had me so shocked, I was delighted and so excited for A Reason to Stay, to see how it would unfold. I am not a big fan of books that flip from present day to the past. I don’t mind some if they are about separate characters, but this one was the flashbacks of the main character, Faith. The author had some good points with doing that, but it isn’t something I really enjoy a lot and it did make me enjoy this book less than if it had developed naturally rather than being partially flashbacks. The last 25% of the book was awesome and really had a lot for people to think about. I don’t want to say too much and give away anything, so I will keep this pretty vague. Kellie Coates Gilbert always makes you think with her books, and I was not disappointed in that. She takes real society issues and breaks them down into things her characters experience and makes you more aware of these issues and the impact they have on people, both the direct impact to those directly affected, and the secondary impact on those who care for those affected. I love that Kellie Coates Gilbert’s books are not your typical contemporary read. I feel she goes outside the box, and I love that. So, while this wasn’t my favorite book of hers, I still think it’s definitely worth a read and I very much look forward to what she writes in the future.
I give A Reason to Stay 3.5 stars, since I do not personally like the flashback style of writing and I got frustrated with that, but I still enjoyed the story and really loved the first chapter and last 25% or so of the book.
I received this book in exchange for my honest review, which I have given.
About the author:
As a former legal professional, Kellie Coates Gilbert spent nearly twenty-five years working in courtrooms and behind the scenes of some of the largest and most well-known cases in America. She was one of the lead paralegals in the Jack-in-the-Box litigation, where uncooked hamburger resulted in the deaths of several toddlers and made many more critically ill, which is now the subplot of her recently released WHERE RIVERS PART, the second novel in a collection of contemporary women’s fiction stories all set in Texas. Her books not only explore the heart issues that matter most to women, but often allow readers an inside peek into her former legal world.
Kellie currently makes her home in Dallas, Texas with her husband and a very spoiled 2.7 lb. Yorkie named Emmie Sweetpea.
Please visit her online at http://www.kelliecoatesgilbert.com
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