Lou Pearson, a dog trainer, is an ex-addict. She’d set out
to become a vet but drugs derailed that goal. Drugs were also the cause of the
end of her relationship with Alice Cameron who was a supportive, loving and
kind partner till Lou just pushing her too far, too often. Alice walked away
from the toxicity of an addict not willing to reform. The loss of Alice is a
wake-up call for Lou and she starts attending NA meeting and even finds a sponsor.
Years later, Alice re-enters as the mother of a partially blind daughter,
Cameron, acquiring a dog for her daughter. The love between the two still
exists and gets a second chance.
Alice is a beautiful character with all the qualities we
admire – honest, open, loving, willing to risk, willing to reach out and take
chances. Lou has high anxiety, is self-protective and seemingly wanting to be
chased. There is no quality in Lou that we like, but her neediness and
unconscious demands for attention may be a character continuum in keeping with
her drug addiction. Alice deserved so much better.
This book is largely a one-way relationship with Alice
taking ten steps and Lou taking a grudging one or one-and-a-half steps. But
second chance romances are always popular – who doesn’t dream of the one they
lost coming back to them?
We’d call this one okay at best.
⭐⭐☆
