Tome Thursday: Starting Over

 

Hello everyone!

 

Tonight we're taking a look at one of my more, er, shameful moments.

 

You see, the way things happen in my life is that, every once in a while, life literally happens.

 

And I don't have much of a say in it.

 

I was SUPPOSED to read this book waaay before tonight's post, and review it MUCH sooner too, to boot. Unfortunately, like I said, life has a tendency to happen to me when I'm quite literally looking elsewhere, and so here we are now.

 

The book released back in April, so I think I at least beat the solid half a year later mark if nothing else?

 

God knows!

 

But I swear, I WILL be better about the third one in the series, because overall I'm liking the vibe from these books as well as the writing style. Angela Day has her way with words, and I enjoy diving into these character-driven stories.

 

So without further ado: Starting Over!

 

Links to previous related posts can be found at the bottom of the page, as per usual!

 

Not sure if anyone remembers at this point, but, our FMC, Callie, originally worked a VERY high profile job in the pharmaceutical industry back in San Francisco, and never told her son Brett about his late father. Then her boy hopped on a plane to New Zealand to find his relatives on the dad's side, and well, things came to a head, which eventually led to her quitting her job and moving to Jackson's Bridge, where she would hopefully help a local organic company producing beauty and health products to get FDA certified.

 

This is where we hop into book two, Starting Over, and Callie hasn't made much progress, because her beau's mother, Olive, keeps stonewalling her at every turn and expecting Callie to get things done simply by reading her mind, apparently, since only Olive has everything down pat inside her head.

 

So Callie's at her wits end, even though she and Dave (the afore-mentioned beau) seem to be finding their footing in this relationship (though she occasionally seems to treat them both like twenty-somethings who don't know what they want r what they're doing, as opposed to their actual ages).

 

But she really wants to get the process documented, get everything sorted, have the paperwork done, and yet Olive and everybody else in this organisation thinks that's all hogwash, they should just be able to appear before the FDA, say hey, this is what we've got, show them, and walk off with their certificate.

 

No matter what Callie says or does, they DO NOT understand there is a PROCESS to these things, and the process has to be FOLLOWED and RESPECTED.

 

I mean, in all fairness, if I were Callie I'd have sat back and went, sure, okay, g'ahead. You think your way's so brilliant, despite the fact you lured me here to fix things for you so you absolutely succeed? Go right on. Show the FDA what you're made of.

 

And I'd let them crash and burn like the donkeys they all are.

 

But, like I said, Callie's a lot nicer than me and way less petty, so, I can't really argue with her there LOL. 

 

When she eventually grabs the bull by the horns to talk things through with Olive, Olive has a heart attack, so everything stalls and then changes gears, since getting certified isn't even priority anymore, but meeting product demand is.

 

At this point, the substory, about a teenager named Shannon whose dad is in prison and she wants to monetize her social media account to get the hell outta dodge before his release, reaches its peak.

 

See, Shannon posts an article about the whole thing, and it goes viral, her followers start their orders, and whoops, it MAY be too much for everyone to keep track of or handle. Once they know it was Shannon, however, Callie can get her the help she needs to just have a good life and be good overall, which I think is the best part of the entire book, period, particularly that the online bully she's dealing with turns out to be her younger brother.

 

Why?

 

He desperately wants their dad back, and Shannon, in his view, was going to ruin everything.

 

It's a beautiful and heartbreaking storyline, honestly, but I loved the conclusion AND the fact that she sent her ridiculous, over-the-top jackass of a boyfriend packing, with a little help from her friends (and Brett strong-arming him, because, of course hehehe).

 

But the ranch the ex works at? THAT is going to be a problem, it's been a problem for a while, and even the fact that the town sheriff seems to have a thing for the owner's sister (are they together? Who knows!), isn't helping matters.

 

On the other hand, while Callie's desperately fighting for her proverbial life (and not telling the members to stick it where the sun don't shine), Dave's going through a crucible of his own too, believing the family farm isn't his to take over, even though Olive and his sisters wants him to. There's history there with his brother, who unfortunately didn't make it, and we get the little nugget drop that Dave's adopted, too.

 

I mean ... HELLO.

 

Either way, by the time Olive's home, they figured out she has diabetes and won't be able to do the things she used to, Dave comes to a conclusion that makes everyone - including himself - happy, in that he'll take over the farm, as well as sign up to officially be the guardian of the teenage boy Olive's been helping.

 

And then it's graduation time for Brett and Shannon and it's just the cutest thing, with appearances by New Zealand relatives, and Callie finally pulling the plug to moving for good, bringing her best friend Lane with her as well since, they could all use a little more mountains and a lot less corporate.

 

Plus Lane gets acquainted with a cowboy, and if you pay attention while you read, you'll know exactly who keeps looking like his horses drag him backwards through the dirt, which should be FUN.

 

The book ends with Callie and Dave going off on a romantic weekend getaway, before they'll tackle everything life throws at them together as they return.

 

FIN!

 

My sincere, deep DEEPEST apologies to the author. I don't usually fall off the reading wagon like this, life has just been ... a lot.

BUT that said, Starting Over is a great book.

To be honest the reason I only gave it 4 stars is the community. It all feels super confusing at times - they're all up in each other's business, they get upset if they don't get visited (this sounds like a mechanic from the Tales of the Shire videogame in which villagers WILL get lowkey mad if you don't invite them to share meals with you, then will pout and stall the plot), but when Callie actually talks business, they clutch their pearls and are all SAY LESS HOW DARE THEE WE SPEAK NOT OF SUCH EVILS.

Uhm. Okay. Sure?

Aside from that, Callie feels like she needs better anchoring. At this point all signs are she's giving Jackon's Bridge it all, but by the end of the book she is STILL waxing lyrical in her head about "oh she hadn't made a decision to stay yet".

Ma'am, you sold your house, you got a new car appropriate for the new place, you've committed to the man, and you're running a business while also living the community chaos. At what point has that become NOT STAYING?

I love the Shannon subplot the best honestly. I can't wait to see more of her and Brett. I'm also curious about the Two Rivers ranch that seems to be bad news, and I can't wait to read how Lane and Ethan end up together.

But Sarah's story is first! She's next on my list right after I clear out a few more ARCs hehe.

I do still feel this is a great, emotional series that handles characters remarkably well. It's definitely worth a read! 

 

xx

*image not mine

 

New Beginning - Letting Go