Sarra Cannon

Interesting variation on 'good versus evil', with vampires and demons fighting each other, or combining forces to try to defeat supreme evil! Well written, good characters. Plenty of pros, but for me, one slight con was a bit too much detail of how a young woman feels around a man she considers hot! Doesn't spoil a really good read, though.

The Trouble with Goodbye by Sarra Cannon
Source: ARC/Author for a fair and honest review
My Rating: 5/5 stars

Oh, Sarra Cannon, you had me at “My stomach twists as the sign for Harrison’s Pecan Farm comes into view.” For those of you who don’t know, that’s the first sentence in this highly charged and emotional read that begins with a bang and goes out with an even bigger bang.

Trouble opens with Leigh Anne making a dramatic late night entrance into her hometown of Fairhope and Knox show more Warner coming to the rescue. Leigh Anne, in an effort to avoid hitting a deer has landed herself and her very torn up car in a ditch and Knox is her knight in shining armor. After a half hour of tears and a very uncomfortable meeting with Leigh Anne’s mother Knox walks away not entirely sure what he just let into his life. For Leigh Anne, the very fact that she had to come home at all is humiliating and her stunning meltdown in front of Knox is just the cherry on top of the crap sundae that is her life.

Fairhope is a small town and all that matters is how the family is perceived so Leigh Anne’s homecoming, according to her mother, is due to her daughter’s homesickness and desire to be back among her family and friends. As far as Leigh Anne’s mother is concerned, her daughter is to simply step back into her old life and all with be right with the world. Leigh Anne’s reasons for coming home have nothing whatsoever to do with homesickness and everything to do with a dirty little secret she is desperately trying to keep hidden from the world. The question is, can Leigh Anne ever really go back to her old life after everything she has endured?

Knox Warner is a cat of a different color. When a delicious piece of man candy like Knox Warner moves to town, the locals notice and Leigh Anne’s friends from high school have not only noticed but gathered intel. According to the girls (who still rather disgustingly live in the past) Knox is no-go: he has a nasty criminal history, he lives in a room above his uncle’s bar and, he never, ever mingles with the locals. According to her friends, Leigh Anne will be far, far better off if she never crosses paths with the likes of Knox Warner. Oh good, yet another secret to keep.

The unfolding of Trouble is tumultuous, heart-breaking, frustrating and, triumphant. For every twist and turn in the plot, Leigh Anne and Knox take the same tumultuous, heart-breaking, frustrating, and triumphant twists and turns. And I was with those two every single step of the way! Leigh Anne is a broken young woman who simply needs someone to show her that her secret, her terrible burden is not something she should be ashamed of but something she should wield like a weapon in order to reclaim her life. Knox, though broken in his own way, is just the encouragement and support Leigh Anne needs. Knox sees beyond the pieces to the whole of Leigh Anne and helps her to understand she is not only capable of courage, strength and bravery but is also worthy of the love and independence she craves. Yeah, he is that kind of dreamy, amazing, and awesome!

As for those others who occupy Trouble, it is a mixed bag of love and hate. Initially, I was pretty disgusted with Leigh Anne’s old friends but one or two, namely Penny and Preston really came through for Leigh Anne in the end. Jenna, the rambunctious and totally delightful new friend from the steak house is one of Trouble’s highlights and proves immediately to be a true and loyal friend to both Leigh Anne and Knox. Hear me now Sarra Cannon, I want more of Jenna!!

On the flip side the awesome is the awful and I can absolutely go the rest of my life without ever reading another word about Leigh Anne’s mother. I consider it a true testament to an author’s ability to write if he or she can make me hate a character. Consider yourself testament-ed Sarra Cannon; Leigh Anne’s mother is wretched human whose very existence would not be missed. If there was a way to whack a fictional character, I would be all over it where Leigh Anne's mother is concerned. Makes you want to read Trouble now, doesn’t it?

The Bottom Line: I read The Trouble with Goodbye in a marathon sitting and found I experienced every moment of Leigh Anne and Knox’s journey right along with them. Cannon has crafted a novel that revolves around solid characters embroiled in a nasty and incredibly interesting plot. I have never made a secret of my love of strong characters and strong plot lines and I got everything I love about reading in Sarra Cannon’s offering. I also got a well-written book that was thoroughly satisfying even given the grave nature of some of the events. Overall, The Trouble with Goodbye is the total package and appropriate for all NA+ audiences. show less

I greatly enjoyed Inner Demons - the second book from the Shadow Demons series. To see my review of the first book - Beautiful Demons - please click HERE. My sister seems to have a good taste in books - I am very glad I started the Tea's Wishlist Challenge.

Inner Demons continues right where Beautiful Demons end. Harper has been chosen to join the cheerleading team, which means instant popularity and people noticing here. But that’s not all - when you are a member of the cheerleading squad, show more you not only learn routines, dances and cheers. You also learn how to do magic!

The cheerleading team is the training squad for the magic learners that belong to the group of witches who are called the Order of Shadows. All these witches are powerful, and Harper has a special place in this team.

We get to see Harper discover a whole new world - a world that she didn’t really ask for. We are following her adventure in discovering how powerful she can be, but also how much pressure this role brings. Harper is awesome, by the way! And sometimes stupid.

The battle between the What-Is-Expected-Of-Me and Who-I-Really-Am is constantly there, and even though Harper is initially a brave girl - sometimes she loses herself into this whole new world. She is such a real character, because she is brave and wants justice, she wants to find out all the secrets, but then she becomes a coward for little things and the next thing we know - she goes into a very dangerous adventure.

I loved all the characters, especially Harper and Jackson ( I am #TeamJackson). In this book, you will also get to know Jackson better and find out a little bit about his spooky past. The flow of the story is so well written and even though it didn’t have major plot twists like the first book - it managed to answer a lot of questions I had, while still managing to bring up even more unanswered questions.

In this book Harper will witness a ceremony of her friend that will change the track of the whole book. When she realises that there are so many secrets that everyone is hiding from her - she will decide it’s time for her to seek them herself.

A lovely paranormal fantasy - filled in with a lot of magic, a wonderful plot behind it, and a fearless female character, I would definitely recommend this book and series. And don’t thank me - thank my sister! show less

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I greatly enjoyed Inner Demons - the second book from the Shadow Demons series. To see my review of the first book - Beautiful Demons - please click HERE. My sister seems to have a good taste in books - I am very glad I started the Tea's Wishlist Challenge.

Inner Demons continues right where Beautiful Demons end. Harper has been chosen to join the cheerleading team, which means instant popularity and people noticing here. But that’s not all - show more when you are a member of the cheerleading squad, you not only learn routines, dances and cheers. You also learn how to do magic!

The cheerleading team is the training squad for the magic learners that belong to the group of witches who are called the Order of Shadows. All these witches are powerful, and Harper has a special place in this team.

We get to see Harper discover a whole new world - a world that she didn’t really ask for. We are following her adventure in discovering how powerful she can be, but also how much pressure this role brings. Harper is awesome, by the way! And sometimes stupid.

The battle between the What-Is-Expected-Of-Me and Who-I-Really-Am is constantly there, and even though Harper is initially a brave girl - sometimes she loses herself into this whole new world. She is such a real character, because she is brave and wants justice, she wants to find out all the secrets, but then she becomes a coward for little things and the next thing we know - she goes into a very dangerous adventure.

I loved all the characters, especially Harper and Jackson ( I am #TeamJackson). In this book, you will also get to know Jackson better and find out a little bit about his spooky past. The flow of the story is so well written and even though it didn’t have major plot twists like the first book - it managed to answer a lot of questions I had, while still managing to bring up even more unanswered questions.

In this book Harper will witness a ceremony of her friend that will change the track of the whole book. When she realises that there are so many secrets that everyone is hiding from her - she will decide it’s time for her to seek them herself.

A lovely paranormal fantasy - filled in with a lot of magic, a wonderful plot behind it, and a fearless female character, I would definitely recommend this book and series. And don’t thank me - thank my sister!

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest show less