Elena Aitken

What I love most about this book, & all of the books from the Bears of Grizzly Ridge series, is that the book is 90% about the romance & the connection between the main characters. From the minute Zoe & Gabe met, their chemistry jumps off the page at you. They were so into each other, nothing else existed. I loved the relationship Gabe had with not only his son, Ashton but also his former mother-in-law. Rather than move her away from the center of their lives, Gabe & Ashton moved to be show more closer to her. Zoe & Ashton had an instantly strong relationship once they met since, as Ashton put it “she felt like home”. Add in Zoe’s personal crisis, a small accident & a threat from Gabe’s prior life & this story kept you involved & on the edge of your seat! I enjoyed revisiting the characters from the previous stories & there is a cliffhanger at the end of this story regarding one of them. show less

Whew. What a story. Drawing Free is not a book for the light of heart, this book is a serious look at an all too real life for many women. What mother and/or wife has not felt undervalued, underappreciated, and overwhelmed all at once? What woman hasn’t taken a look at an opportunity to get the heck out of dodge without the glimmer of “what if…?” Most of us don’t act on it, most of us don’t even give it more than a very quick passing thought. But there are certainly many women show more who sit and fantasize about turning back that clock, taking a break from life.

This was quite the emotional book. I spent a large part of it loving the story, loving the writing, but being so angry at Becca that if she had been in front of me, I’m not sure I could have been polite. But yet at the same time, I understand. Becca is a stay at home mom, which is easily more difficult than any job the rest of us who work outside the home have. Her own mother died when she was a child, she married and had children at a young age and gave up on her own dreams and aspirations to become Mrs. Thompson, mother and wife. Her dad is having Alzheimer type memory issues and often mistakes her for her late mother. Her kids are real gems, taking her for granted and playing on her love, exhaustion, and a mother’s need to see her children happy. Her best friend is radiant with news of a European adventure when she is trapped at home in a lifestyle that has suddenly caught up with her. And yes, she feels trapped.

One day Becca is stuck in traffic on the way to pick up her daughter. A quick call to her husband and a quick U-turn and she is off in another direction to disappear to Rainbow Valley where she hopes to discover who she is again.

Easy task, right? A lot of people spend their whole lives and never figure out who they are. And Becca has put her children, her husband, and her reality all on the line to figure it out. As much as I initially didn’t like Becca, as much as some of her actions downright angered me…the woman needed a change. She was clearly depressed and something needed to change. Life ran away and left her with kids, chores, and a workaholic husband. And she sought change. She knew part of her was missing in the equation of her life, and she went to change it. That takes courage. Great big, brass courage. Some people accused her of running away, and maybe part of it was.

But she made some friends in her brief journey to the cabin. Positive or negative, they helped her get to the place she needed to be to be ok with herself. And I can’t go much further than that without giving away secrets of the book. We should all be so lucky to have a break, to retune our soul and remember who we are, who we want to be. So if you read this book, take a moment and realize that while it is fiction, this can easily be about any number of women. Get over the anger you feel at Becca and enjoy the story. Maybe even live vicariously for a bit. I’ll say it again, this is definitely an emotional story. Be prepared to open your heart and your mind and go along for the ride. show less

Wow! What an emotional journey! This book managed to grab my emotions from the very beginning. You could sense that she is drowning & is suffering from depression. I was so upset with her husband being blind to what was going on & continually allowing her to force him to back off. The journey to self discovery had ups & downs that affected the entire family but it seemed to work as a wake up call. Readers will see themselves in several of the situations. The writing is so realistic that you show more feel it's all happening to someone you know. There are twists that I didn't see coming & some I did. All I can say is to make sure you have the time to sit & read the entire book in one sitting. And keep the tissues handy! I needed several of them!! show less

I finished reading the book and didn’t want it to end. I want to know what happens to Char and Nick. This has been one of my favorite books this year. I was hooked as soon as I started. The characters were absolutely great and well described (I think I fell in love with Nick) and the story was a little different than normal. The storyline of a man bringing up a baby and giving up his single life was really good. He may be a billionaire but he loved his little girl Amelia. He also was show more fighting for sole custody. It was his mission and he was going to make it happen. Then the other main character, Charlotte, just got out of a very bad relationship and wanted nothing to do with men. But she did fall for Nick’s cute, adorable little girl. As he was speaking with a caseworker, he was thinking having a female around it might help show that he was the best person for Amelia who is in a loving family. Charlotte pops out and says Nick’s her finance when a caseworker was looking into sole custody of Amelia. So they begin a fake engagement. Both of them had sparks between them which did cause a little surprise to both of them. As the story continues, we learn more about Nick’s custody issue and Charlotte's past life. Can they do it, pretend to be engaged for Nick to keep the baby or will something unexpected happen to the two of them that changes everything? Super great book and I want to know more about what happens with them. This is part of a series and I look forward to reading more of the serires show less