Interesting to check up on the first couple from this series but nothing real special. ( )

Novella revisiting Ethan and Rachel, so many issues to overcome. Many times we end the story before you see all the challenges that are yet to be overcome and dealt with, I liked seeing this short continuing Ethan and Rachel's story.
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Touching, well written story of the on going healing of Rachel Kelly. Rachel has some new beginnings she is just starting. Her and Ethan are finally moving into there new home, Ethan doesn't know it but there old house holds to many painful memories for her. They have also decided to try and start a family which scares them both since the previous miscarriage was the catalyst to the breakdown of their marriage in the past. Rachel has also decided to go back to teaching. Where the first part of this novella is mainly about Ethan and Rachel still trying to heal old wounds the second half gets really suspenseful which I wasnt expecting but loved.

ps.. There is a great snippet at the end from Cole and PJ's story which was fabulous. ( )

An enjoyable novella that continues the story of Ethan and Rachel the couple that started the series. This was an good choice to follow up on showing how durable the relationship is and adding a new adventure. Ethan and Rachel are moving to their new home and hope to finally put their troubled past behind them.
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Overall Rating: 3.25
Action: 1.0 / Emotion: 2.0 / Romance: 3.0 / Sensuous: 1.5 / Suspense: 1.0 // Laughter: 1 / Giggle: 1 // Tears: 0 / Teary: 0

Softly At Sunrise: 3.25:
An entertaining visit with Ethan and Rachel Kelly as Banks presented a picture of their relationship four years after the close of their book, The Darkest Hour. It was enjoyable to see all the members of the Kelly clan as one read the too-sweet dialogue that passed between Ethan and Rachel.

Hero: 2.0:
Ethan Kelly: Still an under-developed, guilt-ridden, over-protective husband, willing to do anything to make Rachel happy and feel safe.

Heroine: 2.5:
Rachel Kelly: Still a single dimensional heroine, who was dealing with her past and was excited about her future.

Story Line: 3.5:
Loved the idea of revisiting characters featured in previous books of this series. Just a bit disappointed that Ethan and Rachel weren't developed much past the place where they were portrayed in The Darkest Hour.

Action: 1.0:
Banks decided to throw in a gratuitous almost suspenseful, action-filled scene in which the gun-wielding father of one of Rachel's students invaded her classroom.

Emotion: 2.0:
Rather than experience that exciting emotion connection to Ethan and Rachel, was disappointed in their lack of further character development.

Romance: 3.0:
Ethan and Rachel spent most of the their time together reiterating to each other how much they loved the other. The tender feelings that flowed between the couple when they discussed Rachel's pregnancy was the most moving.

Sensuous: 1.5:
The two lovemaking scenes were short and spicy.

Suspense: 1.0:
Because the action scene was so brief, Banks was unable to build any kind of edgy suspense into the story.

Secondary Characters: 2.5
Because this novella is only 103 pages long and there are so many secondary characters in this series, it was impossible for Banks to spend much time on each of the secondary characters she needed to introduce and write an incredibly brief synopsis of what happened to them in the previous books of the series. It was still nice to watch each of them spend a bit of time with Ethan and Rachel.

A more in-depth, detailed, spoiler-ridden review of Softly At Sunrise appears at Wolf Bear Does Books (http://goo.gl/0N8I2w). ( )