Review – Step by Step

Three years after a tragic accident left her a widow, ER nurse Taylor Cabot is determined to move on, checking off one item after another on her survival list. Her relationship with a handsome plastic surgeon even gives her hope for the last point—“fall in love again.” At least until crisis chaplain Seth Donovan steps back into her life, reawakening unanswered questions about her husband’s death.

While in San Diego to train community volunteers, Seth hopes to learn why Taylor is backing away from the crisis team and from their friendship. But nothing prepares him for the feelings that arise when he sees Taylor again . . . and sees her moving on with another man.

When a community crisis hits home and puts lives at risk, emotions run high and buried truths are unearthed. Will hope make the survival list?

MY TAKE:

I am a suspense and mystery book reader and I especially enjoy romantic suspense. I rarely read anything else. There. I’ve confessed. But there are a few authors who write in other genres that I am more than happy to read. Candace Calvert is one such author for me.

Why you ask? Because Calvert always, and I mean always, does an amazing job of creating well-developed and real characters. Not just her main characters but the secondary characters, too. And secondly, I am guaranteed to empathize with these characters and the books will evoke strong emotions, both hallmark’s of a wonderful writer. And lastly, for me, she also includes a bit of a mystery or some suspense that I crave in the books I read. Not a lot, but just enough to satisfy that need for me.

So when I received, Step by Step, book 2 in her Crisis Team series, I knew before I opened the cover that it would hit all the right notes for me. But I was wrong about something. I underestimated Calvert’s ability to make me feel the pain of her characters. In this book, I had to keep my tissues handy to get through Taylor’s struggles with her loss, and as tears were rolling down my cheeks, I was riveted to the story as I was rooting for her to find peace and contentment in her life. Even if she was choosing to find it with the wrong man at the beginning. LOL

So, if you want a story that will keep you reading, pick up Step by Step. It’s a thrill ride of a different kind. A thrill ride of emotions and your heart will never be the same.