Fear of Falling

Fear of Falling

Catherine Lanigan

Olivia is living in Indian Lake with her mother. She's working at the deli, but secretly hopes to someday work as a photo journalist if she can gather the courage to submit her photos. Her past has left some deep scares that she's not yet worked through. Her father was a horse gambler and Olivia feels like it traumatized her.  A couple of her close friends have married in to the Barzonni family. Rafe, a son in the family, has attracted Olivia's attention. But what will she do when she learns that he has a thorough bred horse that he intends to race? Is their relationship doomed from the start?

The story starts out on a sad note with a member of the community dying. This introduces a more emotional element into the plot immediately. The book is part of a series and so there is obviously some other relationships that a first time reader will note that they missed reading about. The plot is, as the "Heartwarming" title implies, emotion driven. The ending is naturally predictable, since the reader assumes the story will end well. Both characters need to heal before they can get together so the majority of the book is dealing with their issues. Because I prefer a less emotion driven plot, I had a harder time getting in to the story. There were also some unrealistic points that detracted from the story for me. Overall, if this style of writing is indicative of the heartwarming genre, I probably won't read another one. I liked the story okay, but didn't love it.

I received this book free of charge from Bostick Communication in exchange for my honest review.