A Hope Undaunted (Winds of Change) - Julie Lessman

This is another freebie that I had been waiting for.  This author kept coming up in my recommendations on Amazon, so I was happy it came up for free.  At first, I thought it was a different author, so I was taken aback by the difference in writing styles.

This book is about Katie, a rich girl that has her life all planned out, including who she is going to marry.  Along comes a "bully" from her past turning her life upside down.  Along the way, there are many complications and by the end I was a little disappointed at the ending even though it was the happy ending I demand from books I love.

The book was a little too long for my tastes.  The additional subplot with Katie's sister and her husband was not needed.  The trust issue that the they deal with doesn't add anything to the main characters and makes the book longer than it needed to be.  I think I skimmed the last 20% of the book on my kindle and that was just to see what happened at the end.

I also didn't like some of the subject matter.  Domestic violence and rape are things that are unfortunate and cruel realities, but I was uncomfortable with them.  Also, there was a group of 3 friends.  The hero, Luke, ends up in the clear, but not unscathed.  One of the other friends ends up with a broken heart and the third is dead by the end of the book.  Hardly the super happy wrap-up.

The second book in the Winds of Change series deals with Katie's brother and a family friend that fled from her abusive husband in Ireland.  If it ends up being free, I might consider picking it up, but I won't track it on purpose.