Author: K.A. Tucker
Publication Date: June 27, 2017
Rating: ★★★★
Synopsis via Goodreads: Twenty-four-year-old truck stop waitress and single mother Catherine Wright has simple goals: to give her five-year-old daughter a happy life and to never again be the talk of the town in Balsam, Pennsylvania: population two thousand outside of tourist season.Until It Fades is a modern-day fairy tale romance about a single mom who went from the girl with the scandalous past to a small town hero all in one night. After a few bad decisions led to her being the talk of town, Catherine Wright vows to never make the same mistakes again and tries to make the best life possible for herself and her daughter, Brenna. One night, she comes across a car accident and ends up saving the life of one of the victims, a famous hockey player named Brett Madden. Although Catherine wishes to remain anonymous, Brett is determine to find the person who gave him a second shot at life. But when Brett comes knocking at her door and sparks fly between the two, Catherine finds herself once again thrown into the spotlight and the quiet life she's worked so hard to build is turned upside down.
And then one foggy night, on a lonely road back from another failed attempt at a relationship, Catherine saves a man’s life. It isn’t until after the police have arrived that Catherine realizes exactly who it is she has saved: Brett Madden, hockey icon and media darling.
Catherine has already had her fifteen minutes of fame and the last thing she wants is to have her past dragged back into the spotlight, only this time on a national stage. So she hides her identity. It works.
For a time.
But when she finds the man she saved standing on her doorstep, desperate to thank her, all that changes. What begins as an immediate friendship quickly turns into something neither of them expected. Something that Catherine isn’t sure she can handle; something that Catherine is afraid to trust.
Because how long can an extraordinary man like Brett be interested in an ordinary woman like Catherine…before the spark fades?
K.A. Tucker is well-known for her suspenseful romances that keep you on your toes and have you second-guessing yourself until the very end, so I was excited to see her step outside of comfort zone and write a story that didn't contain her usual brand of romance. Until It Fades is a sweet and emotional romance about coming to terms with one's past and finding the ability to let love in again. I honestly did not know what to expect when I started this book, but I am totally loving this sweeter side to K.A. Tucker. It may be cheesy and filled with romantic clichés, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. With that being said, I do believe that this book will be either a hit or miss with some fans of Tucker's previous works. This story is very different from her other books and while that may not be a good thing for some, I think that this is an opportunity for Tucker to gain a new set of readership and possibly some new fans. Tucker definitely took a risk writing this book, but I'm glad that she did.
One thing I loved about this book was the setting. I am a sucker for small towns and while I despised a few of the towns people for being judgmental assholes, I did love a good majority of them. The secondary characters made this book come to life. I freakin' loved Lou, the owner of the diner where Catherine works at and the only person willing to lend Catherine a helping hand when she needed it most. She is like Catherine's second mother and I just loved the fact that she didn't give a shit about what the towns people thought about her. While I wasn't really a fan of Catherine's mother at the beginning of the story, I grew to love her by the end. Catherine and her mother had a number of issues that they had to work out throughout this book, but they eventually found their way back to each other and I enjoyed seeing them build back their relationship and become close again. But my absolute favorite character has to be Catherine's daughter, Brenna. This sassy little girl had me laughing up a storm because she was forever spilling all the tea about her mama and making Catherine all flustered. It was so cute and you can't help but love this little girl!
Catherine has literally been through hell and back, but the woman is a fighter and she never gave up or fell apart. When a town turned their backs on her and shamed her for something that she should've never been blamed for in the first place, she held her head high and she worked her ass to prove them wrong. Another thing about Catherine is that while she has accomplished so many things on her own, she still is somewhat stuck in the past. She has a hard time trusting people and letting anyone in because she was hurt by the people she trusted most and it takes time for her to learn to trust again, so be patient with her. You're also going to need some patience when it comes to the romance. This is a slow-burning romance...and I mean slooowwww because the romance doesn't start to simmer until about 70%. That means no sexy times until about 80% of the book. But even though it took some time, I very much enjoyed seeing Catherine and Brett get together. Brett was a total sweetheart who took his time with Catherine and I felt like they were a perfect fit for each other.
Until It Fades is a modern-day fairy tale with all the trimmings and I adored it to bits. I hope that K.A. Tucker decides to write more soft and sweet romances like this one in the future because I very much enjoy this side to her and if you're a fan of sweet, slow-burning romances with adorable kids, I highly recommend you pick this book up!
No comments:
Post a Comment