Guest Review: Christie's Book Reviews - Left to Love

Hey everyone! Please welcome Christie from Christie's Book Reviews to the blog today! She's sharing with us her review for Jolene Perry's Left to Love (The Next Door Boys #2). Read her review and let us know what you think. Thanks!

Jolene Perry - Left to Love: The Next Door Boys #2

• Pub Date: May 26, 2012

• Publisher: CreateSpace

• Format: Paperback/Ebook, 286 pages

• Age Range: Young Adult

Leigh’s life is shaping up to be pretty perfect. She married the father of a little boy she fell in love with. They live in a nice house, on a quiet street, and her hobby of a sewing business is keeping her busier than she ever imagined. She’s back in touch with her brother who she hasn’t seen since she was a child, and her new husband has an “in” for his dream job when he graduates in the spring. But when her small symptoms begin to lead up to something big - she has to face the shattering realization that her cancer is back. Leigh struggles with her new marriage, her faith, her desire to adopt the little boy who calls her mom, and the strength to keep fighting for her life.

Leigh seemed to have her happily ever after. She married Brian, the guy of her dreams, started her own sewing business thanks to her new husband's computer skills, and got to be a mother to Nathan, Brian’s son, who she loved like he was her own child. All of these things came to an abrupt and devastating halt, once Leigh realized she had been experiencing symptoms... her cancer was back. Now, with her new family, she had to battle her cancer again. Leigh didn’t want to put them through this pain and struggled to protect them while she lost sight of what she needed.

Left to Love was the much-anticipated sequel to The Next Door Boys. I really loved The Next Door Boys and was so happy to find out she was writing a sequel after I finished it. I received it from NetGalley and it was one of my first reviews when I started blogging. I have loved every one of Jolene Perry’s books since then; she has not disappointed me yet.

She is a fantastic new author that has definitely caught my attention. There are not many young adult authors that write about difficult situations such as cancer and abuse. I have said this in past reviews also, but it is very true and she does it very well. I keep comparing her books to my favorite author's Lurlene McDaniel, and that is pretty high praise for me. I had been looking for more books like hers and couldn’t seem to find anything close enough to what I was looking for until I requested The Next Door Boys from NetGalley. I am so glad I did because I found an author I really love.

Left to Love was really good and did a great job pulling at my heart and then breaking it. This type of story isn't for everyone, but I love reading these types of stories. Yeah, I’m odd, I know, but hey, the books sell, so it can’t only be me. I’m glad the author wrote more to Leigh and Brian’s story and we got to see them married and have their forever. In most stories, you have the romance, but who knows what happens after the book ends? Do they get married? Do they end up falling out of love? I loved having that answer and also seeing them work though something incredibly difficult, which made them only love each other more in the end.

I look forward to reading more of Jolene Perry’s work and am excited to see what she writes about next.

Rating:

4/5 book sharks!

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Thanks so much to Christie for being on the blog today! She's been such a great friend to me for the past, what? Year? Has it been that long? Either way, she's awesome. If you don't know her or her blog, go check it out. She's super sweet and friendly, so don't be shy! YAY! <3 <3 <3