SUMMARY: Can a woman face - and forgive - her own painful past before her house of cards crumbles . . . and before her own daughter makes the same mistakes?
Melanie and Will Connors are the perfect power couple. Will is the chief campaign strategist for a rising presidential candidate. Melanie is a prominent advocate for protecting children in an over-sexualized culture. Their devotion to one another is admired, even envied.
But their marriage isn't what it appears to be.
Will maintains an apartment n Washington, DC, and over the years his visits home have grown fewer and farther between. The long-distance marriage has enabled Melanie to avoid intimacy - and has only increased her shame about her secretive past. But then Will issues an ultimatum: We work on the marriage . . . or we work on the divorce.
The Connors commit to marriage counseling in the most brutal of environments - snowy New Hampshire, a tiny state that is first in the nation for presidential primaries and a prize to be won at any cost . . . and the price of victory keeps rising.
As Melanie sifts through the debris of her past, she obsesses over the fear that she hasn't done enough to protect her teenage daughter. When Melanie sees her facing some of the same temptations, she knows she must intervene . . . but how can a woman with so many veiled secrets guide a daughter honestly?
While the country struggles with threats to its integrity and security, Melanie can no longer ignore the dangers looming in her own world. She can never undo the mistakes of her youth, but perhaps she can still save her marriage and family - if she can surrender her guilt and learn to open herself to her husband once again.
REVIEW: This book is a follow-up to To Know You. While it stands well on its own, it helps to have read the first book to understand Melanie's relationship to Destiny and Dillon and some of the background of these characters. I loved how Will was determined to fight for his marriage to Melanie, to weather through the tough counseling sessions and work through the problems they were having. I love how Melanie worked on her marriage and stuck with the individual counseling sessions to help her figure out how her past was influencing her relationship with her husband and daughter, Sophie. It is refreshing to read about a couple who faces the difficulties, who weather the storms that could tear them apart, and come out stronger on the other side. Without giving away too much information, it was difficult to read about the situation Melanie and her daughter both found themselves in. I was glad to see the counselor recognize the source of most of Melanie's problem regarding this incident, help Melanie see the potential danger her daughter was in and give her the tools to help Sophie.
The book ended without tying up all the loose ends, I guess to make way for a few more books. I don't want to say anything about the way it ended, afraid I will give something away but I will say this: Melanie and Will's relationship is stronger and better than ever, still a work in progress but aren't all relationships?
This book was provided by BookLook Bloggers and Thomas Nelson Publishers for review without compensation.
Shannon Ethridge is a best-selling author, international speaker, and certified life coach with a master's degree in counsseling/human relations from Liberty University. She has spoken to college students and adults since 1989 and is the author of twenty books, including the million-copy best-selling Every Woman's Battle series. She is a frequent guest on TV and radio programs and host the Sexy Marriage Radio Show. She also mentors aspiring writers and speakers through her online BLAST Program (Building Leaders, Authors, Speakers & Teachers).
Kathy Mackel is the acclaimed author of Can of Worms and other novels for middle readers from Putnam, HarperCollins, and Dial. Her latest book, Boost, tackles the thorny issue of steroids and girls' sports. Writing as Kathryn Mackel, she is the author of the YA fantasy series the Birthright Books and of supernatural thrillers including the Christy finalist The Hidden. She was the credited screenwriter for Disney's Can of Worms and for Hangman's Curse, and has worked for Disney, Fox, and Showtime.
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