Two families. Two troubled pasts. Can they find a future together?
Following the loss of her husband and the devastating accusations surrounding his death, Kay Jackson has experienced the icy chill of alienation from the close-knit town of Granite Springs. Thrust into the position of personal assistant to a professor at the local university, Kay, who prefers to stay in the background away from … prefers to stay in the background away from the town gossips, is unsure how she will cope.
When Nick Kerr’s wife leaves him for a younger man, the professor is left nursing a broken heart while struggling to adapt to life as a single parent of two teens. Reeling from the indignity of his wife’s actions, Nick has no intention of putting himself in such a vulnerable position again.
However, as Kay and Nick’s professional relationship develops, they find themselves drawn to each other. As their friendship begins to morph into something more, Kay’s daughter arrives in town intent on controlling her mother’s life. The combined actions of Kay’s daughter and Nick’s children reinforces the many doubts the couple have on embarking on a new relationship.
Is there a future for Kay and Nick or will their families destroy any chance of happiness?
The Life She Chooses is the second book in the Granite Springs series set in a small Australian country town.
If you enjoy heartwarming second chance romance in a rural setting, you’ll love this book. Download The Life She Chooses today,
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Having read several of Maggie Christensen’s books (one previous one in the Granite Springs series), I knew that I would be in for a heart-tugging story about families families with realistic and relatable struggles. Sure enough! In The Life She Chooses, the second book in the series, I enjoyed reading about Kay and Nick as they journey their way to a loving relationship despite issues with their children, grown and teenaged, and, of course, the “ex”.
The author, Maggie Christensen, again, gives her readers older, more mature characters who find that a second chance does come around and the importance of being willing to ‘seize the day’ when the chance arrives. It is a story of family, friends, and love the second time around.
I received a complimentary copy of the book and was not required to write a review. The opinions are my own.
Australian Women’s Fiction
This is another bit of Women’s Fiction based in Granite Springs, Australia. This is a sweet and clean novel that centers around a middle-aged couple finding their way in a new relationship. It can get tricky when each party has a full life behind them. This is a very good story that is more Women’s Fiction than romance. I love the way the author has written this series. Love is much different for folks who are more experienced and mature. I received this ARC from the author for free and this is my honest review.
Realistic portrayal of romance later in life
4.5stars
Author Maggie Christensen is one of my favorite Australian authors and, once again, she’s created a great, highly relatable picture of how family commitments and life experiences complicate second chance romance later in life. I thoroughly enjoyed Kay’s story, complete with the drama of her self-absorbed, married daughter Zoe, and the issues that surface with Kay’s slightly younger new man. I also liked that the author told their story from alternating viewpoints between Kay and Nick, her new boss and romantic interest. NIck’s life as a newly-separated father of two teenagers is just as fraught as Kay’s!
Kay is coming into her own after a rough three years when she bottomed out in depression and almost destroyed a precious friendship that supported her when her marriage abruptly ended in rumors and shame. Jo, the heroine of Christensen’s last novel (The Life She Deserves), reappears and plays a key role in Kay’s social life, acting as a needed sounding board when doubts surface about Kay’s new chance at a relationship and Kay’s misgivings about her daughter’s behavior.
I love the concept of building a romance around 50 years plus characters whose first thought cannot always be for themselves. Christensen does it so well, with a writing style that makes the prose flow smoothly. I am always a bit sad when I turn to the last page. In this particular case, I did feel the story wrapped up more abruptly than expected after the pace of the rest of the story. But, overall, it was a lovely read.
I read a complimentary advance copy of the book but purchased it asap to ensure its place in my permanent library; this is my voluntary and honest review.
I loved being back in the small town of Granite Springs and this time we get to see Kay go through a big change in her life, doing something she never thought she would again and that is fall in love, I hope you pick this one up and cheer Kay on to happiness.
Kay Jackson was devastated after the death of her husband and all of the rumours surrounding his death, she became a hermit but when she takes her life back and takes on a job at the local university she has been very happy but when she is asked to fill in as PA for Professor Nick Kerr she is apprehensive at first, but Kay is drawn to him and soon they are more than friends.
Nick Kerr’s wife has left him for a younger man they have two teenage children and his life has been turned upside down, he is not looking to find love again, but when he meets his temporary PA Kay, there is a spark between them and they work well together and that friendship soon escalates into something more, but the path of true love very rarely runs smoothly.
Kay and Nick have a few hurdles to overcome to get to the happiness that they both deserve and that comes in the form of children, when Kay’s controlling daughter and grandson arrive then there are Nick’s children this puts a spanner in the works, but Nick is determined to prove his love and joy and happiness arrive. MS Christensen has bought us a fabulous story with an older hero and heroine, both are so easy to like and feel like friends, I thoroughly enjoyed this story and can highly recommend it just as much as the first one in the series and I am very much looking forward to visiting Granit Springs again for the next book, thankyou MS Christensen for another page turner.