Forgiving Reed by C A Harms

When life deals you a shit hand you have two choices, you let it take you under or you stand tall and fight.

Kori’s happy ever after has been torn from her not once but twice.

First time was when in the flush of youth, her boyfriend Reed broke her heart by cheating on her, something that she had never expected and from then the course of her life changed.

She left her small home town and never looked back.

College gave her the opportunity to make something of herself and start again, her hope being that she could become a teacher, what she didn’t plan on was meeting Blake and the impact that he would have on her life.

Blake showed Kori what it was to be loved and he loved her unconditionally. Their relationship was short and swift but complete and when they discovered that she was pregnant it just sweetened the pot. Could life get any better?

Circumstances tore the pair of the apart and left Kori not only pregnant and alone but a completely broken woman.

Kori headed home to the only place she had left and the only people that could soothe her pain but it also meant that she had to face Reed and the memories of what had happened between them. Despite the years and compounded by her already heavy heart, Kori was drowning in world of darkness.

Reed was the one person she did not need to see but in time she would understand that he was actually the one person that she actually needed.

Having been through his own pain of losing a loved one, he knew what she was going through but getting her to give him the time of day was a mammoth task. Her hatred was perhaps irrational but it kept her defences up and her heart protected because she knew that Reed has the power to emotionally break her.

There is a fine line between love and hate and Kori was balanced precariously astride it, not sure which way to fall.

Atoning for the mistakes of his youth is something that Reed had given much consideration too, he lost a lot that night but he has a chance to show Kori that he is not that guy anymore and that he can be the man that she needs.

But trust has to be earned but with determination and time, Reed puts his heart out on the line for the woman that in his mind had always been his.

Reed is glorious in his understanding of her grief and his ability to allow her the time and space she need to garner her thoughts and emotions, he knows that she will come to him is he shows her that he is in it for the long haul.

He is beyond generous to Rhett and the little guy is completely adorable, the two of them together were just so sweet.

But can a leopard change its spots? Only Kori could decide

This was an emotion and beautiful read, one that approached grief head on, dealing with the loss of a loved one is a desperate time but this book was positive in the face of this adversity and gave hope that by showing that it is Ok to move on and that finding love again does not mean that you have forgotten it just means that you have the strength to live and by living the life your loved one would have wanted with you, you are keeping their dreams alive.

Kori and Reed were a fabulous, Rhett was just joyous and the other characters gave what was an extremely intimate story depth and reality.

While you have a breath left in your lungs you should use it to be happy, life is too short and too much can vanish in a microsecond to live for anything other than the here and now, Kori learnt this this the hard way and by seeing past her pain and grief she opened her heart to the opportunities in front of her and by doing just that she gave not only her son but herself a future.