Reviewed by Amber

TITLE: New Beginning’s: Abel’s Journey

SERIES: No Regrets #2

AUTHOR: Nicky James

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH:  278 Pages

RELEASE DATE:  May 14th, 2017

BLURB:

**TRIGGER WARNING**
(self-harm, depression, anxiety, substance abuse)

Life is beyond our control. It can bring joy, laughter, and happiness, then turn around and rip your heart out of your chest without warning.

Abel Matheson received a cold dose of life’s reality six months ago, when the man he loved most, lost his fight against cancer.
Free-spirited, easy-going Abel, doesn’t know how to cope with the rotting, festering grief growing inside him. What was once an easy life, has become a struggle to put one foot in front of the other.

His grades are slipping, his job is suffering, money is tight, and the nightmares plaguing his sleep are relentless. Something has to give. He can’t keep going like this.

Desperate to end his suffering, Abel falls back on old habits. Self-destructive habits he knows are wrong.
Every time he tries to stand, he ends up face-first in the mud.

On the advice of a counselor, Abel makes attempts to find a support system to help him handle his grief. Unexpectedly, during his quest toward healing, Abel makes a connection with the most unlikely of people.

His mind wants to rebel against the man who stands before him. Run far and fast in the other direction. But his heart forms a bond that annihilates his fear.

Why this man of all people?
Sometimes you find help and love where you least expect it.

REVIEW:

First and foremost, know that you can read this as a standalone but I do believe it would be a disservice to the whole story behind Abel and Landon plus the first book shows how and why Abel’s emotional downfall is as rapid and drastic as it is.

Where book 1 was ultimately hopeful and less pain filled, book 2 is mostly pain, grief, recovery, depression, and loss. I think those are the things that stuck with me the most while reading Abel’s Journey. I honestly don’t even think Abel realized how much losing Landon was going to affect him. Their love in book 1 was all consuming so his loss was essentially like losing a huge chunk of himself and you really feel that loss as a reader.

Abel’s Journey starts a few months after Abel’s husband Landon succumbs to terminal brain cancer. When I say this book is depressing I mean just that…this book is DEPRESSING. This author worked incredibly hard on making sure the reader felt Abel’s pain as if we were living through him. Going through it all with him and let me tell you…I felt it. I felt it all. And if you read book 1 you’re invested and you want, no need to see what comes next.

The process was grueling and painful.

I loved the characters though. I loved the idea of Kieran and Abel together. Two men who loved Landon coming together in their grief….having each other to lean on during such an unbelievably painful time. It was magic and I loved it.

Like I mentioned this book goes through all steps in the grieving process and as a reader you endure a lot…Abel goes through a lot and it’s painful. But there is something so incredibly beautiful in watching him heal. Watching him and Kieran fall in love…as a reader I felt like I lost Landon too…so I felt like I grieved and healed with Abel.

Loved this book…highly emotional but so worth it.

Recommend.

RATING: 

BUY LINK:

Amazon