NICUnurse’s Review of “W” by Anne Leigh

Unfortunately for me, this author doesn’t release ARC’s so dang it…. I had to wait until release day to read this story! I’ve read all of her other books and have loved them all. But this was very different from what she’s written before. I was a little nervous to see what this was all about, but she absolutely did a fantastic job jumping out of her comfort zone. Sports were major themes in her other books, but only a small portion in this one. And it’s a cliffhanger. Her others weren’t. Now, I usually don’t like to read cliffhangers until at least a book two is published. Mostly because I’m impatient and hate to wait. I love the stories, just hate the waiting. But I’d been anticipating this book for so long, I gave in and dove in. Then couldn’t stop reading until I was done! This book truly had me wanting to yell (kind of did, virtually) and throw my iPad at her because it’s truly a cliffhanger. (No worries… I really do like her as an author and as a person, so no authors were actually harmed after reading this!) I did let her know (at 3 am!!) how frustrated I was because she ended the story just when I wanted so. Much. MORE!!!! It’s a good frustrated, though. The kind of frustrated that means I’ll be hitting my 1-click as SOON as book two finishes publishing.

In “W” we are introduced to Webb and Athena. Most of this book centers around character development, relationship development and just enough elements of the mystery to make you keep turning the page. Now, a lot of times books that spend a good bit of time on character development and a slowly developing relationship between the main characters feel… well, slow. Almost boring. But this one does not. It’s a good, gripping read from the beginning. Webb is so complex he requires a lot of time to uncover all of his layers. There are a lot of them. He’s a former SEAL with a big history we only get hints of for now. He’s tough, but he’s also loyal and loving. And there’s enough of Athena’s back story that Anne teases us with that we know there’s more to it, as well. She’s had so much to overcome and seems fragile at first. But she’s strong. And I think she’ll show us in book two that she’s even stronger than we realize now. Anne also does a fabulous job of introducing and developing the minor characters in a way that keeps them interesting, makes them a vital part of the story, and also has us wondering how much of their stories we are going to get to see played out in the next book. I’m really hoping we get more of Liam!

I think my favorite part of this book was watching Webb begin to come out of his shell and begin to heal a bit, emotionally. Athena’s good sense of humor goes a long way in helping him start moving forward in that process. There’s a lot of heavy in this book, but enough humor that it’s not all angst.

If you’ve read this far then you know I’m going to absolutely recommend this book! I could really go on and on about the story, but I hate to spoil great reads so I’ll leave it at this: 5 out of 5 propellers!

Congratulations, Anne Leigh! Now, bring on book two!!