How to Walk Away by Katherine Center

5 Stars

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Date of publication: May 15th, 2018

Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction

Where you can find How to Walk Away: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Margaret Jacobsen has a bright future ahead of her: a fiancé she adores, her dream job, and the promise of a picture-perfect life just around the corner. Then, suddenly, on what should have been one of the happiest days of her life, everything she worked for is taken away in one tumultuous moment. 

In the hospital and forced to face the possibility that nothing will ever be the same again, Margaret must figure out how to move forward on her own terms while facing long-held family secrets, devastating heartbreak, and the idea that love might find her in the last place she would ever expect. 

How to Walk Away is Katherine Center at her very best: an utterly charming, hopeful, and romantic novel that will capture reader’s hearts with every page.

My review:

How to Walk Away is one of those books that will have you crying, laughing and cheering at the same time. This book showcases how a perfect life can go off the rails. It also shows that true love isn’t always with the person you thought it would be. It also shows that people are stronger than what they are given credit for. I would recommend reading this book with tissues. You are going to be needing them.

Margaret was terrified of flying. Had been ever since she was a little girl. But she wasn’t one to let her fears dictate her life. When Chip, her boyfriend, asks her to go flying with him, she goes. Her worse fears come to life when the plane crashes during landing. Chip is not hurt but Margaret suffered a devastating spinal cord injury and burns. With the help of a grumpy (but cute) Scottish PT, Margaret starts to put her life in order. But it isn’t easy. There is heartbreak that will set her back. There is also the emergence of a deep dark family secret that will shake the foundation of her family. But there is also good, but only if Margaret is willing to go to any lengths to get it.

I liked Margaret. Her attitude was what I expected someone who suffered a traumatic injury to be. One of disbelief and grief. I wouldn’t go as far to say that she accepted what happened to her. It was more like she came to terms with it. Of course, everything hits the fan in the weeks afterward. She definitely wasn’t likable in the first half of the book. I actually liked that. I liked that I had to learn to like her. I liked that her true personality came out while in the hospital. It was refreshing.

I wanted to smack both Chip and Margaret’s mother. Chip, I could kind of understand why he acted the way he acted….up to a certain point. What ticked me off is that he didn’t even bother to defend Margaret when his mother commented on her face. That is when I wanted to reach through my Kindle and smack him upside his head. Don’t get me started on Margaret’s mother. She was a witch with a capital B!! I couldn’t believe the fuss she made over Margaret’s face. The things that were said was unbelievable. When Kitty arrived, she acted like such a jerk. Of course, there was a reason for it but didn’t change that she acted like a class A jerk for most of the book.

I thought that the romance part of the book was a bit slow to start. So slow that there was one point in the book where I thought it fizzled out. Of course, I enjoyed that Ian was Scottish. I read all his dialogue in a Scottish brogue. I did think that his backstory was tragic. I could understand why he was so grumpy all the time.

I do think that the whole Kitty/mother storyline was a bit overplayed. While there needed to be an explanation for them not talking for 3 years, it felt drawn out. Like I stated above, it made Margaret’s mother look bad when everything was revealed.

The end of the book made me laugh. The lengths that Margaret went to do what she did made me cheer and laugh. Of course, I liked the epilogue. Who doesn’t like a happy ending?

Pros of How to Walk Away:

A) Great storylines

B) Realistic characters

C) Ian and Margaret’s romance

Cons of How to Walk Away:

A) Chip

B) Margaret’s mother

C) Kitty/mother’s storyline (the strife that went along with it)

I would give How to Walk Away an Adult rating. There are sexual situations, language, and mild violence in it. I would recommend that no one under the age of 20 read this book.

There are some triggers in this book. They would be traumatic injuries, plane crash, long-term hospitalization, family/work strife, and talk of murder. I would recommend if any of these trigger you then to please not read the book.

I would recommend this book to family and friends but I would add a warning about the triggers. I would reread this book.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review How to Walk Away.

All opinions stated in this review of How to Walk Away are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**