Kassiah

5 stars. And a (hug) for Ruthie Knox for being so amazing.

You can see this review (and lots of others) on Fictionators.

I have to admit that I haven't read any of the other books in the Camelot Series, but that is something that I am going to remedy right away. I asked the lovely Eleanor if I could read out of order, and she said I could but that I had to read the rest asap. Even though I absolutely love About Last Night (with one of my favorite swoony guys), Ride with Me, and Big Boy, I had almost forgotten how much I love Ruthie Knox.

Her words and stories and characters and situations are all just so real. I didn't know anything about Amber and Tony when I started reading this novella, but I immediately identified with and understood exactly where they were in life. I empathized with both of them and wanted to help. That's the power of Ruthie Knox. Don't dismiss her as just another author with hot bare-chested guys on her covers (not that I'm complaining lol). She's a genius, and definitely one of the most under-appreciated authors out there.

Ten years into marriage with three young boys, Tony and Amber are in Jamaica for his brother's wedding. The kids are all restless and Tony's aggravated when he notices Amber looks defeated. He makes a quick decision for her to stay in Jamaica for another few days.

"You can stay," he said. "If you want to."

"What?"

"I want you to stay here a few more days. Take a break."

"Where is this coming from?"

...Tony took her by the shoulder and firmly steered her back around to face him.

"It was Jamila's idea, but she's right. This vacation sucked for you. I think--I think a lot of things must suck for you, and I can't usually do anything about it."

So, she stays, all alone on vacation at an all-inclusive resort in a luxury suite while her husband goes back home with the kids. He can't afford to miss anymore work, since he owns a construction company and times are hard. He loves his family, but he works eighty hour-weeks and barely has time to connect at all, let alone on any intimate level. At home, his mother-in-law gives him some advice.

"I can't go to Jamaica," he said. "I'll get fired off this job I'm doing in Dublin."

"So you lose the job. Isn't Amber more important?"

Realizing he can't lose his wife, he heads back to the resort, intent to reconnect and fix whatever their problems are. Typical man--sometimes things aren't an easy "fix". Tony and Amber have drifted apart because of life, not because anyone did any one thing wrong.

I loved this story, mostly because of how real it is. As a mom, I know it's hard not to let kids and crazy schedules and homework get in the way of what you want or who you are (besides being a mom). I could also identify with Tony, who felt like everything he was doing was for the betterment of his family. Marriage takes work, and it's easy to get off course. I love the intimacy of this story, and I love the sweetness, too.

"...Because you're my wife, and I love you, and I wouldn't have married you if you weren't also the smartest, most capable, most interesting, hottest chick I'd ever met."

Sometimes, you just need to hear that. I wish I could get my husband to read this. Is that TMI? I guess it's enough to know that I'm not alone in feeling the way I do most of thesome times. Thank you, Ruthie, for reminding us that it's okay to continue to hope and dream and feel lost and want more, even when you already have everything you could ever wish for.