Fall From Love - Heather London (+ Giveaway)

Fall From Love by Heather London
Publication Date: June 7, 2013
Source/Format: Author (Thanks Heather!) || Kindle e-book

[I received this book for review from the author. This in no way affects the thoughts expressed in my review.]

Struggling to put her life back together after a tragic mountaineering accident kills her college sweetheart, twenty-one-year-old Holly Treadwell is trying to set aside her grief, forge ahead in school, and find herself again.

When Carter Hansen, a guy who brings back horrible memories from the night of the accident, finds his way back into her life, Holly’s unsure if she should let him in. He terrifies her in more ways than one and invokes feelings in her that she thought were buried forever. Regardless of her fears, she knows she must face him in order for her heart to heal.

Everyone tells Carter that what happened on the mountain that night was just a terrible accident, but even then, he can’t help but carry around the guilt and is unable to forgive himself. He’s drawn to Holly and being near her helps ease his conscience and gives him the release he needs.

As Holly and Carter’s relationship grows, they begin to realize that the more time they spend with one another, the more their wounds begin to heal—her grief and his guilt. But when Holly learns the details about the night of the accident—what everyone has been keeping from her—it will rip open old wounds and tear apart what they’ve both worked so hard to overcome…

As a relative newbie to the new adult genre, I’ve had both good and bad experiences with it. It’s a great relief and sincere pleasure that Fall From Love leans heavily towards the positive side of that spectrum. The story is simple, but the characters come alive, and the friendship-turned-romance really struck a chord.

Holly Treadwell is a girl I could befriend if she were real. At the beginning, she’s mired in a deep sadness from the loss of the boy she loved. She grieves, retreating from society and becoming merely a ghost of herself. Step by step, she starts to recover and move on from the grief. Once the process began, readers see the real Holly. She was easygoing, with a great sense of humor, a lot of silliness, a kind heart and also a surprising dedication to her obligations. It was wonderful to see that she liked spending time with her friends, to see her becoming particularly girly when it came to romance. The author gave her special quirks too, like the ability to only really cook two dishes well and the ability to write and sing her own songs. Holly is so darn likeable that readers will just want her to be happy, as I know I did.

Carter Hansen, on the other hand, is definitely crush-worthy. He has his share of emotional burdens to deal with, and my heart really hurt for him when they were revealed. It’s admirable how he tries not to let it get in the way of him really living. Plus, Carter is a real gentleman, and an especially good friend. More than his appearance (which is clearly toned because he’s athletic and on the mountain rescue team), it was his kind, caring, thoughtful personality that drew me to him like a moth to a flame. He too had his quirks, particularly not being able to cook anything at all, for instance (unless you count instant mac-and-cheese).

Their relationship is just so well-done in terms of progression. They start off wary of each other, Carter afraid to hurt her and Holly afraid of the memories Carter brings to mind. But with one ice-breaking incident, they become tentative friends. Slowly, through text messages and a few hangouts, they grow closer until they’re best friends. That’s when they suddenly begin to toe the line between friendship and romance, which was really natural to witness. I loved their banter. I loved the ease of their relationship. They were good friends to each other, and it felt only natural that they would start to feel more. It killed me when Carter tried to slow the momentum of their relationship down, but I definitely respected him more for that. The ensuing romance was really sweet and just felt right, cheesy as that sounds.

Apart from Holly and Carter, I absolutely adored their friends Josh and Jenna, who were absolutely amazing. Both of them were solidly good friends, who provided emotional support and some… entertaining moments. Their own romance was rock solid, which was a nice aspect to have. The fact that they were actually good people who cared about both Holly and Carter really meant a lot to me, and I’m glad the author made them a constant part of the story.

The story sounds deceptively simple, but it totally surprised me by having a weightier impact. Readers witness Holly’s grief journey, from when she turns inward and away from the world to the moment when she opens herself up to life and love and joy again bit by bit. The author strung together quiet moments (good and bad) in day-to-day life, picking and choosing particular ones to create a strong chain of events that would tell this story. It’s just so good and I really liked it.

I was disappointed by the big reveal of Carter’s secret to Holly, as it felt anti-climactic. It was certainly still a big deal, but I expected more from it. Plus, the ending was a bit cheesy (though I live for cheese, so it didn’t bother me all that much). Other than these two things, I really did love the novel.

Fall From Love was a really good read! The story held my attention, keeping me invested in Carter and Holly’s happily ever after. The author successfully wrote a relationship that was not insta-love, featuring great main characters and also fun secondary ones. This story was a major hit among some NA misses for me, and for that, I’m very glad indeed. I definitely look forward to seeing what else London will be writing!

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