Sunday, October 26, 2014

Review: Bright Side by Kim Holden


 
 
 
Bright Side

By Kim Holden

 

Secrets.
Everyone has one.
Some are bigger than others.
And when secrets are revealed,
Some will heal you ...
And some will end you.

Kate Sedgwick’s life has been anything but typical. She’s endured hardship and tragedy, but throughout it all she remains happy and optimistic (there’s a reason her best friend Gus calls her Bright Side). Kate is strong-willed, funny, smart, and musically gifted. She’s also never believed in love. So when Kate leaves San Diego to attend college in the small town of Grant, Minnesota, the last thing she expects is to fall in love with Keller Banks.

They both feel it.
But they each have a reason to fight it.
They each have a secret.

And when secrets are revealed,
Some will heal you …
And some will end you.
 
Amazon Link:

 

My 5 Star review

Kate is a beautiful woman with amazing hair, amazing sun kissed skin, and gorgeous eyes. She is also an amazing, strong, loving, and caring woman; though she spends most of her time taking care of everyone else when it’s her who should be taken care of. She has been through so much tragedy, seen so much pain and sorrow, that it’s a miracle she can still smile. After being a San Diego baby her whole life, Kate is now attending college in a small town in the Midwest. Grant, Minnesota is the perfect small college town but is it somewhere Kate can truly start anew?  Go on the adventure with her and see where she lands. It may just be the perfect place after all.

"I can't let the bad consume me or it would eat me whole. The bad stays in the bad corner of my mind, I don't let it through the door to mingle with good, because the bad is a goddamn party pooper."

Gus is a rock god. The way he plays and connects with his guitar is brilliant in every way imaginable. It’s as if the guitar is an extension of himself, but he isn’t just a rock god, Gus is Kate’s best-friend. They have been best-friends for years and he will do everything and anything to protect her. Bright Side, the nickname he gave Kate long ago, is his girl. With his band about to go on tour and getting ready to release their very first CD and Kate leaving for college, Gus is, in my opinion, starting to panic. Kate has always been there to help him see the bright side of things but now his Bright Side will be half way across the country. How will he be able to protect her while on tour let alone from the west coast?

Then there is Keller Banks. Man, he is one hot guy! But being so hot isn’t always easy especially when you have secrets you want to keep hidden. As far as his personal life, you will just have to stick to guessing, he not only keeps his secrets hidden but he keeps his personal life to himself as well. Keller is a lost soul who is confused and is someone who never does for himself, he really can’t afford too. But then this beautiful sexy woman, Kate, walks into Grounds, the coffee shop he works at, and it takes everything in his own power to keep everything hidden and to himself. Will Keller finally open up to someone like her? Will Kate be willing to experience something she has never believed in? Where will this tale unfold and how far can looking on the Bright Side take you?

“You give me courage I never knew I had.” – Keller
“I didn’t do anything. It was there all along, you just had to find it.” – Kate

Now that you know a bit about Kate, Gus, and Keller please remember there are other characters in this story as well who are just as loveable. I personally loved this book. Bright Side is now on my Top 5 list. This book was so amazing that it made me have to sit back and think about some things. Kate, aka Bright Side is by far my favorite character! I was able to relate to her a lot throughout the book and who she is and what she does is extremely inspiring to me.

Before I began reading Bright Side, I chose to read some of the reviews after seeing that most gave it low star ratings. Reading the reviews is very unlike me but I did it anyway and what I found was that most gave it 1 or 2 stars because of the ending.  Most of those I read where about this book not having a HEA. However, if you truly looked at the bigger picture with an open mind rather than a closed mind, you would see that this book does. It just doesn’t have the typical one most look for. I give high regards to those authors that go off the beaten path and write books that end in things other than the ‘and they lived happily ever after’ endings. It’s quite exquisite the way they bring the story to a close even though it may not be all hugs and kisses and happily ever afters.

Now with that said, you now know that Bright Side does not have one of those gushy happily ever after endings but don’t let that be the reason you don’t pick the book up. I may not be willing to tell you what happens in the end but I can and will tell you that I was a sobbing mess. Bright Side pulled at all my heart strings and I am serious when I say it is one of my TOP 5 favorite reads. This story was an incredible adventure and one I feel everyone should read to understand its true worth.

One last tidbit, while reading Bright Side, you will be in for a shock when finding out Keller and Gus’s secrets! That is all I will share.

So my beautiful readers…just read this book, don’t think about. Dive in and enjoy!

Here are my favorite quotes from this book. They may be simple but the speak wonders:

“Do epic!”

“You are brave!”

 

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