The Upside of Letting Go

***DISCLAIMER**** I am having trouble with the formatting on blogspot for some reason. Once I figure it out, I'll edit this, but I wanted to get my review out while it's fresh in my mind The Upside of Letting Go By: Nacole Stayton E-book 183 pages Published April 19,2013 Summary via Goodreads.com Haley Martin is no stranger to loss. One tragic event takes her entire family, leaving lingering nightmares to torment her at every turn. She decides the only way to let go of those nightmares is to literally move away from all that is familiar. Boarding a Greyhound bus, she leaves behind her past filled with heartbreak and misery, in hopes of starting a new life. By accident she meets Kyler King, a beautiful young man with a tragic past as well. He has no interest in settling down with anyone. With a reputation as being emotionally unattainable, he uses this façade to hide the burdens he bears every day. As Kyler and Haley’s physical attraction becomes deeper, the secrets they have kept hidden threaten to surface. An unannounced visitor causes their pasts to collide with their present. Will their secrets prove to be too big of an obstacle, hindering their happily ever after, or will letting go be the key that locks their bond forever? My Review: (spoilers included) This book had so much potential. It had a great story line, it had raw emotion, it had highs and lows, and the chemistry between the main characters was wonderful. With that said, it didn't feel well written to me. It was very choppy. I loved the story line between Haley and Kyler. However, I felt the beginning was really rushed. Haley steps off the bus as a sullen and angry person looking to make a change and that change happens within 5 minutes when she meets her college roommate, Lucy. There are just so many loose ends. The day that she meets and becomes best friends with Lucy, they walk to a frat house where Lucy gets into it with some chick and the chick's friend starts a fight with Haley, but then we never hear what happens. its just pushed under the rug. I would liked to have seen more character development and build up rather than a short story that jumps from here to there. The reflective parts, where Haley is telling us what happened with her family were great! It gave me so much more insight to Haley and what her former life had been like. I understood the need for the book drifting from one season into the next, but here would be a great opportunity for development. What did they do while winter turned to spring? Sure it made for a quick read but with the context of this story and all the tragedy in it, I wanted more. More description. More of them! Lucy seemed to really drift out of the story after awhile. and then all of a sudden she's back in at the end and is pregnant. Well did she marry Kevin? Are they shackin' up? She went from being one of the spot light characters to barely mentioned. The same with Kevin. He wasn't even really in it after Haley and Kyler got together. Some of it just seemed way over the top. Haley was in the hospital. Looking into a mirror and upset so she takes her I.V. stand and throws it into a mirror. Ok. Um, what about her arm that has needles in it from said I.V? Or, when Jude has his accident and Haley, who is an LPN, rushes to the ER only to be grabbed by a co-worker and she, Haley, uses a crash cart on another patient. I didn't realize LPNs had such ability. We are then left in the air to know what happened to Jude. it's not until the very end that its reveled he had a motorcycle accident. I did like a lot about this book. I loved how Kyler went from bad boy womanizer to only having eyes for Haley. I loved their relationship when they'd have things figured out. I loved the story line all together. I just wish that things made more sense and that the writing had more flow to it. One final note. When an author uses the word ANYWAYS that just drives me nuts. You're an author. That's not a word! This book was 3.5 out of 5 stars for me.