Review of Calumet by Ali Vali

“Yes, time taught valuable lessons, and one of them was that forgiveness had to be felt as well as given.”

Hats off to Ali Vali for changing up what I thought was going to be just another second chance romance and turning this into a study in forgiveness. The blurb led me to assumptions which Vali challenges from the opening chapters. It’s very difficult to be spoiler-free with this review so I will say I loved the secondary characters and the impact they had on the main characters and the story as a whole. They added so much value to the central romance and had me cheering on the mains to get their act together.

I was impressed with the character development throughout this story with Jaxon as a standout in the growth department. She has a successful career and life but you can feel her reticence to move past the anger she feels towards events in her past. Sometimes you can go home again to a dreaded high school reunion and reconcile the ghosts from your past with the help of family and friends.

Calumet left me feeling happy and uplifted and that makes it a five-star read any day.

A copy of this book was received from the publisher via NetGalley for review.