Finding Love In An Unexpected Place
Kat Jackson is a new author for me. Although this book is not always easy to read, it won’t be my last by Jackson. Golden Hour is not a classic romance novel. First and foremost, it is about Lina Ragelis facing her PTSD, but more importantly, she has to accept she needs help first. Lina takes a job in Kitty Hawk, a few hours away from her home, to find more clarity and to face her fears with a change of scenery. It is here that she meets Regan. The mutual attraction is palpable from the first moment, and the better they get to know each other, the greater Regan’s impact on Lina and her struggle with traumatic memories.
At first, I had a little trouble getting into the story, as it wasn’t always easy to catch Lina’s nightmares and state of mind. With many flashbacks (I know they are important to understand Linas’s character, but in my opinion, there were too many) we learn about her history of hapless relationships and what happened that led to her trauma. Her fight buddy Keeley and her friends Caitlin and Malory play a big and important role in this part, they are really good people, friends you want in your own life. It is not until the middle of the book that the romance with Regan picks up steam, the flashbacks become fewer, and the story takes place more often in the present. As important as the first half of the story is, I liked the second part better.
Lina is convinced that she is a damaged person and at first doesn’t believe that such a wonderful woman like Regan could even be interested in her. It takes a lot of convincing and patience on Regan’s part for Lina to dare to think of possibilities. The butch-butch pairing was a nice surprise, not only for Lina. Actually, Regan is not her type at all, but maybe she should open up her mind. And we all know, with whom we fall in love, can’t be controlled, and that’s a good thing. It’s also good to see that finally Lina is facing her fears and nightmares and she’s slowly feeling better and better so that she can free herself from the shackles of evil memories with the help of Regan. I guess, sometimes you need an outsider to get through all the shit.
Both characters are interesting women, Lina is obviously more complicated and harder to understand, but she is a very fine person. She struggles a lot with her past but she is learning to deal with it, and let some of the past go. Regan is a nurse and an absolute sweetheart, strong, patient, caring, understanding, and overall a wonderful human being. I had a little crush on her myself. Their mutual attraction was real and it was beautiful to see how the feelings got deeper and they fell in love.
A captivating story with some tough themes such as PTSD, but overall a good book with a very nice second half. 3.75 stars.
ARC was provided by Bella Books to LezReviewBooks.com in exchange for an honest review.
