“A Story of Growth, Love, and, Redemption”
Having just read a beautiful story about growth, love, redemption, forgiveness, and, ultimately whole-hearted love, has left me in a comfortable state of revolving warmth and happiness. My most recent read can be interpreted as actually a process of learning about oneself and of finally reaching that desired pinnacle where self-acceptance and that everlasting needy-love is at its highest and most important placement in one’s life. This process contained many different types of avenues, numerous dips and turns, as well as beautifully glowing pinnacles of light, happiness and everlasting love.
Loving Luke, by Van Cole, is just this type of story and I really enjoyed reading it. It’s a story that slowly made its way though these dips and turns, and, ultimately made it’s way to a gigantic sturdy sunny mountain that produced a vast amount of strength, heat-filled chemistry, lots of warm-fuzzies, and, all-the-feels. And, as one of the main characters had to dig through lost of hindering extras, so did this reader.
Loving Luke, is an interesting story that had this reader all over the place. I am a true lover of stories containing characters, who strive towards their own redemption, in their own distinct way, and while there have been a few who literally needed to get their heads out of their behinds, and learn from their mistakes sooner rather than later, the journey for some..can be equally frustrating. As in this particular example, I don’t know how many times I whisper-yelled at one of the main characters of this story, to get with it! #TrueStory
Even though there were a few secondary characters interspersed throughout the story, they were all very realistic and wonderful. I loved a few of them, really liked a few others, and am currently desperate to love the others, while at the same time..trying to figure them all out.
And..oh,boy. It is in this reader’s opinion that there is a great need for extensive editing. As a great deal of the story was lightly “told” in third person, rather than allowing the reader to be completely immersed within the developing storyline, it lost that needed overall connection. Structurally, I found there to be a great need for more depth and development, as a whole, as well as more character background and development as well.
As an avid hockey fan, I was all ready for a super great and exciting storyline, one that brought about heavy amounts of cheering as a result of plentiful amounts of body checks, lightening-speed skating ending with last-minute goals. But, alas, it was over seemingly before the drop of the puck.
In addition, as the plot began off page, it was up to the reader to get beyond the feelings of coming in mid-relationship, as well as playing detective with this underlying direction. It is also this reader’s opinion, that the inclusion of such a vital moment, must be included in order to develop a connection from the beginning of a story until the very end. Otherwise, a true connection is lacking. It is for these reasons that there was so much need for more for a well-developed, edge-of-my seat, all-the-feels, practically bawling my eyes out, kind-of-read.
Despite the need for the aforementioned areas, there is so much potential to this story. There were so many things that I had enjoyed, so much warmth for various characters and moments, and, an overall sense of actual relief and admiration for the redemption which lead the way towards sunny and beautiful moments.
Ultimately, Loving Luke, by Van Cole, was a very good story, and despite the existence of many issues, it had that need-to-read factor and I really enjoyed it.
*star rating: 3.80 ‘I liked this story’ stars*
