Finding Forever, from Linda Oaks (The Chasing Series #2)

Hi, there! I’m alive and free from my dissertation for now – I still have to defend it on Dec. 4^th, but after writing, defending it will be the easier part, haha! Now I only have to get passed by my finals next week and college is OVER!! Mwahaha, mwahaha!

However, enough about me! Today’s book is Finding Forever, the second on The Chasing Series, by Linda Oaks! Linda sent me a copy in exchange for an honest review as I already reviewed the first one. Thank you again, sweetie! Now let’s head down to the second 😀 It is important to state that, despite being on a series, Finding Forever can fend itself as a standalone, as none of the previous events from Chasing Rainbows is necessary for a good comprehension of the book 🙂

from my Instagram ❤

The Story

Kara never found herself the weak woman type, but that was exactly how she was behaving since her break up with her high school boyfriend, Devon. Years passed and Kara couldn’t bring herself to move on and of course that having to face her ex during her best friend’s wedding wasn’t helping at all, but Brandon would kill her if she ditched the party over Devon.

As Kara expected, seeing Devon again had a catastrophic effect on her and both made out when she was drunk at Brandon’s wedding party. Kara got crazy when she found that out on the following day and her discussion with Devon was even more confusing: he wanted her as badly as she wanted him. But why did Devon ended everything?

Now, Kara has a week to find out if her time with Devon means to truly say goodbye or finally finding her forever.

The Analysis

I’d like to start this review stating that I am very partial to Linda’s works and that with Finding Forever it didn’t go differently. I loved the first book, it was amazing and now the second proved to be just as wonderful. I loved the end, Devon, everything! Overall, it was a 5 stars book for me (and behold, as I’m not a real fan of contemporary romance) and Linda did a great job on this sequel.

As it went with Chasing Rainbows, the narrative on Finding Forever is first person style, always from Kara’s point of view. The good thing was that I didn’t have any major issues with her, so I was okay with the first person thing. I still maintain my opinion that you leave holes on the story by writing it only from one point of view, as it happened here, but there weren’t any important loose ends on Finding Forever. Oaks obviously evolved from one book to another in this aspect and I’m very proud of her!

The plot was very simple, but it worked just fine for me. I was hoping for a happy ending for Kara, but was prepared to everything, you know? There were several moments where I just didn’t know what would happen to her because at one time, Kara seemed to handle things well and on the other, she was desperate (only comparing bad situations to write this passage). What I really liked is how Oaks showed that, sometimes, you can’t make a truthful feeling win if there is no transparency on the relationship. Kara and Devon always loved each other, but they fought every time that Devon held information – and you see, Kara isn’t even the stalking type.

It is funny how things change once we learn about what is happening. On Chasing Rainbows, I thought Kara a very superficial and unrealistic character and I said so: her romance with Devon sounded so artificial at the time, as the spotlight was on Addie (whom we see again on Finding Forever, yay!). On this book, I already saw her differently: besides seeing her as an adult now, I could understand Kara’s head and the extension of her relationship with Devon. It then became obvious that they always had problems, but their love was bigger and that was what made Addie think them the perfect couple. I got angry with her anyway, as her lack of sexual control disappointed me. I understand that you have chemistry with Devon, but for God’s sake, grab a hold of yourself and think a little about consequences, if you please? Thank you. I just won’t bitch much over this because Kara surprise me in the end and I have to show some respect to her now, haha!

Devon was another problem. I loved him as his type is totally mine: tall, dark and handsome with black hair and icy blue eyes (cof Bomerhalder type cof). But omg, he needs a serious workshop on how to work out a relationship. He was so bipolar at times that I wanted to punch him in the face and I wish Kara had done so, honestly. It was nice to see Addie and Jake again, I got very curious about Nate’s suddenly appearance (he was Addie’s dead sister boyfriend), and am still confused about Clyde as a whole. I mean, did he dislike Kara or his problems with her were due whose daughter she was? I wish I could be sure, haha!

I wasn’t really mad about Finding Forever’s sex scenes, but at least they were not vulgar; Oaks used them more as an illustration of the power of the desire between Kara and Devon, that was cool, haha!

Overall, I think it is a very good contemporary romance, very real without being boring. Oaks did a good job here and grew a lot as a writer. And Devon was hotter than the twins and Jake combined, sorry boys.

That’s it! Thanks so much for sending me this, Linda! It meant the world for me! How do you guys like contemporary romance?