Traveling Light by Katrina Kittle

So this is my 3rd Katrina Kittle book...and my least fave so far.

The premise:  Summer Zwolenick is a 20-something year old who has come home to Dayton, Ohio to care for and spend time with her brother who is dying of AIDS.  At the same time, she's trying to find a new focus for her life after an injury ended her promising ballet career.  She's found the man of her dreams as well but unfortunately, she can't seem to prioritize anything while her only brother's life slips away. She only has a few months to learn the valuable lessons that he has to teach:  how to love, live and let certain things go. 

I liked this book...I really did but I only gave it 3.5 stars because there were times when Summer irritated me so much with her stupidity that I just didn't find that believable.  I can't imagine anyone as moronic as her...especially when - really - she had it all.  That was really the only issue I had with the book but she is the main character and how can you give better than 3.5 stars when you want to throttle someone nearly every other sentence?!  It was fun too to read about Dayton and Cincinnati (Fountain Square, Mt. Adams and the Playhouse).  Regardless of the low rating it's still worth the read...a fast summer/beach book.

The Blessing of the Animals by Katrina Kittle

Okay well, just to remind, I've read this author before:  Katrina Kittle wrote The Kindness of Strangers - a great book highly recommended. 

The Blessing of the Animals revolves around 40-something Cami Anderson - a vet, living in Dayton, Ohio - who's recently been punched in the gut when her husband unexpectedly leaves her, saying that their marriage is killing him.  Struggling to maintain a "normal" life for her teenaged daughter, she attempts to figure out where her life veered off course without her realizing it.  At the same time, she's trying to maintain her new vet practice, dating, and fostering "rescued" animals (she's a volunteer with the Humane Society) like a three-legged tom cat, an abused and emotionally scarred horse, a Houdini-like goat, a pregnant miniature donkey and even her ex-husband and his new girlfriend's puppy (oh, the nerve!!!). 

There is so much more to this novel but you really need to read it yourself to see it all.  I love Katrina Kittle because she has the ability to not only make me laugh out loud (the antics her animals get into are priceless) but also make me so angry that I want to jump into the novel and throttle her ex-husband myself.  Read this book and you will want to read all of Katrina Kittle's books.  Love her!

The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle

So now I'm reading The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle. This is a book about a widow, struggling to raise her two difficult kids. As happens in life, complications arise and she is forced to foster a neighbors child who is struggling with life himself and trying to decide if he even wants to be a part of it. It looks good and all the reviews I've read have been good but as I've learned, that doesn't always mean anything. I'll let you know.

Well, like I said previously, I finished The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle. Review: Excellent! Recommendation: Get it. Read it. The subject matter is difficult (sexual abuse) but the story is really good and the writing was superb.