4 1/2 STARS!

Redemption at it's best! With the second book in her A True North Hero series, M.K. Stelmack gave herself a really tough job. She had to redeem a heroine that we all kind of loved to hate in the first book of the series. Connie came off as a really selfish person previously, and as we start to delve into her mind with this book, we start to see how she sees herself, and why she's done some of the things that she's done. We might not have made some of the same choices that she made, but we can forgive some of the things she's done because we understand her reasoning. I really enjoyed getting to know Ben, and seeing them work towards healing. Really good read!

Connie Greene can't deny that Ben Carruthers is the great love of her life, but she doesn't think she's a good enough person to deserve his love. She enjoys having him around, but she won't accept the ring he offers when he asks her to marry him. She has a lot of work to redeem herself before she can ever even think about being the type of woman he deserves.

Ben has loved Connie since the first day he laid eyes on her when he was just a kid. She might have put a big dent in his heart when she walked away from their relationship, but he can't give up on her. He sees things in her that she doesn't seem to be able to see in herself ... and he's willing to give her as long as she need to get her head in the game of promising him a happily ever after.

It was an okay read but I didn't feel any chemistry between the two and didn't buy into their romance.

I had a really hard time liking Connie at the beginning of this book but she grew on me after a while which i guess is more the point of the story. I liked that the author spread the blame for Ben and Connie's dysfunctional relationship around. I never would have guessed that he was a stage-five clinger but the balance of needing two people to make a relationship work made their reconciliation more believable. The ending was a little abrupt but I feel like I got the closure I needed.