I felt that this was a richly imagined novel with complex characters. I found the subject of healing to be very interesting. The plot was well written and enjoyable.
Many thanks to Greenleaf Book Group and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Will Alexander is a lawyer, an up-and-comer at his firm who is just trying to get through the daily grind. His life changes when he meets Erica, a social worker turned energy healer.  Will and Erica are drawn to one another.  Erica sees a strong energy around Will, one that he doesn't realize he possesses.  Will tries to dismiss Erica's beliefs as eccentricities, however as he is pulled more into Erica's life and healing practice, Will's own beliefs begin to waver as Erica tells Will that he has helped her patients simply by being with them and one of Will's legal clients feels a weight lifted off of his shoulders after Will met with him.  Will begins to realize that there might be something about him that can help others, but his beliefs are still on the fence and his legal mind won't allow him to admit to doing anything, even as he begins to take on his own clients in Erica's practice.  
The Reluctant Healer is a book to read with an open mind.  It is the story of a perfectly ordinary man, Will -who thoroughly believes he is an ordinary man despite evidence of the extraordinary.  There isn't a lot of action or suspense in The Reluctant Healer, it is  mostly the story of Will coming to grips with forces within himself yet outside of his control, and slowly changing his worldview and belief system.  Even without a lot of excitement,  The Reluctant Healer still had me intrigued.  I really wanted to know what Will's ability was, how he was going to decide how to use it and if it had any limits.  Since this is a story of Will, his character is really the only one who is fully fleshed.  Erica is a large part of the story, yet I didn't get the feeling that I knew her too well.  Will's choices were what powered the story.  I found some choices very natural and some choices baffling, especially towards the end.  Overall, The Reluctant healer is a story of opening your mind to a world of opportunities beyond what you would normally consider.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

This book drew my attention because I am in the alternative healing field, having done energetic healing and spiritual growth work within my practice as a Licensed Massage Therapist. I was excited to see a novel delve into the realm of energetic healing and hoped it would offer a grounded, deeper look at work many wonder about.

This was all over the place. So, the good in that is that it presented healing work from a wide spectrum of belief and skepticism, which I think is great because any reader can relate to some point on that spectrum. What it did not do was show quite how positive the work can be, and how authentic, compassionate and integral most practitioners are - at least in my experience. If someone came into this book skeptical, they could walk away just as skeptical. To me that was a missed opportunity.

Ok, so that is more about how I think the author portrayed the healing genre but what about the writing and story telling. The writing was consistent, nothing extraordinary, but fine- until a chapter of legal jargon at the end which was more work then I wanted to put into reading- but the story telling was also all over the place. I love flawed, complex characters. These characters went beyond that to just inconsistent, always slipping through my fingers so I never quite felt like I knew them. I mean, I guess there was a character arc for the main character that went from judgmental, selfish, jerk to more open-minded, more humbled lost soul. It was tough though because he's so unlikable in the beginning that it's hard to shake that throughout the book, and he doesn't redeem himself quite enough to ever become likable, in my opinion. The female protagonist is much more likable but took some actions at the end that completely went against who she is which made the plot going forward unbelievable and the part of me that had become invested during the middle of the book, became much less so. At that point I was just ready to be done with the book.

I was hopeful, there were parts that were engaging and some that was fun to read, but ultimately this felt like it needed more work - to mold the plot, to solidify characterization, to be less wishy-washy and more inspiring. 2 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley for a free kindle book in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this book because the premise intrigued me and this was not a book I would naturally pick up. This is the story of Will, a NYC lawyer. He meets a girl that intrigues him but he soon realizes their ideas and interests are not at all similar. Erica considers herself a natural healer and is immersed in meditation and energies, pursuits that are not at all realistic in Will’s world. Although he finds Erica slightly wacky he is still very interested in her. Early on in their relationship Erica tells Will that he is also a natural healer with even stronger abilities than hers. Will is very skeptical but as time passes he begins to see that maybe some of what Erica believes is true. Ultimately Will is caught between logic and science and auras, chakras, and energies. The book is engaging and the characters were interesting. I found the book well written for a first time author.

I was really excited to read "The Reluctant Healer". It tells us the story of a young man, a lawyer, who is skeptical in regards to energy healing. He runs into Erica, an energy healer, who tries to show him how energy healing works and that he himself is a healer as well.

I liked reading this book and I would recommend it to those interested in energy healing.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

Interesting subject. Not something I would normally read but was intrigued. Thank you for the chance to read this

Healing, uh? If you ask me, I'd say that was my first thought and it stuck with me halfway through this book.
I like the complexity of the character, because who would believe that a lawyer who is all about facts and sequence of events, would have the innate ability to heal or simply elevate people's well being by being around them? I liked Will. He's narcissistic, weird and rude. He also drowns his insecurities in his liquor and you cannot help but hate him as you start reading the book, but the author's decision to have such a character so dissociated from what he is, will this was interesting.
The pace is slow if you ask me, but for a debut, I'd say I liked it.
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.