Coming Home - Ann B Harrison

I will start this review with full disclosure, I was given a free copy of COMING HOME with the hope that I would review it. My critique of this book is an honest representation of my opinions and feelings towards the story and is in no way coerced or compensated in any monetary form.

COMING HOME is the second book of Ann B Harrison's I have read. I am quite ashamed to admit this as she is a fabulous author. I also reviewed the first book I read OUTBACK GOLD, an awesome story, which is the reason I ran out and filled my kindle with her other work (which I will find the time to read sometime soon). I loved Outback Gold and hoped I would not be disappointed by Coming Home. I wasn't! It has the same gritty and genuine feel to it, Ms Harrison is a master when it comes to writing realistic and down to earth scenes.

Ann B Harrison writes heart stirring drama every bit as compelling as one would expect from Jodi Picoult. In my opinion Ms Harrison offers her readers a perfect blend of romance and drama, the combination making her stories hard to put down.

I curled up on the couch and consumed Coming home, doing nothing else until I read those final words “the end”. It is the story of three siblings who have been left with emotional scaring from a hard childhood, life is definitely not going well for any of them when they return to the family property after their father's death. The terms of the will are quite harsh and they must stand together or lose it all. The Williams siblings are endearing in their dysfunctional yet faultlessly loyal love for each other. As the reader I found myself rooting for their family dynamics to be restored as much as I was for each sibling to find love.

Coming home was almost like four stories in one and this kept the story fresh and compelling, I loved the concept of following the three of them as they re-found each other, dealt with personal demons and tried to find time for love. It is quite ironic that the same thing I loved about Coming Home is also the only thing I wished was different. I wish there was more time given to each of the siblings, it felt a little rushed in places as Russ, Cade and Rooney all competed for play time.

I like the way Ann B Harrison builds suspense, quite a unique skill in the romance genre, I love the more realistic approach to love stories and the drama powerful enough to tug on the heart strings. I wish however that the story/stories had gone on longer and been filled in a bit more. Rooney's love story is the only one that felt complete when the book ended, I wanted to know more about Cade and Russ, their stories felt incomplete to me. This unfinished feeling is the reason why I only give 4 teabags to Coming Home, it tastes amazing but just seemed a couple of cups short of the whole pot of tea.