Blog Tour {Review + Giveaway}: Until it Fades by K.A. Tucker

ABOUT UNTIL IT FADES:

Twenty-four-year-old truck stop waitress and single mother Catherine Wright has simple goals: to give her five-year-old daughter a happy life and to never again be the talk of the town in Balsam, Pennsylvania (population three thousand outside of tourist season).

And then one foggy night, on a lonely road back from another failed date, Catherine saves a man’s life. It isn’t until after the police have arrived that Catherine realizes exactly who it is she has rescued: Brett Madden, hockey icon and media darling.

Catherine has already had her fifteen minutes of fame and the last thing she wants is to have her past dragged back into the spotlight, only this time on a national stage. So she hides her identity. It works. For a time.

But when she finds the man she saved standing on her doorstep, desperate to thank her, all that changes. There’s an immediate connection, and it’s more electric than the bond of two people who endured a traumatic event. It’s something neither of them expected. Something that Catherine isn’t sure she can handle; something she is afraid to trust.

Because how long can an extraordinary man like Brett be interested in an ordinary woman like Catherine…before the spark fades?

GOODREADS
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

K.A. Tucker is the author of He Will Be My Ruin and the Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water series. She currently resides outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and a Chug.

FIND K.A. TUCKER ONLINE:
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Amy Harmon’s claim of Until it Fades being “a modern-day Cinderella story that will make you hope again” is true.

Until it Fades starts off with a riveting scene that has the perfect mix of shock and dread that will seep through your system and enough to make you curious as to what the repercussions of our dear heroine, Catherine Wright’s actions are. It grabs a hold of you from the get go. K.A. Tucker slowly but surely created a delicious build up with having the early chapters of the book consist of a past to present transitions. Through that format, it shed some light towards the root cause of it all and created a perfect avenue to easily showcase the difference and growth that took place in Catherine’s character: Teen Catherine to Mom Catherine.

“It does feel magical. It does feel like a fairy tale. That a man like Brett – so charming, so talented, so breathtakingly handsome, so seemingly perfect in every way – would become infatuated with an ordinary woman like me.”

In the recent years, Catherine (and her daughter) blended in and quietly built their lives in the small town of Balsam, Pennsylvania. But she just didn’t know that one good Samaritan act from her will once again catapult her into the spotlight – the talk of the town and even in the National news.

On the way home from another failed date, Catherine stumbled across a road accident and managed to save one of the passenger’s life before the car blew up. Without knowing that she saved Brett Madden’s life – a known hockey player. She wished to stay out of the spotlight. But certainly only one can wish when it comes to a situation worthy of the people and media’s attention and even more so – with a situation tied to Brett. 

For the most part, Until it Fades tend to be on the predictable and cliché side. But it was K.A. Tucker that made me carry on reading it. I want to know and soak up with how she’s going to let those scenes play out through her words.

Catherine’s teenage life is as messy as one could get. Her impulsive and all-heart driven decisions caused for her to experience a lot of difficulties. Like being called names, tainted, judged wrongly and casted unnerving looks by the people around her. But the things that I admire the most about Cath is how she owned up to her mistakes and stood back up after all the criticisms she received. Time and circumstances enabled for Cath to grow. From a wild teenager who just cares about what her heart feels and wants, Cath was subjected to grow and set her priorities in life straight. Not only she thinks and cares about herself but now she has the thought of her daughter at the forefront of her mind.

The character development of Cath is the gem of this book. Though, I kind of hoped that Tucker dwelled more time to let things settle in during that part towards the end wherein Cath dropped that bomb. It felt like my feels were heightened but doused immediately. I understand her reasoning but it just needed more time (like a chapter or two) for it to be believable and yeah, settle inside the reader’s mind.

“Something good will come from the bad. It always does. That’s how life balances itself out. That’s how people keep going.”

Brett Madden, the famous hockey player aka the lucky guy who was saved by Cath from the car accident. I honestly love how grounded, sweet, caring and understanding (and more) he is towards Cath. But the two things that stood out about him were: how he let Cath set the pace for their relationship and how he always included Brenna in his plans. I’m a sucker for books with kids in it and so his interactions with Brenna were a joy to read. I certainly have the heart eyes going on.

From gratitude, friendship bloomed and the slow-burn romance that took place between them – I love. You can feel sparks flying the moment Brett and Cath got acquainted. It’s slow-burn and you’re just anticipating when they’ll give in. I’m so happy that despite the instant connection they felt, they really took time in building their relationship from the ground and up. Mostly for Cath’s part because of her hang ups and complications in life.

As I’m typing this down, I got to ponder on more about Brett. Did his character even possess a flaw? If I remember correctly, there isn’t. He boxed out everything and truly made up the perfect modern Prince Charming. I kind of wanted for him to do something out of perfection – for him to show a flaw since Cath’s were out there in the open. It wouldn’t hurt for him to have, as well. It would only make him more like a true human being.

If you’re up for some real swoony guy character, Brett Madden is the answer. Especially Brett’s gestures towards the end. Everything that he did there was straight out of (or even more) fairy tale books.

This book also touched an issue that is very prominent and timely. How people who come from influential families get to walk away from their crimes easily? Privileged? Ring a bell? I don’t want to talk much about this because I don’t want to spoil you. But there’s a part of the story linked to this and it got me so frustrated how time and time again the person involved gets away from all the evil things he’s been doing. Just like what happens in reality, I guess. I was anticipating for a firmer consequence towards the end of the book but all I got was quite an open ending to it. I hope justice will be served to his victims and he’ll be punished accordingly.

I’m going to stop here now to avoid more spoilers to pour out of me. 

Until it Fades is clearly a fairy tale and I don’t know what the chances are for this to happen in real life. Could be impossible? Could be 1 to 1,000,000? Could a guy like Brett Madden exist? I don’t know. We don’t know. But whatever the answer to those questions are, I’m just glad to witness that a character like Catherine can go through such a surreal experience, find happiness through it and learn new things along the way. To hope, be at peace with one’s self and freely share the love in us.

Go grab this book and read it!

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