Title: Catch Us When We Fall by Juliette Fay
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Genre: Contemporary, Women’s Fiction
Length: 416 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss
Summary:
If you love the emotionally complex novels of JoJo Moyes and the dramatic books of Jodi Picoult, you won’t want to miss this newest book about second chances, redemption, and the power of hope from USA Today bestselling author of Shelter Me, Juliette Fay.
On her own since the age of eighteen, Cass Macklin dated brilliant, troubled Ben McGreavy, convinced he was the smartest person she’d ever known. They partied their way through their twenties, slowly descending into a bleak world of binge-drinking and broken promises, inebriated for most of a decade. Now Ben is dead, and Cass is broke, homeless, scared…and pregnant.
Determined to have a healthy pregnancy and raise Ben’s baby, Cass has to find a way to stop drinking and build a stable life for herself and her child. But with no money, skills, or sober friends or family, the task seems insurmountable. At wit’s end, Cass turns to the only person with the means to help her: Ben’s brother Scott, third basemen for the Boston Red Sox, a man with a temper and problems of his own.
The two make a deal that neither one of them is sure they can live up to. As Cass struggles to take control of her life and to ask for help when she needs it, Scott begins to realize there’s a life for him beyond the baseball diamond.
By turns heartbreaking and humorous, with its message that change is possible, that forgiveness can be freely given, and that life, though imperfect, is worth embracing, Catch Us When We Fall is a story of human connectedness and hope.
Review:
Catch Us When We Fall by Juliette Fay is an emotional novel of recovery, new beginnings and healing.
Twenty-nine-year-old Cass Macklin and Ben McGreavy have been together for eleven drunken years. After his death, she learns she is pregnant and she is struggling to get sober. Cass wants to provide a good life for her unborn child, but without any money or skills, she is barely eking out a living. She reluctantly turns to Ben’s brother Scott for help, but their agreement is dependent on her sobriety. With Scott just waiting for her to make a mistake, Cass finds comfort and friendship in unexpected places.
Cass grew up in foster care after the death of her mother. With Ben as her only source of love for the past eleven years, she is adrift and unbearably lonely after his death. Her pregnancy is an unanticipated lifeline for the opportunity for her to get sober. With sobriety comes clarity and Cass is confronted with uncomfortable truths about her relationship with Ben. Living with Scott is her only chance to get back on her feet and provides her with the chance to make concrete plans for her and her baby’s future. Cass is committed to her sobriety and she attends daily Alcoholic Anonymous meetings. Working up the courage to speak her truth takes time and an unexpected friendship is another step along her way to a better future.
Living with Scott is not always easy because he is a loner who is waiting for Cass to fail. She is shocked to discover Ben met with his brother on a regular basis over the years. Scott and Ben’s childhood was violent and Ben turned to alcohol to cope. Scott turned his athletic abilities into a baseball career but he maintains a distance from his teammates. He has low expectations for Cass’s ability to stay sober, and their arrangement provides an unanticipated opportunity to get to know each other better.
Catch Us When We Fall is a compelling novel that provides an authentic portrayal of addiction and recovery. Cass and Scott are complex characters who continue to carry the scars of their respective dysfunctional childhoods. Cass’s journey is difficult but the lessons she learns as she fights to remain sober showcase her strength. Scott is gruff and prickly but living with Cass brings out the unexpectedly tender aspects of his personality. With a realistic storyline and winsome characters, Juliette Fay’s newest release is a heartwarming and uplifting novel of hope, grace and love.
