Start With Me by Kara Isaac

Lacey O’Connor is finally a sure thing for the promotion she’s spent ten years working for. But when a scandal rocks her firm she finds herself on a collision course with the one person she has spent five years trying to forget. Only to discover he doesn’t even remember her…

Victor Carlisle has spent the last three years trying to convince his family he’s no longer the playboy alcoholic who tore their life apart. When a company merger is announced with a US sister firm, he’s presented with the perfect opportunity to prove he’s changed. Only to find himself falling for his competition and the one woman his family will never accept.

As the competition intensifies the choice looms between the professional and the personal. Can they find a way beyond their past decisions and present aspirations to take a chance on the one thing they’re not looking for?

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I am so pleased to see a new book from author Kara Isaac.  At one time I thought there might not be any more from her and I was so disappointed but understood that life throws us curve balls and sometimes you just have to keep your head above water.  Thankfully, Kara Isaac is back to writing and I'm grateful. 

Because of the gap in time, it took me a bit to remember the last book this author wrote and how those characters lapped over into this book.  I think this book can stand alone but you will be more satisfied if you read Can't Help Falling first.  It really sets the stage for this book and it's main characters.

This is a story of forgiveness, redemption and love in many forms.  Lacey and Victor both have complicated family relations.  There is strain, tension and guilt for them both as they struggle with decisions they have made and how to repair mistakes and accept what cannot be changed.  It's like they are dancing a similar dance, facing outward until they bump into each other, turn, and really see the other person for the first time.  Then they realize they are both dancing similar dances.  They can see themselves in the other.

I enjoyed the slow burn romance and the attraction on the fringes.  I love how Victor was willing to put so much on the line to prove himself to everyone.  He felt so stripped down and vulnerable for so much of the book that I couldn't help but cheer for him.  He was the underdog in need of a good cheering section for sure.  On top of the familial tension, there is the professional tension for both Lacey and Victor.  They are battling against those things for most of the book.  It definitely felt like a sigh of relief to get to some resolution by the end of the book.

The players for the next book have been set up nicely and I'm excited to read their story!  This book is on KU if you have that.

Content:  talk of substance abuse, intimate relations outside of marriage (no details at all), kissing.  Talk of God, praying.