Review (and a Giveaway!): Fear of Falling by Catherine Lanigan

Posted March 17, 2016 by meezcarrie in Catherine Lanigan, contemporary, giveaway, romance / 3 Comments

Fear of Falling
(Shores of Indian Lake #5)
by Catherine Lanigan
Adult Contemporary Romance
Paperback & ebook, 368 Pages
March 1st 2016 by Harlequin Heartwarming

Her best bet is to stay away

Was Olivia hearing this right? The one man in Indian Lake she’d found truly intriguing since, well, forever—the hopelessly handsome heir to the region’s most successful farming operation, Rafe Barzonni—was involved in horse racing? That made him, and her sudden attraction, downright dangerous. He wasn’t just out of her league. He was a gambler. Like her father. With the shame of her father’s racetrack betting addiction still haunting her, Olivia can’t be part of that world. Rafe’s world. She can’t trust him, or his magnetism. But there’s something deep in his incredible blue eyes that keeps drawing her closer…

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The Other Books in the Series

I so enjoy these Harlequin Heartwarming books – clean, sweet contemporary romances that I can usually recommend without hesitation to my readers who prefer inspirational fiction as well as those who prefer general market reads. Fear of Falling by Catherine Lanigan fits this profile nicely.

Olivia and Rafe – both working through some pretty intense emotions. Olivia and her fears. Rafe and his grief. Put them together with an added dose of attraction and chemistry and you have the formula for a potentially volatile relationship. But you also have the perfect ingredients for two hearts that can help each other heal, and Lanigan deftly orchestrates that transformation. Rowan the horse completely stole the show for me. His intuition and personality gave the book an added depth and placed Rowan among the ranks of my favorite animal characters in fiction.

Fear of Falling focuses on Olivia and Rafe but these two characters are people who fully embrace family and friends. And since nearly all of Olivia’s friends are connected to Rafe’s family, this secondary unit of characters is never far away. I loved the camaraderie, the focus on friendship, the family dynamics. This community plays a huge role in the atmosphere of the book and, while it’s not necessary to have read the previous books in the SHORES OF INDIAN LAKE series, I want to go back and learn their stories as well.

(Although… nitpicky moment ahead … if their individual circles are so interconnected, how is it that Olivia and Rafe haven’t already spent a lot of time together? This isn’t crucial to the enjoyment of the book; it’s just something that gnawed at me lol. And also – why in heaven’s name would Olivia keep sending to people the pictures of Rowan that Rafe expressly asked her not to distribute? Frankly, that kind-of annoyed me lol. Yes, the first time wasn’t her fault… but there was really no excuse for the repeat. It seemed like the action of someone far more immature than Olivia is portrayed to be.)

Bottom Line: Fear of Falling by Catherine Lanigan takes readers on a journey through heartache, fear, defeat, romance, and even a little triumph along the way. Characters are the heart of the novel, even the four-legged kind, and you will be drawn to their stories and their community. Intriguing peeks into the intricacies of horse racing segue into scenes that will leave you waiting for the outcome with bated breath. You won’t watch the Kentucky Derby the same way again! If you like a clean, sweet romance that still simmers with passion, this is a great choice to add to your TBR list!

(I received a copy of this book in exchange for only my honest review.)

My Rating: 3.5 stars / Liked it!

KissingBook Level: 3 / May forget to breathe on occasion

Catherine Lanigan is the bestselling author of over thirty published titles in both fiction and non-fiction, including the novelizations of Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile, as well as over half a dozen anthologies, including “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living your Dream”, “Chicken Soup for the Writer’s Soul”, “Chocolate for a Woman’s Heart”, Chocolate for a Woman’s Spirit”. Ms. Lanigan’s novels have been translated into over a dozen languages including German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese. Ms. Lanigan’s novels are also available on audio-cassette, CD and on electronic format. A prolific writer, she is always writing wonderful stories. She has several titles only available in ebook format on Amazon.com Several of her titles have been chosen for The Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Clubs. Her novel, The Christmas Star, won the Gold Medal Award Top Pick from Romantic Times Magazine for December, 2002, and has also won Book of the Year Romance Gold Award from ForeWord Magazine as well as Book of the Year Romance from Reader’s Preference. In March, 2006 Divine Nudges: Tales of Angelic Intervention and the second in Lanigan’s Angel Watch series of books, was published by HCI, the Chicken Soup for the Soul publisher.