Recovery Paperback – June 12, 2013

"I've been waiting to call you mine my whole life."Have you ever wondered what happens after a happy ending, when everyday life kicks in and two people have to learn to live together? In this delightful conclusion to the beloved Running on Empty, we find our Alex and Blake taking their first steps as a couple. This is a book about the adjustments that people need to make in life in order to make room for their happily ever after.Even though they have finally found a way to each other and committed to a future together, no time passes before Alex and Blake are faced with their first challenges as a couple. For so long, Alex has fought to be a good mum to her children and to make up for the absence of their dad in their lives. She has invested all her time and energy to make them feel loved, adjusted, cared for, and she has done this by putting her personal life aside and assuming a role of both mother and father to them. She is a woman whose heart was broken but she had to learn to suppress that pain for the sake of her daughters - knowing this as a reader, it is hard not to feel sympathy for her and her struggle to maintain control over that life. She's had a best friend to help her on occasion and be her support system when her grief overwhelmed her, but she has done it all on her own. Until Blake. Learning to lean on someone and ask for help has always been hard for Alex, and even now, with a man who loves her and wants nothing more than to be her rock in life, she struggles to relinquish control over things that she's always done a certain way."This is how things are in my house, the way they have been for a long time."Blake loves Alex wholeheartedly and has loved her for a very long time. Having her now as his wife is the realisation of everything he's ever dreamed of. But he wants her to accept him as her husband not just in name but as an equal `partner in crime' when it comes to all aspects of their new life together."We're supposed to be partners in this, Alex, but instead, we're two strangers, living two separate lives, inhabiting the same living space."He needs her to rely on him, not just as her husband but also as a new father to her children. He wants to create a new family with Alex and her daughters, while Alex only lets him participate in the raising of her children as long as it does not interfere with her way of parenting them. She remains adamant that she knows best how to be a good parent to them because she's been doing it by herself for so long, failing to realise that she no longer needs to do everything on her own."Your girls! Your house! Your baby! What happened to our life, Alex?"Alex's inability to ask for help conflicts with Blake's desperate need for her to feel that she is his, his to love, his to help, his to look after. This is a book about learning to communicate with each other and about learning to let go of the past when the future is shining brightly before you.A truly heart-warming, profoundly emotional continuation of a beautiful story that allowed us to revisit characters we became deeply invested in in the past. It allowed us to take a peek into their life as a new husband and wife and see them finally become a family. This is a much more mature insight into their relationship - the focus is almost entirely on the bond between them and their marriage, giving us a candid snapshot of what it takes to truly share a life together.If you've loved Running on Empty as much as I have, I have no doubt that you will not want to miss this one!"... now that I have you, I'm never, ever going to let you go again. You are mine. Without you, I am nothing."

Even now, my heart is still in my throat. I would like to first say that this novella could have easily been turned into a full length novel. However, even with it being a long novella, it was filled with so much emotion. I couldn't believe how much story L.B. Simmons was able to pack into 142 pages."We're supposed to be partners in this, Alex, but instead, we're two strangers, living two separate lives, inhabiting the same living space."Recovery is a look at what happens after the happy ever after. Everything is not always rosy and perfect. I have to say I was a little nervous to start Recovery. I like my happy ever afters... I like turning that last page with a big goofy smile on my face. Why would I want to read about the troubles that come after? Well, I knew that even though there were difficulties as Alex and Blake learn how to merge their separate lives into one... that there would still be another big goofy grin on my face at the end. And I'm happy to say there very much was one."So, when things don't make sense to you, try not to waste time being upset about it. Stuff works out the way it's supposed to. Some things just take longer than others."We see a lot of character growth in Recovery. The only problem I had with Alex in Running on Empty is that she found it so hard to ask for help. This is carried into Recovery, and finally she understands that she needs to do more than let Blake into her heart. She has to open up her whole life to him and allow him to be there for her and the girls. Blake is as always perfect. The man is like a dream come true... love him to bits.We also get our first peek at Noah and Tatum, they are the characters that Running in Place will be focused around. I think I am really going like these two. There is also an excerpt at the end which gives us a bit of a sneak peek, now we just have to wait for it's release."... now that I have you, I'm never, ever going to let you go again. You are mine. Without you, I am nothing."ChristineRainy Day Reads

I love how Recovery continues the story of Blake and Alex and lets us see inside their lives and how they deal with becoming a family. In this continuation of Alex and Blake's story, Alex has finally confessed her feelings to Blake and is ready to start writing her "second story". This book shows us the realities of trying to create a new family after having suffered tragedy. Blake has asked Alex to marry him, they've bought a house together, and their life as a new family begins. Blake tries his hardest to be everything he can be for Alex and her three daughters, but Alex is still struggling to give up control. This is their story and how they face the challenges and struggles of becoming a cohesive family.There are a lot of ups and downs, but that's reality, right? At times I wanted to smack Alex, she is just so darned stubborn! But I always felt the love that she has for Blake and her girls. L.B. has a gift for telling the story in the first person, and Alex is a hoot to read! Her thoughts are hilarious, and I laughed many a time "listening" to her thinking about something and then suddenly going off on a tangent, like suddenly thinking of a line from one of her favorite movies, then going right back to her original line of thinking. And Blake...sigh, I thought he was dreamy in Running on Empty, but he is dreamy times ten in this book. He has the patience of a saint with his three stepdaughters and even more patience with Alex.I am very happy and satisfied with this book and the way L.B. concludes Alex and Blake's story. It gave me the HEA that I love to get in a book, but not so final that we couldn't get more of their story in future books or spin offs.

This book carries on from Running on Empty with Alex and Blake about to get married but Alex panicking at discovering she is pregnant. She bleats on a bit much about being too old - she's only 33!I wonder if the author read reviews of the first book and saw how much people didn't really like Alex and so decided to write this novella to redeem her character? I suppose it worked but the 'notes to self' were still there and still annoying! Life isn't as perfect for the newlyweds and we get some contrived arguments with Blake getting angry! I would have been angry with Blake myself buying a puppy to teach kids responsibility when I was pregnant with a fourth child!!Things resolve themselves with a love scene and then an accident happens. I wasn't too happy with what caused the accident and wished the author had chosen a different reason as I felt sorry for the little kid knowing she had caused it. The story was going OK until near the end when it became a bit twee with her dead husband appearing to her.It was an OK read but a bit cheesy! The third book is about a younger couple that featured in this book.

When I saw this in the free downloads something about the story rang a bell. I've now realised that I had read the previous book but obviously not reviewed it. This Novella starts as Alex is about to marry Blake but before the wedding she takes a pregnancy test and finds out she's pregnant. There is a sweet scene of how she tells Blake the news.Although Alex and Blake went through enough in the first book this is not quite their happy ever after as even though they buy a new house together for a fresh start Blake starts to feel left out. Alex continues to act like a single parent to her three kids and Blake feels like they should be parenting together. It was good to see Blake become a bit more alpha!There is some drama near the end and the story ends in Blake's POV. This was a nice little conclusion to their story and it has a little more 'heat' than the first book!

Love Love loved it.Loved the opening chapters, such a beautiful moment, what a brilliant present.Had my heart in my mouth for a while there, but so pleased things changed for them.As every marriage, its not plain sailing, both have to work through living together, but for Blake he also had to learn the ways of Alex's little girls. And he does an excellent job.Harlow still being Harlow, she always has their backs.Ah, the accident, so glad things again played out how they did. Nice to get an insight about Derek, such a truly sweet moment, and how Rylie figured out the cause of the accident, such a heartfelt moment.The final chapter, mm are me smile, so sweet. Can't was it to finish the series!

Didn't really need to read the book but I did anyway but still my issue with Alex, her one person family I'll do it all attitude grates on me, we all suffer in life but we don't all get jaded and bitter at 30 yes she's had a hard time but doesn't everyone? By pushing Blake away she nearly lost him and something more precious pig headed and stubborn sometimes aren't great qualities. Her kids are brilliant and Harlow and Blake are great but this author really does need to fix the female lead in the next one, as Alex was a drama queen even bitter and miserable on her wedding day to Blake WTF????

They had the passion and loved each other dearly, but when they stopped communicating, all went downhill fast.Alex has had to be strong for so long, she struggles to let anyone in, and Blake bless him, he was so frustrated with her stubbornness.Things come to a head and finally they have a heart to heart and all's good!