Rowena’s review of The Redemption of Callie & Kayden (The Coincidence of Callie & Kayden #2) by Jessica Sorensen.

The dark secret Kayden has kept hidden for years is out. Worse, he’s facing charges for battery. The only way he stands a chance against the charges is if Callie speaks up, something he’ll never ask her to do.

Callie knows Kayden is going back to his dark place and desperately wants to save him. But saving him means admitting her secrets aloud. Callie and Kayden are stronger than they think, especially when they’re together. Together they move forward, face their demons, and finally start to heal from their traumatic pasts.

This is the second book in the Coincidence of Callie & Kayden series.  I think that’s what the series is called (at least that’s what it says on Goodreads) and this book picks up not too long after the last book ends.  Kayden is in a world of pain.  He’s in the hospital, he’s facing criminal charges when he gets out and he’s on suicide watch.  Through all of this, he hasn’t been able to see Callie and the longer he stays away from her, the more he thinks it’s the best.  For the both of them because he’s bad for Callie and he wants to shield him from his problems and from himself.  He doesn’t feel worthy of Callie’s love and Callie is devastated over not being able to see Kayden and not being there for him.  Because he needs her and circumstances are keeping them apart.

What I really enjoyed about this book was seeing the makeshift family that Callie has built around her over the course of her freshman year at college again.  I loved seeing Seth and Luke again, seeing them struggle with their own problems but still being there for both Callie and Kayden.  I love how fiercely protective Seth is over Callie and how loyal Luke is to Kayden.  They are the best kinds of friends to have in your corner, especially when you’re suffering the way that these two are suffering.

Callie feels guilty because Kayden faces charges for beating the crap out of Caleb and he did it for her.  The thing that makes this ten times worse is that her family is supporting Caleb’s decision to press charges against Kayden.  They have forbidden her to see Kayden and are furious that Callie would keep choosing him over them.

I was really looking forward to reading this book because the ending to the first book left me wanting more.  I wanted to know what happened with Kayden, what was going to happen and while a lot happens in this book, I didn’t really get any answers.  Kayden and Callie are both completely broken characters that are trying to get themselves straightened out but it’s a long road.  And their long road was really frustrating for me to read through because I kept wanting Callie to open her mouth and make her family understand why she needed to stay with Kayden.  I wanted her to tell them the truth about Caleb and stick up for Kayden.  I mean, yeah I know that it’s a hard thing to talk about but they needed to know and the longer she went without being honest with her family, the more I wanted to punch a wall.

I enjoyed reading this book but as the book was coming to an end, I kept wondering if they were going to resolve things and while it looks like they’re making their way toward that, I didn’t feel it got the resolve that I was looking and hoping for.  There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done and since I’m sure there’s going to be another book, I’m not all that mad but I am disappointed that we didn’t get it in here.  In my heart of hearts, I was hoping for their issues to be resolved in this book and not dragged out and then I was hoping we’d get Luke’s story because I’ve gotta say that I’m mighty curious about Luke.  I want to know more about him, his back story and I want him to find the happiness that isn’t quite in his grasp yet.

Overall, this book fed the craving that I had for these characters but it didn’t give me the satisfaction of knowing that everything worked itself out but there’s hope.  There’s a whole lot of hope that Callie and Kayden will figure their stuff out and be okay.  And I’m okay with that. I’ll definitely read the next book because I’ve come to love these characters and I want to know how it all ends.  Sorensen does a great job of packing this book with enough emotion and angst to keep the reader interested.  You’ll come to love these characters just as much as I did, I’m sure of it.  You won’t be able to stop yourself.  These are wonderfully complex characters with emotion journeys to go through and readers will be sucked in.  I know it.

Grade: 4 out of 5

This book is available from Forever.  You can buy it here or here in e-format.  This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.