Review and Giveaway: The Trouble With Goodbye by Sarra Cannon

One night can change everything…

Two years ago, Leigh Anne Davis shocked everyone in tiny Fairhope, Georgia when she broke up with her wealthy boyfriend to attend an Ivy League university a thousand miles away. At school, she finds a happiness and independence she’s never known.

Until one terrifying night takes it all away from her.

With no place else to go, Leigh Anne heads home to reclaim her old life. A life she worked so hard to escape. On the outside, she seems like the same girl everyone has always known. But deep inside, she’s hiding a terrible secret.

That’s when she meets Knox Warner, a troubled newcomer to Fairhope. His eyes have the same haunted look she sees every day in the mirror, and when she’s near him, the rest of the world fades away. But being with Knox would mean disappointing everyone all over again. If she wants to save what’s left of her old life, she has no choice but to say goodbye to him forever.

Only, the trouble with goodbye is that sometimes it’s about courage and sometimes it’s about fear. And sometimes you’re too broken to know the difference until it’s too late.

4 Star Review

Leigh Ann is coming back to her hometown 2 years after graduating from high school for summer break from her college.  It is evident from the first chapter that she doesn’t want to be home and that something has happened to her during her 2-year absence.  During her drive home, she requires assistance and Knox comes to her rescue.   Knox and Leigh Ann have never met before, but there is a comfort that Knox can provide to her when she finally breaks down in the middle of the dark night.

Everything I haven’t been allowed to feel or express breaks loose, and I don’t have the strength to control it anymore…Without a word, he pulls me into his arms. And he lets me cry. 

Knox has suffered terrible adolescent years.  His back story is so heartbreaking.  It’s truly a miracle he has survived and has taken the higher road.  Knox is the exact opposite of a playboy.  He doesn’t date and he keeps to himself.   

 He’s been hurt by someone just like I have, and I wonder if it’s the kind of thing you only recognize when you’ve been there yourself.

 

Leigh Ann’s friends are so happy to see her back home.  They want to hang out and be the close-knit group they were back in high school.  Leigh Ann doesn’t feel comfortable being with them.  

The thought of hanging out with all my friends and having to pretend I’m the same— that this event has not altered me forever— is pure torture.

Leigh Ann comes from a very wealthy family and with that comes the certain stigma that she should be associated with the wealthy people.   Her friends are all wealthy and come from influential families.  Leigh Ann’s mother is a real piece of work.  I called her so many names while reading this.  I felt sorry for Leigh Ann but at least Leigh Ann acknowledges that she does not want to be this type of person.  However, it’s hard for Leigh Ann to break away from everybody when that is all you’ve known your entire life.   She knows she wants Knox, but yet she’s trying to please everybody.

“I’ve opened myself up to you in a way I haven’t with any other girl. And that girl? The one I’ve been talking to and spending all this time with every day for weeks? I’m falling in love with her. Only, the problem is, the second you get together with your old friends or see your mother, you become someone else. Someone I’m honestly not sure I like very much.”

Leigh Ann is forced to make a decision about her past.  She can either hide or face it head on.  Either way it seems she stands the chance to lose Knox.  Everybody seems to have made the decision for her and she’s expected to follow their course of action.  Will Leigh Ann make her own decision based on her conscience or will she fall to the pressure of what her family has planned out for her?  

This is an impossible choice, and I can't see clearly enough to know which way is right.

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