Review: Chasing Butterflies by Terri E Laine

One night … one kiss … one touch … will change everything.

Kelley Moore’s tragic home life should make him a survivor. But when he’s uprooted yet again, his plans for a better future seem impossible. Being a player on and off the football field is all he knows, until Lenora Wells. The beautiful town princess makes him feel and want things he never thought he could have…

Lenora will do anything to get out of her town, even if it means dating the wrong guy. There’s one problem: she can’t stop thinking about the gorgeous, complicated boy with the unusual eyes who gives her butterflies and makes her question her choices.

When their lives collide, the world shifts and not in their favor. Four years later, the sins of their past can never be taken back and forgiveness won’t come easy. 

College is a different game, a second chance for something better.

She’s not the girl he remembers and he’s the one boy she can never forget.

He’s made a name for himself as the star quarterback -- the golden boy who can do no wrong. But he’s only interested in being her hero. 

Despite everything, she can’t deny he still makes her heart flutter; and she’s got him chasing butterflies.

*Warning this new adult romance contains adult situations and language that is not suitable for younger readers.

3.5 Stars
Review by Jen Skewes

Chasing Butterflies is the first book that I have read from this author.  I really loved this book even though at times I had a few issues with it. But the storyline was great and I loved the characters.  It has just the right amount of drama and angst to keep you on the edge of your seat.  

We first meet Kelley as a young boy and see that his childhood is anything but pleasant.  He has a brother that he looked up to and a mother that he loved and adored, and at the same time felt like he let her down at times.  They were the two people that meant anything to him.  His father on the other hand was an abusive man who made his life hell.  We see how quickly Kelley grows up from a little 8 year old boy to a teenager in high school where he meets Lenora, the girl who would capture his heart and never let it go.

Lenora had a good life at home.  All though I have to say her parents pissed me off for several reasons,  which I will not go into because it will spoil it for you.  But when Lenny first meets Kelley she sees him as nothing more than a complete douche.  Until she really gets to know him and really sees how broken this boy really is. They become friends and Lenny has been helping him with school work.  Lenny is the girl that Kelly can open up to about his life.  What he feels with her and for her is unlike anything he has ever felt before.  But he isn’t the only one who feels that way.  When Lenny is with him she gets those butterflies in her stomach, we all know the ones.  But she has a boyfriend of her own and while she may not be happy with him there are reasons for her staying with him.  When she experiences betrayal in the worst form she goes to Kelley for comfort.   The feelings that they have for each other is intense and in that moment when she needs him those feelings begin to explode and he is there for her in a way that he has only dreamed of.  But unfortunate circumstances pull these two apart leaving them both with broken hearts.

It is four years later and they are both in college when they see each other again.  Kelley has not stopped thinking about her.  But things are different now.  Lenny is not the same person she was four years ago.  There is a lot of bitterness and anger that they both carry.  I think that they both still love each other but due to certain circumstances they are both afraid of making that first step towards more.  Plus there is so much that they need to discuss. 

As time goes on you see exactly why Lenny has changed and it was a shocker!!  The author writes this part in a way that you are not quite sure of her entire story or what is going on with her.  She manages to keep her home life a secret from everyone, including her best friend.  But as the reader you are also kept in the dark.  And when it all comes out, wow!!  I was shocked.   And then you wonder will these two really get their second chance?  Can they find their happily ever after that they should have had years ago?

I really enjoyed this book but there were some issues that I had with it as well.  For one the beginning of this book was very hard for me.  I don’t want to say why but I felt that it was a bit too much.  Even when Kelley was 16 and knowing how he became the type of person that he was just didn’t sit well with me.  I felt like that part of the book was not necessary in a way.  I would have loved to see the beginning be when him and Lenny met and maybe glance back to his past, which also brings me to the other issue.  I wanted more of them in the present.  I wanted to see more emotion between them.  I felt like it wrapped up too quickly.  Perhaps if we had less of the past and more of the present it would have worked better for me.

With all of that being said I truly did enjoy this book.  While Kelley was a hard character to like in the beginning I did love him.  He truly was a broken boy and you can see why.  You can see all that he went through to understand why he was this way.  And Lenny really was his salvation, but at the same time I think in a way he was hers.  I think she was everything that he needed to feel complete in a way.  I loved Lenny and my heart just broke for her for many reasons.  Between her parents, her best friend in high school to the situation she found herself in, while in college.   I wanted to hug her and tell her is will all be ok.  Overall this was a wonderful read. And I am hoping that the supporting characters will be getting there own story as well, especially Brie and Chance. I need to know wht happened between them.  Oh and let’s not forget the mystery that is Sawyer and Ashton.