Worth the Risk (St. James #3)

WORTH THE RISK was quite an emotional read. Well written with believable characters, Jamie Beck presents readers with a book which will keep their attention from beginning to end. This author has the uncanny ability to put her finger on the pulse of timely, sensitive issues which many people deal with in their daily lives. She treats these issues with compassion, understanding and realism. Jackson and Gabby are characters who do not shy away from dealing with the ups and downs of the issues in their lives; alcohol abuse, single parenting and being the child of a drug abuser. The hard work of each character, as well as their strength, are keys to how Jackson and Gabby seek to accept and move forward with their lives. Leaning on each other to make themselves better and happier, Gabby and Jackson captured my heart and I rooted for them harder than any two characters. They navigated their relationship on a road marked with numerous highs and lows. Ms Beck does not allow Jackson\’s or Gabby\’s journey to be neat and clean. She allows readers to see the ugliness, the hardships and the tough, tough decisions each need to make. Each book in Ms Beck\’s St. James Series is a five star read, but WORTH THE RISK is my favorite. I highly recommend this book as well as the other two books in the St. James series.

SPECIAL NOTE: The first chapter of my Kindle version is annoying – segments of the story line are repeated several times – probably a result of converting it to the mobi format. Don’t let that keep you from enjoying this 3rd book of the St. James series. Book Two ended with Jackson’s older brother David, his sister Cat, attacking him about his recent excessive drinking and short temper. A recent altercation with an employee of his contracting business leading to injury of Cat’s boyfriend was the final straw. Determined to prove to his family that he is not an alcoholic, Jackson agrees to see a counselor – but on his own terms. He picks a therapist in the remote tourist town of Windall, VT for his counseling and rents a garage apartment for six weeks as his base. The apartment comes with the owner, Jon, his attractive 23 year old daughter Gabby, and her 3 year old son Luc next door. Luc’s biological father, Noah – a local cop – abandoned Gabby as soon as he knew she was pregnant, so Gabby and her father are raising Luc alone. Other than his three weekly therapy sessions with his counselor, Jackson is stressed out with nothing to do without his contracting company. He volunteers to help with repairs to their house and with Jon and Gabby’s vacation rental home maintenance contracts in the vicinity. Gabby and Jackson both try to resist their attraction. Gabby’s sense of abandonment by both her addicted mother and manipulative boyfriend Noah fuel her resistance to her attraction to Jackson. After all, Jackson is only there for a few weeks. Jackson also resists his awakening feelings – and Gabby’s – for the same reason – he doesn’t want to hurt her and Luc when he leaves. Then’ as they struggle with their attraction, Noah decides he wants to reconcile with Gabby. This book seems like a fitting end to the St. James family story.4*

I stumbled upon the St. James family in February and the moment that I finished the second book, I went searching for the third and then marked the release date for it on my wall calendar – Worth The Risk was a “must read”. Having the kind of anticipation that I did for this book, I was nervous to read the ARC copy that I requested and let it linger on my Kindle for a week before I opened it because I was afraid it wouldn\’t meet my expectations. After reading all of her other books and knowing the incredible writing talent that she has, I should have known to never doubt Jamie Beck. This book is not only my favorite book of this series, it is my favorite book of 2016. It was exactly what I had wanted for Jackson St. James. Jackson is the epitome of a beautiful but damaged soul, and I agonized along with him on every step of his journey back to physical and emotional stability. The way that his addiction and his emotional damage was handled was spot on, and I so enjoyed seeing him allowing himself to be vulnerable with Gabby and Luc, and watching him grow and learn about himself. Even though I was sure that he\’d get it together, there were times when I wondered if he would ever truly find the level of self-awareness that he needed to truly move forward, and Ms. Beck did a beautiful job of writing his growth. Gabby was a wonderful character. I was so impressed with her strength and the way that she loved and cared for her son and her father, and even her mother, and that she still managed to have such a positive outlook on life. She was exactly the person I would have wanted Jackson to end up with – someone as perfectly imperfect as he was. The resolutions to the conflicts surrounding Gabby were perfect. I don\’t want to get too specific and spoil anything, but the thing I enjoy about this series – and this book in particular – is that while there is a happy ending, nothing is ever white-washed to be “ridiculously book perfect”. I didn\’t want this book to end. Even though it was a very substantial book and everything was fleshed out perfectly, when I reached the end I wanted more – even now, hours after finishing the book, I can\’t stop thinking about Jackson, Gabby, and Luc. I will very much miss St. James family and their messy version of love. This book is one that I will definitely re-read. If you enjoy books that make you both think and feel, this book (and the entire series) is a must read.

… hence 3 not 5*. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Book 1 ______ Worth the Wait ________________ David and Vivi Book 2 ______ Worth the Trouble _____________ Cat and Hank Book 3 ______ Worth the Risk ________________ Jackson and Gabby ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Anyway, the story has Jackson at his lowest. This was partly explained in Book 2. His family do an intervention. He goes to Vermont to get dry and to sort out his problems. There he meets the strongest person he has ever meet. A single mum running her own business. There are many complications including the father of her son being a local policeman. He sees Jackson as competition but Gabby sees things very differently. There is a lot of sole searching and Jackson and Cat find out the deep dark secret that David and his Dad have been hiding. It was a shocker which ends up having the opposite effect. Jackson turns his life inside out and finds some home truths. It ends on a Christening with the family together but you don\’t know what happens 10 years down the line. Jackson\’s story is the final in the St James\’s family saga, however, the story has a really disappointing ending. It happens all the time. I don\’t know why authors do this. Very few bother to end stories with a decent ending that told you what happened to all the characters and how they are say 10 or 20 years down the line. This is one of those stories that leave you hanging. You don\’t know if the characters even have a life together. The disappointment is reading all 3 books and ending with more questions then answers. It is annoying when that happens. You don\’t get to see Cat and Hank\’s wedding or see what happens to the characters in Book 3. It is a let down.

This is the third novel in the series, about the three siblings David, Jackson and Cat. This story centres on Jackson and brings all the strands of plot to a full conclusion. The plot centres on Jackson\’s unresolved anger with various members of his family and his problems with alcohol. It did not have the light and dark of the previous book which was my favourite of the three books. He got on my nerves a bit. But it is good light (if you don\’t have similar family issues) story.

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