A Risk Worth Taking Review

When 22-year-old Summer Stafford’s parents split halfway through her senior year at college, Summer’s world is rocked. Everything she thought she knew—heck, everything she thought she wanted for her own life—feels like a lie. The truth is love is a risk. And the true kind, the kind that lasts, might even be a fairy tale. 

Reeling from the divorce, Summer derails her own future by breaking up with her parent-approved boyfriend and giving up her lifelong plans for a big-city career. She moves back home, business degree in hand. Dad needs her to fill the gaps her mother left behind; Summer needs to find who she is outside of the cookie-cutter life that failed so miserably for her parents.

Ford O’Neal’s future involves one person: himself. He doesn’t have a permanent address and he definitely doesn’t commit. To a place or a person. Raised by hippies, he plans just far enough ahead to secure his next stop, this one landing him at a work-study program at Heritage Plantation where he can grow his own herbal and medicinal creations. 

Summer is gorgeous and smart and fun to be with, the perfect way to pass five months. It won’t be love—Ford’s got too many things to accomplish, too many places to go, before he settles down. Yet Summer pulls him in, challenging him to rethink his own philosophy. 

When Ford’s five months are up, each of them must decide if love is really worth the risk.

I’ve been on a reading binge lately. Consuming book after book and though I loved every single one of them, there was just something about A Risk Worth Taking by Heather Hildenbrand, that struck a chord with me. I already feel the loss of these character’s and their story. Epic BOOK HANGOVER and I’m slightly a little lost. I honestly don’t know what to do or what book to pick up next, because in all honesty I want to reread this book, over and over again until I can recite it word for word.

“If all you had was this moment, would you still live it?” –Ford

Summer is coming home from graduating college to help take care of the farm her parents built. Divorce is hard to deal with, but I think ‘parents’ sometimes forget the impact it has on their child. Summer is angry. She’s hurt. She feels like everything she knew is a lie. When you see the world in numbers, black and white, it’s hard to get passed something like this. This completely changes her view on love, which causes her to end things with her boyfriend from college. Deciding she needs to figure out who she is and what she wants, she embarks on a new direction. First night back home a new person arrives for diner and she can’t stop the way he’s making her feel, even if she doesn’t know him.

Ford has a dream and nothing will come in the way of that dream. That is until he meets Summer and then he starts to question everything. Feel things he’s not used to feeling, but can he just do a summer fling? Ford is smart and sexy as hell. I can’t express enough how Heather Hildenbrand crafted this fineness in Ford. He’s perfect because of his flaws. He challenges Summer intellectually, and let’s be honest girls, though we might be attracted to a man’s physique, there is nothing hotter than a man’s brain. He’s not looking to settle down, he wants the freedom to accomplish his dream, but sometimes love has a way of changing things for you.

“I think the only thing that makes it true love IS the risk.”
-Cathy

I love Heather Hildenbrand, I’m never disappointed in her books and I have to say this is my favorite of hers. I couldn’t put the book down the moment I started reading it. I was sucked in from the first page, laughed, swooned, and cried. The perfect book for me. I felt the emotions as if they were my own. It’s not even just the main MCs, its all of the characters in this book. I love Casey. He reminds me of the relationship I have with my friend Cody. We didn’t grow up like Casey and Summer did, but we share the same bond. Summer’s dad Dean and her Uncle Frank (Dean’s bff and Casey’s uncle), love them. They seriously are a riot and I wish this place was real with these characters because I would be totally buying a ticket to come hang out. What I love most about this book is the development. It wasn’t instant love. I loved watching the characters fall in love.

“I had found my new dream. And I was living it.” –Ford

Here’s the thing though… Ford was only going to be around for the summer, once his internship is up he’s moving on. Living his dream the way his dad was never able to. So was it worth the risk? Did Summer let herself take the chance even though she knew the time was limited? Did Ford walk away when his time was up? What happens when you have no intention of falling in love with someone but do so anyways? What happens then? Can you just turn your back on it and hope the feeling goes away? To find out what happens with Summer and Ford, you need to pick up this book now, go ahead and do so right now, and then block out a few hours of your time to read it. Then marinate in the story afterwards, because we can all take a little something from this story.  We can all use a little risk in our lives and see if it’s worth it.

<3 Dani

I adore Heather Hildenbrand. She was one if the first authors I followed on twitter, because I loved her Dirty Blood books. And so far I've loved any book she has written. Heather has a way of writing a book that pulls you and and holds on to you. A Risk Worth Taking is no different. What's different is the emotion and overall love in this book!! 

Summer Stanford  is moving home to help her dad with the business finances. It wasn't what she was expecting. She plans everything. She broke it off with her boyfriend because she wasn't feeling it. And her parents got divorced and she didn't want to be them. Makes sense right? Well then she meets her dad's new intern..... Ford O'Neil. He's there to work and in turn he gets to work on creating natural remedies with plants.  

Ford teaches Summer to live in the moment. We all need a dose of that.Summer doesn't want to fall in love or have anything defined. She's afraid of becoming her parents. Ford I there to help her see that won't happen.  

Ford is not a planner, he likes to go were life takes him and doesn't want to settle before he's experienced all of life. Can they teach each other to love in the moment and plan a future? Will Ford choose to stay when his internship is up? Is love a risk they are both willing to take?
You should read and find out! This book is amazing and left me warm in some cold weather :) 

-Christina

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Heather Hildenbrand was born and raised in a small town in northern Virginia where she was homeschooled through high school. She now lives in coastal VA, a few miles from the Atlantic Ocean, with her two adorable children. She works from home, part time, as a property manager and when she's not furiously pounding at the keyboard, or staring off into space whilst plotting a new story, she's lying on the beach, soaking in those delicious, pre-cancerous rays.

Heather loves Mexican food, hates socks with sandals, and if her house was on fire, the one thing she'd grab is her DVR player.

Heather is a co-founder of Accendo Press, a publishing group she operates with fellow authors: Angeline Kace and Jennifer Sommersby. Accendo (a-CH-endo), A Latin word, means “to kindle, illuminate, inflame, or set fire.” This is something Accendo strives to do inside a reader’s imagination with every title released. For a complete list of titles and author bios, visit www.accendopress.com.

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I absolutely love music, so does Christina, but I have this thing where I like picking out songs for a book I read. So I thought I might share with you! Let me know what you think if you like!