Second chances are hard enough when you deserve them. Then there are the ones you don’t.

Callie asked if I was ready. And that’s the question, isn’t it? Ready for what? The spotlight? The music? Or ready for life. Ready to face the reality that what I was is going to attack the very fabric of who I am now. No one knows I’m a different person. Well, no one except the two most important people in my life, which is why there’s a remote chance I might actually pull off the comeback I never saw coming.

Then again, that was before Holland Drake crashed into my life. I didn’t ask for her. Heaven knows she didn’t ask for me. But sometimes it’s not about what makes sense; it’s about accepting that not everything will. It’s learning you have a choice when it feels like you don’t. It’s believing even the worst past can still have a future.

And sometimes it’s none of that. Sometimes it’s survival. A blind fight through the pain as you cling to any shred of hope you can find. And it’s those moments, those desperate pleas into the darkness for a flicker of light, when you have no choice but to confront the blessing that often feels like a curse:

You’re still alive. You’re still significant.

You’re once again Luke Craven, frontman for Night Shifts Black.

TRACING HOLLAND is a book 2 so please read after the 5 star read NIGHT SHIFTS BLACK. Also please do NOT read this review until you have devoured Night Shifts Black. Yes, devour is the right word because from the moment you open the book, Ms. Santos pulls you into Luke’s world.

Night Shift Black becomes Callie’s happy and Tracing Holland completed Luke’s journey with a happy that suits him perfectly.

Tracing Holland pulled me right back into Luke’s life. You see this rock star working to regain his footing and I was captivated by Luke’s desire to make his life right, his desire to work and push to heal and move forward! Ms. Santos’ continues her realistic look at depression as Luke rebuilds and in may scenes re-created himself.
From the moment Holland Drake enters it is perfectly clear she will be Luke’s forever. Baring witness to the two of them coming to terms with their connection kept me glued to my kindle, reading whenever I had a free moment (thank you iPhone Kindle app).

Tracing Holland elicited so many emotions from me, I was happy, I was sad, I was scared for Luke, I was frustrated all so very familiar to dealing with mental illness but even more than that for an author to elicit that many emotions from a reader is truly the sign of an amazing talent!

The author’s words in this book moved me on so many levels, again she blew me away with her song lyrics but also with the way so many in this book used lyrics to express the depths of their soul. She gave a unique voice to a number of artists in this book! Providing a window in the souls of these well crafted characters including secondary characters who I hope will get their own story told in a future book.

As with Night Shifts Black, Ms. Santos is true to the disease that is mental illness. Love does NOT make everything better, Luke is not fixed because he loves Holland or even because she accepts him. Luke works hard to make his world work, to live in his new reality and be a man HE is proud of.

Toward the very end of the book, Hannah puts so much about Holland and her compassion and her understanding of Luke into perspective, no I am not telling you who she is; read the book (no worries no love-triangle -it’s all good I promise).

Luke’s story will sit in my soul so thank you to Ms. Santos for the emotions that bleed through the pages.

 ♥ Read Book 1 ♥

Night Shifts Black

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