Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia

What a difference a smile and giving a damn about someone down on their luck can make.

How many of us have passed a homeless person on the street and not given them a second glance?  After this story I don’t think I ever will again.

“He kept his head down in what seemed to be a prayer. “He counts. You’ve smiled at him four hundred and forty-six times as of a few minutes ago. He announces the number every time I see him.”

Blake is such a sweet and beautiful character and I was cheering him on from beginning to end. He stole my heart and my heart ached for him.

I loved all the main players in this book and the secondary characters are so wonderful that they actually add so much depth to the story.

“You make the rest of the beautiful things in the world cry for even trying at all. You make it hard for me to breathe.” 

Blake and his brothers Cole and Beckett are not biologically related but they are closer than most blood brothers.  Their relationships are so wonderfully woven and so unique, you can actually feel the close bond they share and the dynamics between the brothers makes for some interesting and heart-warming reading.

You will giggle like crazy over the conversations between the two sisters when they are home on their own.  They were hilarious.

Beckett stood out for me as one of the main players in this book. A bad boy who is so deliciously naughty, has a mouth like a sewer, yet a heart of gold when it counts.

“Beckett’s probably the hardest man there is to love,” Blake said. “He does life wrong for all the right reasons.” 

I just loved Beckett . He was a lot of fun to read and I found myself looking forward to seeing Beckett throughout the book.

But it is Livia and Blake who will steal your heart.  Theirs is a love story that you will cheer from the beginning.  You want these two to succeed.  You want the best for them. You will love them. You will cherish them.

“Don’t tie your success to anything other than what’s inside you” 

They will definitely capture your heart.