Review: The First One (The One, #2) by Tawdra Kandle

4 stars! ****

Author: Tawdra Kandle

Title: The First One (The One, #2)
 

Ali and Flynn were high school sweethearts. Eager to see the world and leave behind their small Georgia hometown, they’d planned for an exciting new life together after they finished school. But on graduation day, only one of them hit the road. Eight years down that road, an unexpected loss brings Flynn home again. He’s a big-shot photo journalist, and he’s made most of his plans reality. But he’s done it alone. Is it too late for his biggest dream to come true? Ali’s spent those years working hard, raising a daughter and helping her brother keep their family farm alive. Thinking about Flynn and what might have been is a pain she tries to avoid. . .even when it’s impossible to forget. Flynn’s return brings back feelings Ali thought were long dead and hopes she’d abandoned. Finding their way back to each other will change them forever, opening old wounds and stirring up memories. Can the first love be the one that lasts forever?

I adored the second book in the series. It was about second chances, trying again, forgiveness, hope and finding compromises in situations that seem hopeless and final.

Ali and Flynn were inseparable in highschool. For four years nothing could break them up and then they broke it themselves. Flynn wanted to leave Burton, travel and work as a photographer and Ali was supposed to go with him. But she changed her mind and wanted to stay at home and help her brother Sam with their farm. Flynn gave her an ultimatum. Him or the farm. She chose the farm. And Flynn disappereared the next day and didn't come back for nine years.

Nine years and one divorce later Ali is a mother to eight year old girl. A girl who never met her father because he wasn't around. Because he didn't even know about her.

Nine years later Flynn comes back to bury his father. He doesn't want to stay in Burton for long, but when Ali finally tells him that he's a father he decides to stay for a while.

There were some things that I didn't really get in the book. How come that Flynn didn't even get mad when he find out that he's got a daughter? Yeah, he was pissed but he got over it really quickly. He jumped right back in almost as if he never left.

And Ali just let him. Yes, she was a bit sceptical in the beginning but after a while she warmed up to him rather quickly too.

They never really talked about past. There were some talks, but they were short and never seemed to resolve anything.

If somehing like this happened to me I'd be furious. If I were Flynn I'd be so damn angry for missing out on my daughter's life. I'd never be understanding or even trying to take the blame (well, it was partly his fault, but still). And if I were Ali I'd make him grovel more, I'd make him prove himself that he's not going to leave again.

But overall it was a sweet story with a cute ending. Sometimes I thought it was bit rushed and that there was a lot of pretending that the past never happened but most of the times it felt natural and real life-ish.

I liked that it showed that you can have your happy ending. That a compromise is a solution and can result in something amazing. That a real love is worth waiting for.

Another thing: what is the obssession in USA about homeschooling? I really don't believe that parents could teach their children everything they'd learn in highschool and what about social interaction? Won't the child be lonely and shy or socialy awkward around other kids and adults later on? As a european I really don't get it.