Tamara Tilley

Loving by Karen Kingsbury
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have just finished, LOVING, the final installment in the Bailey Flanigan series. I am glad I stuck it out (even though I skipped UNLOCKED, and the Above the Line series) just to say I completed the series. But, like many other reviewers, my thoughts are not completely positive.

My two biggest problems with this series are, One- the constant back story that I had to constantly skim through to get to the new story. And Two – Bailey & Brandon was just a rehashing of Katie & Dayne. I also began to lose a connection to Bailey because I could not relate to her near perfect life. This girl would be every parents dream, and maybe Kelsey Kingsbury really is this perfect, humble, always make the right decision, never makes a bad choice person, but I feel her faultlessness made it difficult for me to relate, as it would with most girls her age. I also had a hard time believing the flawlessness of Brandon. Now granted, I didn’t read UNLOCKED where Brandon & Bailey were introduced–and by hints of his history was far from a stand-up guy–but to say a young adult of his age and his background would think kissing was too big a step to take in the early stages of their relationship seems a bit antiquated to me. And again, maybe Kyle Kopecky was just that perfect. But, I think Ms. Kingsbury could have easily written a more realistic picture if she wasn’t so close to the perfection of her own family. Now, I am not saying I would’ve enjoyed the book more if she ended up with Cody, and I do like that Ms. Kingsbury gave some closure to his story, I just didn’t like having to read about all the trappings, struggles, and dilemmas of a Hollywood lifestyle when I already read about them in Katy & Dayne’s struggle.

I know this sounds like a lot of bashing, and maybe since I live in the real world I am just a little bit more realistic, but I definitely felt these were major flaws in the series. But, Karen Kingsbury is a best-selling author with an incredible following. And at one time, I would’ve put her at the top of my list of favorite authors. I even got a chance to meet her at a convention I attended. I just feel her earlier stand alone novels like WHEN JOY CAME TO STAY, A THOUSAND TOMORROWS, and A MOMENT OF WEAKNESS, held my interest more because they had more realistic storylines.


View all my reviews