<I>How to Walk Away</I> was the type of book to stick with me when I put it down. As if I was counting the minutes until I could pick it back up again. However, it was not my favorite book that I have read so far this year. I know - total contradictory statements.

I fully enjoyed the writing style and ease of the book's flow. I felt connected with the characters enough to want to know what happened next. The disconnect I felt was with the actual storylines. It read more like how a RomCom plays out on screen. Situations were slightly unbelievable, lending a different quality to the book than I think it deserved. I really wanted to like it but when the scenes came in to play that had me pause and think "This really wouldn't or couldn't happen this way", it started to lose a little bit of luster each time.

Many reviews compared it to <I>Me Before You</I>. I can see where the connection may have made, but I would put this still in a different category. Lovely, quick read - great for the beach. Just try not to take some scenes as literally as I apparently did.

This was a good read. I was hooked from the very first page. I won’t give any more info so that I don’t spoil it for future readers.

This is my favorite read of 2018 so far! I loved this book from start to finish and have recommended it to everyone! Such a great summer read!

Maggie is in a small plane crash, driven by her fiancé Chip. Chip walks away unharmed, while Maggie is facing scars and the possibility of not walking again. How Maggie deals with her situation, the ups and downs, reuniting with her estranged sister, Kit, and a hostile PT named Ian, sows the strength of the human spirit. I loved Maggie, her sarcasm, her approach to life, and highly recommend this book. Thank you to Netgalley for the preview.

Man, this book is pure perfection. How to Walk Away by Katherine Center is a memoir-esque novel about losing it all, and learning to be happy with the changes that may come from a life you never expected. When I first saw the cover of this book and looked at the synopsis, I assumed it was going to be a cliche book about a girl losing a boy and getting him back, and although it's a little bit about this, the story is so so so much more. If you pick up one book this summer, make sure it's this one. It's so beautiful and so powerful.

Margaret thinks she knows what's going to happen when her boyfriend Chip invites her out on a date for Valentine's Day. She knows he's going to propose. So she gets dressed up in her best dress and they head off on their date. One thing about Margaret is that she is terrified to fly, and since Chip is becoming a pilot, she has to come to terms with the fact that he's going to be up in the air most of the time. This doesn't mean she's going to, until Chip brings her to the airport and asks her to board a small plane with him. She doesn't want to, but she does anyway, because she thinks maybe just maybe this is the night he's definitely going to propose.

Chip does propose, but shortly after the celebration of their new engagement, Chip loses control of the plane and the two are spinning out of control. Chip leaves the crash without a bandaid and Margaret, well Margaret has burns on her face, and neck, and she's also paralyzed from the knee down.

Next comes the hard part, Margaret deals with the depression that comes from losing the life that you thought you had, and the even harder part of trying to regain some feeling back into her feet and lower legs. With the help of her PT, sister, and her sometimes obnoxious mother, Margaret may get there, but not in the way she thought.

Without spoiling the book, I just want to say I love the fact that Margaret doesn't find happiness in what she expects to find happiness in. She discovers new ways to be happy with her life, and to live her life with a purpose. Although, there are definitely times that she wanted to give up, there was something that pushed her forward, watching her fall in love, heal, and become whole again was quite beautiful and melancholy all in one.

I'm mad at myself that it took me so long to read this book, because I was truly expecting to read a story that I've read a million times and I wasn't looking forward to being disappointed. Truthfully, though, I found a new favorite in this story and I wish I knew Margaret and her crew in real life, because I need to keep up with her forever now. I received this book from Netgalley, and I give it 5 out of 5 stars, it's the perfect mix of romance, determination and wit.

Every now and then, you come across a novel that is so wonderful and addictive that you can't help but to scream about it from the rooftops. How to Walk Away was that book for me. I'm pretty picky about my books and who I recommend them to, but I can honestly say if you can't find at least a few parts of this book that make your heart melt, then I'm not sure we can be friends. Seriously though... this book is amazing. THE END.

Ok, not really the end... I'm going to tell you why I liked it. It definitely had some qualities that were easy to predict, but that doesn't typically bother me too much. The characters were intriguing and complex and I loved that the story focused so heavily on Margaret's family as well as her own personal story. It was fun to get to know her parents and see their relationship as well. As evidenced in the synopsis (no spoilers here!) Margaret had to face a lot of hard times and she had to come to terms with who she was as person. The way she handled those heartbreaking circumstances was truly inspiring.

All in all, How to Walk Away is hands down one of my favorite reads of the year and it is filled to the brim with charm, wit, and enough romance to sweep you off your feet. I would highly recommend this novel as the perfect beach weekend read. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Booksparks for sending this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Rating 4/5

This book stayed with me for a long time after reading it. I loved how Katherine wrote about Margaret's relationships with her family (especially her mom) and her sister. I would highly recommend this book to readers of women's fiction even though I do believe she will have some men enjoying it also.

3.5 stars, rounded upward.

Maggie swallows her misgivings and agrees to let her boyfriend, Chip, give her a ride in a small plane. He’s taken lessons, but doesn’t have a license yet. Naturally, he crashes. And naturally, he walks away without a scratch, but Maggie is paralyzed and burnt to a crackling crisp.

My thanks go to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for the DRC. This title is now for sale. I missed the release date and am sorry about that; I struggled with how to rate this title and how to review it. More on that in a minute.

Most of the story is set at a hospital, where Maggie is treated for burns and receives physical therapy to help her learn to move again. It’s painful and it’s horrible, and on top of that, nobody will let her have a mirror. Once she has one, she wishes she hadn’t looked.

“I would forever be a person that other people tried not to stare at in the grocery store. I would forever be someone who made other people uncomfortable.”

Maggie develops a crush on her physical therapist, a handsome, abrupt, unfriendly Scotsman whose poor bedside manner is surpassed only by his outstanding skill at helping Maggie learn to maneuver her body. At the same time, Chip—who for no reason I can understand, has not been arrested or cited for flying unlicensed or for stealing an airplane—goes all to pieces, turning his few hospital visits into a pity party for himself.

The story is quixotic in its combination of romance, medical information that is sometimes more detailed and gruesome than I want to read, and a beginning that is more an adventure or disaster tale than romance. 14% of the way in I flipped back to the cover, the tiny, almost unnoticeable plane flanked by giant floral bouquets, and I didn’t get how this story went with that jacket. I think the beginning scene with the plane, the toxic boyfriend turned fiancée, and the crash should have been edited down and presented as a prologue.

When Maggie is astonished to see a “lady firefighter”, I roll my eyes and check the copyright to make certain this isn’t a re-release of a title from the 1960s.

I originally designated this galley as my lunch and midnight snack companion, but soon it became obvious that there were too many detailed descriptions of bodily functions, particularly related to the bowel and the bladder, that I didn’t want to dine with.

The parts I like best here have to do with Maggie’s sister Kitty, who left suddenly many years ago and has been estranged due to a mysterious conflict with her mother. Kitty’s character is developed wonderfully and injects light and humor into the narrative.

The other characters at times seemed overdrawn. Chip is too obnoxious; I already hated him when he patted Maggie’s fanny and told her to get onto the plane. As ugliness is added to more ugliness, I find myself rolling my eyes and saying, yes, he’s a dick, I get it already. Maggie’s mother (is there a novelist out there that is comfortable with a protagonist and her mother having a solid relationship?) is too shallow, too obviously obsessed with surface beauty, and although there is some small redemption for her in the end, I want to see more than one attribute given this character, and I want it sooner.

And there’s the wealth, the privilege, and the wealth wealth wealth. When Maggie’s father brings a printer to her hospital room so he can crank out articles for her to read; when her mother hauls in curtains and lamps and redecorates the hospital room; a thousand times I find myself highlighting passages and arching my eyebrows. The hell?

The romance itself, however, is a winner. As I watch the electricity pop between Maggie and Ian, I can’t help smiling. The romance is what most readers are here for, and I find it heartwarming and satisfying. It’s a quick read, and although I had no trouble putting it down, I also had no trouble picking it back up again, which is not always true of the galleys I review.

Recommended to Center’s faithful readers, and to those that like a light romance.

Providing hope in a dire situation. Loved the premise, loved the book. Really liked that the ending was not
"story book perfect" but very realistic. Gread read

Simply amazing. This refreshing book is both a coming into awareness as well as a coming back to life story. It is about discovering what is most important to you, what in life is worth fighting for.
The characters and the story are so relatable I have to believe they are based on true events.

This book is wonderful and needs to be shared with book clubs and friends.

This was my first of Katherine Center’s books and I was totally blown away. How to Walk Away starts with Margaret’s fiancé taking her up in a private plane to propose to her and the flight ends in disaster, leaving Margaret paralyzed and Chip walks away without a scratch. What follows is an inspiring story of resilience and learning to “walk away” in more ways than one and grow stronger. This story reminded me of Me Before You (which is the highest honor) and I am looking forward to reading more from Center!

This is the first book that I have read by this author and it definitely won’t be the last. Ms. Center has written a wonderful novel that touched my heart. She reaches down into your soul and elicits feelings you didn’t even know you had. I laughed, I cried. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time.

I highly recommend this book. If you only read one book this year, How to Walk Away should be that book.

“The greater our capacity for sorrow becomes, the greater our capacity for joy.”
Margaret Jacobson had it all figured out.
Swoony Boyfriend ☑ New job of her dreams she just landed☑ and said boyfriend just proposed ☑ When all of a sudden life comes to a halt. In a split second everything is changed. Fast forward—she wakes up in a hospital, forced to face her new reality. She is confronted with unimaginable obstacles while trying to deal with the loss of her dreams and coping with the aftermath of her injuries.
Her life is upside down. Her dysfunctional family takes over her hospital room. Her fiancée is a mess. And on top of it all, her physical therapist Ian—sex on a stick with a Scottish accent, is a grumpy A-hole with zero bedside manners.
How to Walk Away is a powerful read of finding the true meaning of life when you thought you lost it all, of strength and hope. It’s inspiring, filled with heartbreaking moments as we follow Margaret, but there are also these incredibly funny and sweet moments balancing this fantastic journey.
“It’s the trying that heals you. That’s all you have to do. Just try.”
It’s a multilayered story of family secrets, strained relationships, and finding yourself in the face of losing it all. I cried, I swooned, I laughed while wiping tears off my face.
“Needing to find reasons to live had forced me to build a life worth living.”
Do not miss Katherine Center’s latest release!!!

Yes, this book may have some parts that might seem a bit unlikely or even impossible to be real, but I found it a delightful and pleasant distraction. In Margaret, we find a smart, beautiful, but pliant woman character. She is willing to put up with somewhat less than in her man, but is ready to begin her dream life and seems well on the way. That dream comes literally crashing to an end when her brand new fiancee finds that his flying experience isn't quite as skillful as he thinks.
Most of the book deals with Margaret's time in the hospital recovering, and her relationships as well as those within her family. One of the most interesting relationships is that between Margaret and her sullen yet intriguing Scottish physical therapist. Her family's relationships are also put to the test during her recovery. The book follows a tried and true story line in a way that worked well for me. I enjoyed the read from start to finish and reveled in the ending as karma once again comes out the winner.
The characters were well fleshed out and in most cases appealing, which is one of the reasons I found the book so readable. In reference to the title, the whole premise of Margaret's recovery was to be able to walk away. She ends up doing so, not with her feet, rather with her heart which leads her straight into her best life.
I definitely recommended this book. It is an interesting love story that deals with so much more than a simple boy-girl connection. If you enjoy rooting for the underdog, this might be the book for you. In the end you will walk away happy just like the characters.
My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

This story was a very quick read that was heart-breaking one moment and laugh out loud funny the next. Margaret Jacobsen has worked hard all of her life and was the perfect daughter. She has recently graduated, has landed an amazing job and is dating the love of her life, with the hope that he is going to engage that night, on Valentine's Day. Everything is turning out according to plan and she is sure that things are about to get even better. Unfortunately for Margaret, you never what is going to happen next, and her life is about to change forever. On what she believes to be the greatest day of her life, she makes a decision that quickly turns it into the worst day of her life. What would you do it your life was so changed that nothing was ever going to be the same?

“How to Walk Away” was an amazing story that touched my emotions like few books do. There were so many great characters in the story, both great ones and ones that I am glad I never met in real life because I am not sure what I might have said or done. Margaret is such a great character. She behaved exactly as I thought anyone would in her situation. Her habit of filling quiet periods of time spent with others with strange but hilarious comments was just one of the things I loved about her. It was also where much of the humor came in. Her sister Kitty was also a wonderful character that was able to pull Margaret out of her funk several times and make Margaret and the reader laugh with her.

Katherine Center writes with honesty and includes all of the tough, rotten and emotional parts. I do not understand how she could have written this story so realistically and not gone through it herself. It contained strained relationships and family secrets, problems in the workplace and jealousy. From Margaret's point of view, it was a story about strength, determination, love and more. The plot held my interest from start to finish and the characters captured my heart. There are so many great quotes in this book, but I will leave you with this one: “When you don’t know what to do for yourself, do something for somebody else”

This is the first book I have read from this author, but you can bet it will not be my last. I recommend this book to anyone who loves to read about real life.

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review an E-ARC of this novel!*

A few summers ago I read and fell in love with Center's previous novel, "Happiness for Beginners." Since then I have found myself periodically checking to see whether or not anything new was coming out. When I got wind that "How to Walk Away" was being released and I could put my hat in the ring for an E-ARC via NetGalley I, obviously, jumped at the chance!

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
For the first third of the novel many of the characters felt very flat to me. I hard a hard time connecting to the story because of that, but I'm happy to report that the remaining two-thirds more than makes up for all of that. As the story progresses it also becomes clear that the reason everyone felt flat is because their lives up to that point had shaped them to be that way. For example, Margaret is essentially someone who is just checking off boxes for all of the things that she thinks she should be doing, but she doesn't realize this for herself until much later on in the novel. When she has that realization, that is the moment the novel begins to get interesting.

WHAT I LIKED:
I like that there is humor and hope interwoven throughout the entirety of the novel. It's the kind of tale that makes you examine your own life and all that you take for granted. It's most definitely a book deserving a spot on my limited shelf space.

WHO WOULD ENJOY THIS NOVEL?
Fans of Me Before You by Jojo Moyes and romantic comedy fans would likely enjoy this novel the most, but I'd also say that anyone looking to insert more hope and an overall feeling of positivity into their lives would also find value among these pages.

Margaret hated flying and her boyfriend Chip knew that but he was one flight away from getting his pilot’s licence and he desperately wanted to show her something from the air. She thought he might propose up there...and he did. But on landing they were caught in a terrible crosswind and Margaret’s fears came true. The plane crashed and while Chip walked away with barely a scratch, Margaret’s life was changed forever.
Margaret’s journey was tough and there were family dynamic issues with her sister Kitty reappearing in their lives on hearing of Margaret’s accident. It was all easy to read but sometimes it just felt too light for the severity of Margaret’s injuries, I was after something a bit more hard hitting.
<spoiler> I must admit that I did get quite angry when everyone in the family was invited to Chip’s wedding overseas (even Kitty) but not Margaret and her mother just brushed it off ‘as an oversight’.....just rude from Chip’s parents (mothers) end without an explanation I think!</spoiler>
I was looking for an emotional read and all the great reviews were promising but I was in the minority here. I liked the book but didn’t love it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for an ARC to read.

Every now and then, I pick up a book that makes me laugh and cry in equal parts, and I finish it feeling like I could read it over and over again for the rest of my life without getting tired of it.

This is a book like that.

Margaret is 28, for her MBA, has been unofficially offered a fantastic job, and is about to get engaged to her dreamy boyfriend. A day short of earning his pilot’s license, he takes her on a romantic flight and pops the question. Instead of landing the plane, the weather plays a role in helping him crash it. Thus begins the most difficult year in Margaret’s life.

She wakes in the hospital to find that she has burns on her face and body, some that requires skin grafts, and she is paralyzed below the knees. Her relationship disintegrates, the job is pulled away before she could even get it, and her daily concerns become using the bathroom on her own. Her entire life has changed.

This book chronicles her journey in the hospital mostly, focusing on her healing primarily and her relationships with family and friends alongside. The end of the book rounds out her year and gives readers a glimpse into the future.

It’s hard to say exactly what I love so much about this book. The quirky characters kept me invested in all parts of their lives, so even when the focus wasn’t on Margaret, I still kept turning pages. Her moments of triumph made me fist pump, and I got goosebumps and tested up when things were extremely challenging. I felt as emotionally invested in this book as it’s possible to feel about fictional characters.

I definitely recommend this book. It is one of my favorites I’ve read so far this year.

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center

Brief Summary: Margaret has it all; she secured an impressive and cushy job and just became engaged to the love of her life. In the blink of an eye, this is taken away. This is a story of resilience after tragedy. It begs the question: how do you move on when your life will never be the same. Full disclosure: I am a rehabilitation psychologist and have a spinal cord injury (SCI) myself. I am very grateful that Center chose to write about SCI and that her protagonist Margaret was both realistic and resilient, who shows that life after SCI is still worth living.

Highlights: This inspiring novel offers practical solutions for coping with multiple losses and making the best of a bad situation, which I think will resonate with readers who have dealt with adversity. Margaret is a very realistic and likeable protagonist who I found myself rooting for. I am grateful where the author kept her recovery and prognosis; which allows Margaret’s resilience to shine and inspire. Many of the things Margaret experienced after her SCI are very realistic and well portrayed by the author. I appreciated that she didn’t shy away from even the most intimate and painful topics. I also liked the love story. This was an easy to read page turner. When I wasn’t glued to my Kindle, I was thinking about Margaret and I’m pretty sure I’d remember her even if I wasn’t intimately familiar with her journey.

Explanation of Rating: 4/5: I really enjoyed this book. My only disappointment is the lack of psychology representation in a novel where the characters emotions ran high.

Psychology Factors: Margaret is told by a social worker that “depression is pretty common for situations like yours.” This is not accurate; as only 30% of people with SCI experience depression. I also wish that a rehabilitation psychologist would have been a character in her book, especially since she had several other disciplines represented and Margaret’s emotional mind set and resilience are a huge part of this storyline. Margaret, her mother, and readers would have all benefitted from the wisdom that a rehabilitation psychologist could have offered.

Favorite Quotes: “If you want to help yourself; do something for someone else.” This timeless wisdom can help anyone who is struggling.

This is a great read for book clubs, medical professionals, mental health professionals, and anyone who’s ever wished that JoJo Moyes Me Before You ended differently.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center is the story of one woman’s journey from one life to another. Margaret’s life had been plagued with the fear to fly. Her boyfriend, Chip, had earned his pilot license and to celebrate, much to Margaret’s dismay, he decides to take her for a flight. During the flight, Chip proposes, she accepts, then tragedy happens. The plane crashes and Margaret is left horrible injured. As Margaret spends months in the hospital recovery, her estranged sister, Kitty, reenters her life to support her. During her stay, Margaret learns of deep secrets which were kept from her and threatens to tear apart her family. Meanwhile, she is assigned to a surly physical therapist, named Ian, who’s sour demeanor hides a a deep hurt. Will Margaret fully recover? How will she accept the information she learns about her family’s past? And how will she look to the future?
I enjoyed How to Walk Away a lot more than I thought I would. I requested to read this book based on the brief description which I can say didn’t do the story justice. It was so much more than the description gives it credit. It was deeply emotional, dramatic, inspirational and proof that sometimes life has to give you a tragedy to open your eyes to its beauty and a life so much more than you had planned. I highly recommend How to Walk Away.

How to Walk Away
is available in hardcover and eBook