Whitewater Awakening by Rita Potter is the story of two people who deeply connect on a whitewater rafting trip. For them both the trip awakens much needed life changes.
Quinn has always loved adventure. She, her fiancé and their best friend built a business doing adventure tours. But when a terrible accident left her fiancé braindead she was left unable to put the pieces of her life back together again and tried to hide from the world.
When her friend arrives on her doorstop and offers her a lot of money to do a whitewater adventure down the Zambezi river she eventually relents. Now she needs to face her fears and deal with the consequences of running away from her former life.
Aspen throws herself so fully into relationships that she ends up adopting the other person’s hobbies and likes. She has done that for so long that she doesn’t know who she is anymore. When her girlfriend books an expensive whitewater adventure trip she goes along with it. She expects a romantic getaway in Africa. Instead she gets a life changing experience that helps her realise that just maybe it is worth discovering who she really is.
When Quinn and Aspen meet there is a sweet and gentle chemistry that starts out as friends first but the attraction becomes real and for the first time Aspen has someone in her corner who believes in her. Quinn realises that it is possible for her to love again.
But they both need to handle some real world problems before they can embark on an adventure that is even scarier than the rapids they faced – love.
Wring and Story
The title and the cover made be think this was a much more action based book than it is. There is very little action and no adventure.
It’s an interesting story because it delves into deeper topics than typical romances do. We have one character dealing with grief and struggling to let go of the life she thought she would have and another character who really has no idea who she is.
Rita Potter handled both of those topics with grace and neither storyline ever became overwhelming, which was surprising because I have been struggling with emotionally difficult books.
Pros
Potter’s strength lies in dialogue. The dialogue in this book is snappy, the character voices are distinct and I could tell who was talking even in longer conversations where I typically lose track.
Worth Noting
There are sad moments in this book so be prepared for the theme of loss and working through that.
The attraction starts when Aspen is still in a relationship. But nothing serious happens before her breakup.
The Conclusion
I enjoyed the book. It was a fairly easy read. Potter created an interesting story with cool moments and a great setting.
While there were big emotions in the book I never felt overwhelmed and I never needed to put it down.
This is a good addition to your library if you want a heart tugging story with memorable characters that you care for and the idea that even though something awful has happened you can find a way through.
Excerpt from Whitewater Awakening by Rita Potter
“You drove all this way to tell me about a new customer?”
“Sumpin’ like that.” Mick sat back in her chair. “I got a call from a young hotshot that made her millions in Sil-o-con Valley. Sold her startup company for more money than one person should ever have, then started another one.”
“She wants to buy the business?” Quinn guessed. Sentimental fool. It’d be just like Mick to come all this way to get her blessing, even though she’d signed over her share of the business four years ago.
“Nope. She wants to hire us.”
Quinn glanced at Mick out of the corner of her eye. “Us? Got a mouse in your pocket?”
“Not today.” Mick smiled, her teeth the only thing Quinn could see clearly. “Says she wants to ride the rapids with MickQ.”
“Doesn’t she know that MickQ is a thing of the past? Nothing left but a miscue now.” Mick ignored Quinn’s attempt at humor. “She and her friends want to pay top dollar. Actually, an insane amount.”
“Sounds good for business. I’m sure one of your employees will be happy to join you.”
“That’s the catch. It’s all or nothing. She wants both of us or neither.” Mick kicked at a piece of rotting wood near the end of the dock. “You could use the money to fix this place up. Or for anything else you might need money for.”
Quinn shivered. Anything else. She’d never be able to earn that much in her lifetime. She glanced down at the sun-bleached boards that had seen their better days. The dock wasn’t the only thing falling apart, but at least Mick couldn’t see it in this lighting. No telling how much longer Quinn could hold on to the place, but Mick didn’t need to know that. Although, she likely suspected. “I’m working on a couple deals that will hopefully pay off.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. She’d been working on a few schemes; they’d just all fallen through.
“You’ll never guess which rapids they wanna do.”
Quinn shook her head. Not the Ghostrider. “Don’t say it.”
“Ghostrider on the Zambezi.”
Fuck. They’d run the Terminator in Chile and Bidwell in British Columbia and planned to finish their whitewater trifecta with Ghostrider in Zambia, but it never happened. Now she was out of the game. Quinn shook her head.
“There’s eight of them. She offered twenty-five thousand apiece. And all our expenses paid.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Nope. She started with ten thousand, but I told her there was no way I could get you out of retirement. So she asked if twenty-five grand would change your mind.”
Quinn’s chest tightened. “You know I can’t.”
“I figured that’s what you’d say. But I didn’t drive all the way out here for a no, so I thought I’d sweeten the pot.”
“A hundred thousand dollars is pretty sweet, not sure how you can make it sweeter.” Quinn tilted her head back and poured the last of the beer into her mouth.
“I’ll give you the whole proceeds, two hundred thousand dollars.”
Quinn nearly spit out her beer but swallowed hard before answering. “Why the hell would you do that?”
“Couple of reasons.” Mick put her head back and looked at the sky. Quinn waited for her to speak, but when she didn’t, she said, “Care to elaborate?”
“Full disclosure. If I make this happen, she says she’ll book all her future adventures with Pink Triangle.” Mick held up her hand before Quinn could speak. “But even if she didn’t, more importantly, I want to finish what we started. I want to shoot Ghostrider with my best friend.”
“Why would they want a washed-up guide that’s been out of the game for years?”
“You know you need to forgive yourself. And start living again instead of hiding out in the middle of nowhere.”
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Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 978-1952270741
Publisher: Indie Author
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