Far From Home by Callie Mae Shaw: Book Review

 **ARC received for consideration. All opinions are my own. 

The Book

A supermodel who dreams of a family. A firefighter who can't stand his. Can she get him to stop running or are they too far from home?

When I was fourteen, I fell in love with Griffin Dupree’s voice.

That’s right. His voice.

While Griffin's famous family starred in reels, he stayed off-camera, teasing and interrogating them.

My friends claimed he was a skinny redhead who didn’t inherit the legendary Dupree-blue eyes.

I didn’t care.

I’m a skinny redhead, too, and that deep, southern drawl was enough to make me fall, sight unseen.

The night a friend said I'd never amount to anything—too poor and too red-headed—I made my List of Dreams. Marrying Griffin was right at the top.

Eight years later, I’ve checked off almost every item, including becoming the Face of DayGlow Cosmetics—a job that isn’t nearly as glamorous as it looks.

The one dream I never conquered?

Griffin Dupree.

But that’s okay. Some fantasies are better left in your imagination. Untouched. Unruined. Because reality has a way of strangling beautiful things—especially the ones you've spent eight years perfecting.

Then I attend The Las Vegas Standard—the country’s biggest modeling convention—and come face to face with a tall, muscular redhead with the most unfairly handsome face I’ve ever seen.

When he speaks…suddenly I’m fourteen again.

It’s him.

We fall fast, just like I knew we would—and for the first time in years, I think I’ve found my freedom.

And because this is Vegas, three days later, I wake up beside him wearing matching wedding rings.

It should feel like the happiest ending imaginable.

But I know the truth: I've just lured the best man I've ever known into the crosshairs of a past that's about to come looking for me.

The Author

Callie Mae Shaw/Susan Henshaw is an Amazon Best-selling author and an unapologetic romantic who can’t stop seeing potential love stories everywhere—church potlucks, high school football games, even the soup aisle at her local grocery store.

She writes emotional, angsty romances about realistic, imperfect people fighting to protect their hearts, and a family whose love is so fierce, it feels like home.

When she’s not busy torturing fictional couples, she’s teaching fitness classes, bribing her teenager to eat real food, and checking her phone to see if her adult children have remembered she exists.

Her stories grow on a large patch of land in rural Virginia that feels like a dream—where fireflies dance through the night air, bullfrogs sing from the river, and the deer and bunnies are basically her coworkers.

Book Review

Oh my goodness, where do I even begin with this one!? It's no secret that I am absolutely obsessed with this entire series. It's one of my all-time favorites and the Duprees are easily my favorite fictional family EVER. The drama, the epic love stories, the way they might fight, but are always there for each other when it matters... truly, I just love them. So, each time a new book releases, I have very high expectations. And somehow, Susan/Callie always manages to not only meet those high expectations but completely blow them out of the water. And this one was absolutely no exception. We were briefly introduced to Griffin and Juliet's story in No Way Home, and this story shares some of that same timeline, giving us the chance to go back and see what happened before they got married... and what would come after he left. Truly, their story was so much more that I could have begun to imagine... and I cannot tell you ANY of it without giving away spoilers. The twists in this story are many... and you're going to want to experience them all for yourself. (That said, if you have any triggers, DO read the author's note to make sure this one's for you... it's a beautiful story, but it does deal with heavy, potentially triggering topics). What I can say is, once again, these characters are put through the wringer... it is heartbreaking and emotional and will absolutely require at least one box of tissues. But it is all worth it to get to that hard fought happily ever after in the end. While it would be extremely difficult to knock Ford's story from my top spot, I've got to admit, this one comes VERY close! Seriously, just read this whole series... you will not regret it! 

Far From Home is a closed-door romance with implied intimacy/subtle fade to black (we know that they're about to do the hippity dippity- iykyk- and there's no questions what has happened off pages, BUT it cuts off before too much build up). There is also some innuendo and minor language as well. It is part of the Seddledown: Finding Home series and while you might be able to enjoy as a standalone, this is definitely a series that is better enjoyed from the beginning. 


You can purchase your copy here: https://amzn.to/4uCrCNq