Can't Let You Go

Katie Parker Productions #5

by Jenny B. Jones

An old love whose kisses make her weak, but whose secrets threaten to destroy all she holds dear... Fresh out of college, Katie Parker had it all—a charming romance, a role in a famous stage production, and an idyllic life in London. Until she found her boyfriend cheating and got herself fired from the play. Leaving everything behind, Katie hops a plane home, only to run into her first love, Charlie Benson. As the couple returns to In Between, Katie questions everything she ever thought she wanted—including a renewed romance with her high school flame. While she attempts to rebuild her life, Katie's plan to manage the family’s theater meets a devastating obstacle, dragging her into a legal battle that will rock her small town. And the boy who once broke her heart seems to have the power to do it again. As Charlie’s secrets unravel, Katie must make a choice. Can she overcome her past and trust Charlie with her heart again?

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, Christian Fiction, Christian, Fiction, Contemporary Romance

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Four-time Carol Award winner Jenny B. Jones writes contemporary romance with wit, sass, and Southern charm. Since writing for both women and teens leaves her with very little free time, she believes in spending her spare hours in meaningful, intellectual pursuits, such as watching E!, going to the movies and inhaling large buckets of popcorn, and writing her name in the dust on her furniture. www.jennybjones.com

Reviews

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LOVE the katie parker series, but this book was seriously...meh. What happened to the Katie from the last 3 books? She became obsessed with guys, like not getting over Ian and mooning over Charlie for the whole book. She was also a total bitch to Charlie.
I liked the format of the first books, where it was more about her relationship with G-d and her family than romance, but this book is solely about her and Charlie. Alot of loose ends are tied up, but in unsatisfactory ways. I was always more of a Tate fan than Charlie, but her and Tate were broken up. The family dog had died, Frances was being married off to a random guy we'd never met, and for some reason Katie's in london. There was alot of flashbacks that seemed to take place between book 3 and 4 which was strange.
So yeah, book was just okay. Worth a read because Maxine's in it and she's my inspiration. Better to just skip any scenes that she's not in.

[Nicole]

Jenny B. Jones has done it again. (No surprise there, folks!)

From witty dialogue to heart-zinging romance, Can't Let You Go is a second-chance love story you'll want to read on repeat. Charlie and Katie will keep you turning pages late into the night. I laughed (duh), cried, and highlighted several sections that I absolutely adored. Jenny B. Jones is a permanent one-click buy for me from now until eternity.

An excerpt I loved:

There weren't a thousand uncertainties.
Only two.
Either Charlie was enough...or he wasn't.
I could put my hand in his forever and step over that precipice, not knowing where we'd land.
Or I could walk away.
From a man who couldn't give me any guarantees. Couldn't even give me all the answers.
And spend the rest of my life looking for someone who could.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

[Tressa (Wishful Endings) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally posted on Wishful Endings.

Can't Let You Go picks up several years after the third book in this series, The Big Picture. A lot has happened during those years, including that Charlie and Katie are no longer together. That about broke my heart from the beginning because I loved them in the third book. They weren't, nor are, perfect, but I thought they were perfect for each other. It was fun coming back to the town of In Between. Rather like coming back to old friends. The best stories are the ones that feel this way. Even if you haven't read the other books in this series, the story was written in such a way that you could read this one alone.

I'm going to insert here my love of the cover. It is gorgeous and perfect for this story! Really, really love it! They got her hair that strawberry blondish and his dark and the airplane in the background... An airplane and flying was quite significant in this story. The cover also continues the newer covers' more vintage look. I love the sunny-ness of it as well.

Okay. So the story...

Katie was in really deep this time in so many ways! So much was going on and she had a lot of concerns for herself, for her best friend who was rushing to the altar, for Charlie, for Ian, and for her beloved Valiant Theater. Some of her choices were upsetting. Emotions were high and intense, both in very sweet as well as in some ugly ways. The author always has this great wit that comes across in her stories and it's no different here. There were a lot of zingers, humor, and sarcasm. I especially enjoyed a lot of Katie's grandma Maxine's lines. Her and those other home town folks always add so much to this series.

I loved that the story was messy. Not in the way it was written or the characterization. The author let her character's make choices, both good and bad, or not make them sometimes. She let them cry and hurt, be angry, fall in love, be unkind, and be the best friends. It made me really cheer on and connect with these characters. And really, Charlie is the best sort of man in so many ways and Katie has so many insecurities and lashes out sometimes, but Charlie tries to be there for her regardless. The biggest question was if Katie would figure things out and let Charlie in, or if someone or something else would feel that roll.

Can't Let You Go inspired and sucked me in with these fabulously familiar characters, sweet and intense romance, lots of humor, and Katie's struggle to face her fears, to accept love, and to learn to let go. It was a beautiful, heartfelt story. A story I loved. I'll definitely be visiting these characters and the town of In Between again when I reread this series in the future. If you enjoy YA, NA, or Adult contemporary romance (Christian or not) then I'd definitely recommend Can't Let You Go.

Content: A little innuendo, but otherwise clean.
Source: Purchased.

[Elizabeth Grace]

Well…. I read up until page 134 (52%) and then I stopped. Why? Because this book is insanely horrible. Maybe I’m not the right audience, maybe it gets better. But do you what I did? I wrote an entire blog post rambling about how much I hate this book. It’s that bad.

I even started the content review. I suppose that can be posted at a later time when I’m not mentally ripping this book apart (it’s a library book so i can’t physically do it)

I hope Charlie and Katie have a happy life together (cause we all knew it was going to happen since he popped into the book)

And I hope Maxine stays Maxine.

I wonder how God suddenly isn’t a huge part in Katie’s life. Charlie’s life too.

I also wonder what happened to those chickens.

But now and forever this book and the last book are DNFed. Goodbye series that started off lovely and turned into this.

[Rainbow | Realm of Stories · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't Let You Go is quite different from the preceding novels in the series. It takes place a few years after The Big Picture in which the author skips from Katie Parker's story at the age of sixteen to the age of twenty-three, and because the transition is so sudden and dramatic, I found it hard to get into it and adjust to the big jump in time...at first. As the storyline progressed, however, I ended up anticipating it, especially the conversations between Katie and Charlie. I'm not going to go into the details, but I've enjoyed reading every moment the two of them have spent together. Every argument, every tease, every obstacle. Katie and Charlie are destined to be a couple. It's almost like fate. The will of God. Despite Katie suffering a betrayal and having her heart broken more than once by this guy, I am so happy she reunited with him, found her way back to him, and rekindled that old flame.

That scene where Joey Benson pours out his heart to Frances Vega about how much he loves her was touching and emotional enough to bring tears to my eyes. I don't think any other scene touched me like that! Frances stopped trying to be like the rest of the American folks, finally embraced her cultures, and learned to be proud of them, which is remarkable and splendid. My only issue is that Nash Griffin, the boy Frances fancied in high school, is completely out of the picture for some reason. That's too bad. It's fantastic Frances got married to Joey, but it'd have been good if Nash had returned in the last book.

My gosh, it's amazing how sophisticated Jenny B. Jones could write dialogue. It is the most fabulous thing I've noticed in her works. I actually happen to have a favourite line in the final book, and it is this quote by Maxine from the conversation she had with her foster granddaughter when they were lying on the floor of the Valiant theatre:

"Logic doesn't always lead us down the right path. Logic tells us not to take chances. Not to chase after that risk. To ignore the what ifs. I guess part of growing up is deciding when to listen to your head...and when to listen to your heart."

I agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY with what she said. If there's one lesson I learned from reading this book, it is to overcome the fear that gets in the way of what you want and what you know will make you truly happy. If you have a dream or passion, don't let your fear of rejection, failure, and the thought of not being good enough stop you. Go and pursue it, and live the life you want to live. Because every single moment of it is going to be worthwhile. Katie jumped on those planes to Chicago and New York and took the opportunity to restart her acting career and become a star. She did exactly the right thing.

The ending of the book is satisfying, content, and just...perfect. Every problem or difficulty that arose throughout was rectified. Everything was made right. If you haven't read the finale of the Katie Parker Production series Can't Let You Go, I suggest that you READ IT, because you will not be disappointed. You will love it.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Katie Parker is back in this great follow up to Jenny B. Jones' hit series that follows Katie and her new found family on their many adventures in In Between, Texas.

Years later Katie has finished college and been living in London, acting on the theater stage. But when she hears that her best friend, Frances is marrying Joey Benson, and her acting gig in London goes down, she knows that it is finally time to return home to In Between to her family.

One the return flight home, Katie runs into her high school flame, Charlie Benson. When they return to In Between they find that it is on the verge of being bought up by a huge cooperation called Thrifty & Co. Will Katie, Charlie, and their many families and friends be able to save In Between and Katie's beloved Valiant Theatre before it's too late?

A fun filled novel, that catches up with Katie as she makes her way in life as an adult, returning home to her family and the place that she fell in love with as a teenager. Maxine is back with her typical outspoken sass, and Katie narrates with her wry, sarcasm, and all-to-honest observations that made me literally laugh out loud. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to see Katie's parents, and Maxine's husband, Sam as much as I hoped. Also I was a bit disappointed in how Katie and Charlie communicated pretty poorly throughout much of the book, as well as Katie's waffling in decision.

It's interesting to see how Katie has grown over the years not covered in the books, and is still growing into a confident young woman. While the faith elements didn't come through quite as strongly in this book, I liked how this story served more as a coming of age tale about Katie facing her fears and embracing her life as an adult.

Overall, this was a fun read. It was great to see In Between and Maxine again, and that while some things change, there are things that never will. Definitely a book to look into if you are a Katie Parker fan.

I bought this book with my own money, and reviewing it simply because I liked it.

[Angie Clayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ending to wonderful series

Each book I enjoyed more than the last and this one definitely didn't disappoint. The first 2 were a lot of building characters and getting you to fall in love with them but the last to were a couple of my favorites. Thought I'd get sick of Katie Parker by #4 but now I wish I could hear more. Loved it!

[Courtney Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Maxine!
This book lingered on the romance stuff a little too much for my liking, but it was still good. Love the sarcasm and wit.

[Sarah Elliott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite disappointing considering the first 3 books in the series are worth 5 stars. It almost felt like a different author wrote this finale book. It was very forced and had absurdity and over-the-top try-hard humour all through it. The biggest disappointment though was the lost opportunity to include a Christian message. Considering this series is Christian fiction, this book felt almost like the author had abdicated the faith but wanted to write a 4th book of a popular series. Katie could’ve learnt to trust God with unknowns, rest in His sovereignty, and find her purpose in life in Him (is that not what we all should be doing?). Instead, over and over it is repeated that she found her purpose and salvation in life from an old theatre. A building. A thing. Also, the amount of heavy kissing and dirty insinuations to more was misplaced and shouldn’t have been included in a ‘Christian fiction’ young adults book. A lack of effort was also shown by the lack of good editing- spelling mistakes were all through the book and at one point Thifty Co was called Jiffy Co, almost like it was originally going to be called something else but the author didn’t know how to use the finder function (or spell check) on the computer. I wish this book didn’t make church a laughable thing and hadve taken up the opportunity to include a truly Biblical message.

[Lya]

I made it to about page 44 when I had to decide to not finish this book. I tried to give it a chance, but it just didn't make the cut for me
My reasons?
- It is not a standalone book. And that's what I read it as. I don't know much about Katies life until this point and honestly, I don't intend to find out
- The characters are not my taste. The grandmother's humour is horrible and not at all funny (though I saw some reviews really enjoyed her)
- Since I haven't read the previous books, I also did not at all understand the issues stated in the first pages of this book. Which is another reason for my DNF
I guess if you enjoyed the first books, it's a great one to continue with (not that I would know) but it does not work as a standalone, which was unfortunate for me

[Rachelle Cobb · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s just something about growing up with a book character, and Jenny has done that for so many with Katie Parker. Although I hadn’t read any of the other Katie Parker books before this one, I immediately caught the charm. Katie is a multi-faceted heroine whose character arc made me think. Her sass made me smile! And her story is perfect for both young adults who have read the earlier books, new adults in a similar life stage as Katie in this book, and random readers turned fans like me who just happen to pick up a book for a “light” weekend read and then into Jenny B. Jones fans!

[Cate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really good book. I love Katie's story, with its ups and downs. Here are my favorite characters from this book.
Maxine - I love her personality so much! She's so funny! :)
Millie - She's a kind, loving foster mother. But her organic, extra-healthy cooking...Nope.
Charlie - He's such a sweet guy. :D

Overall, I thought this was a great book; a definite need to read. Those who have read the other books in the Katie Parker Productions series need to read this. Light, right now.

[Amberle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was disappointing. I love reading Jenny B. Jones. Her sass and wit are amusing and the deeper meaning of her books usually leaves me feeling thoughtful as well as entertained when I finish. This book had sass, it had a poignant message but if just fell flat. Sometimes I felt like she had taken aspects of her other books and put them in a blender to see what would happen when she combined them. I felt little real connection between the characters and only frustration at how dense the main character was up until the last 2% of the book. I think what really brought down the book for me though was the typographical and grammatical errors. Reading this book felt more like reading a rough draft than a finished product. It was not bad enough to make me regret reading it or put me off this author's future works. However, I sincerely hope her next book is better than this.

[Cynthia H. Caillouet · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little disappointed in number 4

I really loved all four of the books, but I was a little bit disappointed with this one because the story skipped six years of the character's lives. I kept waiting to find out what happened to Frances's high school boyfriend, Charlie's ex-girlfriend, and how long Katie's mom was in prison. Also, I noticed that with this book and number 3, there were a lot of editing errors. It was almost like the author was tired of the story by the time she got to this book and just wanted to get it over with. I loved the character of Maxine and this book lacked in the relationship between her and Katie. I laughed out loud so many times with the other books!

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thrilled to have another Jenny B Jones book out! That said, I really didn't connect with this book. It may be partly personal preference as I'm leaning more towards suspense with some romance or women's fiction with some romance etc. get what I'm saying? This is straight romance. I don't like kisses too early in the story (even with their history) and I don't like lots of making out especially without benefit of relationship or resolving things first. That doesn't work for me. I also found myself a little bored with the characters except for mad Maxine! I want a book centered on her alone!!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! I love the town of In Between, and it felt like catching up with old friends to read this book.
It's full of quick-wit and tender moments. A must-read for any fan of the Katie Parker series.

[Trinity · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing! Though it was too short and everything happened so fast! Katie's boyfriend, Ian cheated on her and Katie broke up with him. She flew from London all the way back to her hometown in Texas and encounters Charlie. Charlie and Katie nearly die on the flight as Katie expresses her love for Charlie on the plane. Meanwhile Katie's best friend, Frances and Charlie's brother, Joey get married. With all that happening Katie realizes Charlie works for Thrifty Co., a company that will tear down her parent's theater. Charlie and Katie fight throughout the book but put on a fake engagement to scare Ian away. I loved at the end of the book where Katie and Charlie have their chemistry and get 'back' together. I will definitely reread this book because you don't have to reread the series to read this book. I recommend for ages 11+.

[Flora W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Valiant

Katie Parker has grown up and gotten grown up problems. This final book was so wonderful. I cried at least 5 times. Some of it was predictable, but still wonderful. And Charlie. I love Charlie Benson. He grew up, but is still a man of integrity. Mad Maxine is still the best supporting character in a book series that I have ever know. Awesome conclusion to an amazing series.

[Beth Kaminske · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is the 5th book I have read in the Katie Parker production series. I think this series is great. I have enjoyed all the books. they make a great Christian series for teenage girls. Not too religious or serious. Filled with a lot of humor and a little romance. And much of the angst, that goes along with being a teenager. Insecurities and self doubt. A good series.
1st In Between
2nd-On the loose
3rd - The Big Picture
4th- Something to Believe In

[TheModestMillennial · Rating 2 out of 5]

The girl who won't grow up strikes again

I feel like Katie has outlived herself. She became a whole different person around book 3 or 4 and I kinda hate her now. While I understand the deep-seated issues involved with living her early life, she made a lot of headway that is completely demolished in this book. Charlie deserves waaaay better, even if he does handle the whole situation poorly in this book. This one was a struggle for me to get through.

[Sherry Crew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was expecting something along the same lines as the previous books but Katie and Charlie were really hard to like. Katie especially. God seems to have fallen by the wayside for both of them and she’s just a really hateful person to Charlie. He’s so wishy washy that you wonder why they even bother with this constant circling of a relationship. I got through it by def a waste of time.

[Tali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usually in a series the first book is the only good one, but this book was so touching and definitely one of my favorite books! The ending was predictable, but it was so well written it didn't matter that I knew what was going to happen. I LOVE this book!!!!!!!!! :)

[anne d oleszkiewicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

True Love

This was such a sweet story. The writing was fantastic. It kept you very interested. Just to cute how it was all put together. Will definitely look for more of Jenny B. Jones books.

[J.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the romance in this story. Totally loved it. Great plot, wonderful twists.
I do wish the spiritual themes from earlier books in the series had been continued. And at few major characters totally dropped off the scene without even a mention.
Otherwise, great book.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is love enough?

Katie had a very important lesson to learn. Her life taught her to run when things got hard. However, God wants her to act in faith instead of out of fear. Very well done!

[Madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the fifth book in this AMAZING series, and let me say, it was my favorite! I love how it mostly centered around Katie and Charlie, but then it showed some other struggles. It showed how Katie struggled with everything. I love when a book shows off people's insecurities. 5 stars!!!

[Marilyn Burrows · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cheers and tears

I held my breath most of the time This author pulled me into this story and wouldn’t let me go. I highlighted so many important quotes. Trust and love pushed its limits. Happy tears followed

[Amy Earls · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be one of the funniest books I've ever read. Great writing. I'm choosing to ignore the dozen or so typos because the story is one I just can't let go! I read this book first even though it's number 5 in the series and it didn't effect me understanding.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, a bit cliche.

But still enjoyable on the journey of Katie Parker. You have to wonder at the scrapes she jumps into with huge gaps between books, she must have had some down time, but it was fun to see her settle a bit.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

She really us a mess

Lots of snarky dialog from Maxine. A romantic hero with the most amazing lines. And Katie. She's a mess. I almost couldn't forgive her for loving a building more than a man....
Kissy and clean. I love that the link for the next book is so conveniently located.