In A Question of Courage, Sabrina Blaum delivers a beautiful story of letting go of fears arising from past betrayals and learning to both forgive and trust again. In this story we meet Actresses Kathryn Johnson and Hannah Laine. The two women first met at a masquerade ball two years previously which led to a kiss before Kathryn panicked and ran away when they both removed their masks and Kathryn realised that Hannah recognised her. Now she suddenly finds herself having to work with Hannah when the younger actress is cast to co-star with her on her long running tv show. What follows is a bumpy ride for the two women with Kathryn’s carefully constructed walls coming up against Hannah’s determination to break them down. With Kathryn giving Hannah a distinctly frosty welcome and Hannah’s determination to break down Kathryn’s walls, tension is definitely high on the set. And having a leak on set who is more than happy to spill information to the tabloids, the two women are in for an interesting journey. After initially wanting to bang the two MC’s heads together and force them to just mention the elephant in the room (the kiss two years earlier) I was pleased when the author didn’t drag this tension out through the entire book. Hannah’s openness and willingness to be vulnerable in front of Kathryn enables her to gradually push Kathryn into letting down her guard and find the courage to let Hannah in. I also enjoyed the fact that, although the two women had very different ways of reacting to stressful situations, they are gradually able to learn how the other woman works in order to find a balanced approach that works for both of them. All in all, I felt that the author delivers a beautiful story with just a little bit of drama and a lot of hope for moving on from past hurts. While this is the first book I’ve read from this author it is unlikely to be the last. I am grateful to Sabrina Blaum, Ylva Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC copy of A Question of Courage.
