Review: Leap of Faith by Jamie Blair

Leap of Faith by Jamie Blair

Can true love be built on lies? A teen on the run seeks relief and redemption in this gripping, romantic read.Leah Kurtz has finally found a place to call home, a town where she and baby Addy can live in peace, far from the drug-infested place she grew up. Chris is one of the best parts of her new life, the only person who’s ever made her feel safe. And now that she’s found him, there’s no way she can tell the truth:
Her real name is Faith, not Leah. She’s seventeen, not nineteen. And the baby isn’t hers—Faith kidnapped her.
Faith’s history catches up with her when a cop starts asking questions and Chris’s aunt spots her picture in the newspaper. She knows it’s time to run again, but if Faith leaves, she’ll lose Chris. If Chris is in love with a lie, though, did Faith ever really have him in the first place?

Publishes in US: September 3rd 2013 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Genre: YA contemporary
Source: Simon Teen via Edelweiss
Series? No info. Hope so.

Buy it: Amazon  Barnes & Noble  IndieBound  Book Depository

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    Wow, this is a powerful story. I completely felt for Faith and her upbringing. Although I will admit at first it was out of spite for her Mom that she was having her stop smoking and drugs while pregnant, but I saw that her heart really opened and changed when she heard the heartbeat and saw the baby on ultrasound. 

    It was a unique journey that she took and for noble reasons, she didn't want her sister to grow up how she and her older sister Hope grew up, with alcohol, drugs and men in and out the door. Although I know it was wrong, the kidnapping, I was riveted to the page in her struggles and her growing love and relationship with the baby Addy. 

    And when Chris entered the picture, my heart melted. He was so giving to strangers, with his time and with their house. I knew that he had his own secrets and we learned slowly what they were and it def made sense why he was so eager to help and his quick attachment to Addy. Add to that the fact that him and Faith had chemistry and he played guitar, my heart was so won over. 

    I also appreciated the sense of family that Chris' grandmother brought to the picture, and I adored the scenes that she was in. She helped make the story more rounded and complete. 

    Leap of Faith also was very realistic (and I know, I have two) on the hardships of taking care of a newborn, and it wasn't romanticized. Yes, there is the cuddly and warm, but there is also diapers, eating every few hours, poop, lots of spit up and exhaustion. 

     I will say though, the ending felt way too incomplete. I know that the story was her journey but it seriously left me hanging. I wanted so much resolution and did not want to leave the pages of this story. It seems so cruel not to know the resolved ending for Faith/Leah and Addy. I seriously hope there is a sequel because that would fix my only complaint with this story. 

Bottom Line: Powerful and emotional contemporary that had me to the last page and wanting, no, needing more.

My question to you, my lovely readers:
 Could you kidnap your baby sister to keep her away from an alcoholic and druggie mom?