Spring Forward

Originally Published: 03-06-2018

Spring Forward by Catherine Anderson — Book 4

Spring Forward is the 4th book in the Mystic Creek Series by Catherine Anderson.

This story, while related to the characters of Mystic Creek, is not about the Sterling family like the first three books in this series are.

If you remember back in book 2, Crystal Malloy played a small character in that storyline.

This is her story. Oh, and Tanner Richards’ story as well!!

Book Summary

Crystal owns a small beauty salon in Mystic Creek. Tanner is a delivery man for Courier Express in Crystal Falls, a short drive from Mystic Creek.

Now, while there is a romance that happens in this story, this story is about a dog. A blue heeler named Rip.

Rip is a dog that Crystal’s grandfather, Tuck, rescued. And this dog is smart.

Crystal gets ownership of Rip because Tuck fell and hurt himself and had to be in assisted living.

So the majority of the storyline Crystal is figuring out how to deal with this highly intelligent dog that keeps outsmarting her and getting out and running away. What she finds out is just hilarious!

But this story is also about Tuck, Crystal’s grandfather. He may be getting old, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t feisty and interesting. He may in assisted living but life still does go on. And there he meets a lady friend and that is a story in and of itself.

Crystal and Tanner meet through Tuck, sort of!! You’ll have to read it to know more!

As Crystal is trying to figure out Rip, Tanner tags along. They get to know each other as they figure out Rip. And as they get to know each other, sparks fly and they take a chance.

Of course, there are issues that come up to make it look like they won’t make it, but in the end they do.

It’s an entertaining story. You learn alot about blue heelers and all the funny quirks that this particular dog has! It’s well-written and a humourous story.

What was also nice, is that Catherine Anderson did NOT have many details in her sex scenes. Yes, they are there, but there is little to no details to worry about.

It’s a well-written storyline. As a dog lover and owner myself, I laughed and got frustrated right along with Crystal. Definitely worth reading again and again.

I also liked how the title of the book actually played a factor in the storyline. There are two meanings to the “spring forward”.

First, is a command that Rip was taught in order to put him into attack mode. This was nicely researched and well-written.

Secondly, this was used to encourage Crystal to move forward in her life. As Catherine Anderson puts it in the story:

“Spring forward with me, Crystal…. Life isn’t a destination. It’s a journey. Sometimes we have to spring forward and take it on just like Tuck and Rip did…. Maybe we’ll get the sh* kicked out of us. Maybe we’ll win most of the battles and lose a few along the way, but if we stand together, we’ll make it… What matters is making enough good decisions to make it to the finish line…. Spring forward with me. Love me with everything you’ve got for as long as you can.”
Pg 425

And of course, it ends happy. But that’s not until Crystal goes through a hard time to get there and then it ends happy. It was a good motivating ending! Definitely worth reading!

I’m looking forward to Jonas’ story, hopefully coming soon.