I really thought I had already written this review. A little bit of a surprise to realize I hadn't, to be honest. I will likely find my original review later.

Because my stack of books these days consist of books from Mom and books I haven't finished, that this book came from my Mom stack of books should come as little surprise.

It tells the tale of Sean King, a former Secret Service agent who fell from grace when the presidential candidate he was protecting was killed, and Michelle Maxwell, a current Secret Service agent who is falling from grace when the presidential candidate she was protecting is kidnapped. Oddly enough, the two incidents, while similar, are not directly linked except by the fall from grace.

King is resistant to becoming involved in Maxwell's predicament, as he is dealing with a number of murders in his small town where he has rebuilt his life. He is a suspect in a couple of the deaths, as he knew the victims, so not really up for dealing with Maxwell's issues. She's an ex-Olympian, incredibly messy, smart, experienced agent who really needs to figure things out.

Because of the way the story unfolds, the ending wasn't one I could predict, one of those all the players aren't on the pages sort of thing. I enjoyed the book nonetheless. Enough to try the next book in the series.

After I had read The Power of Vulnerability, I knew immediately that I wanted to read this book by Brené Brown. Pretty much no way I wasn't going to read this one. And there are many overlaps between this book and the Power of Vulnerability. I knew that would be the case coming into the book. Unlike the previous book, which I listened to, I read this book, because I wanted to savor and ponder and stay with the words and thoughts, which is harder to do with audiobooks. That, and really, let's be honest, one can stand only so much El Jefé, before you want a dose of kindness.

Brown's writing is incredibly warm and welcoming. The book reads like a good friend sitting next to you, guiding you along the path to wholeheartedness. There are parts about building shame resilience. There are explanations about how we arrived here, and how we can survive a culture of scarcity.

What I liked most about the book is that while the explanations of shame, vulnerability, and wholeheartedness are great, the "here's how you get more of this into your life" parts are amazing. The book takes the research and turns it from a "that's nice" to a "here is how my world can change."

My plan is to buy a couple dozen copies of Daring Greatly to have available as gifts and help.

Highly, strongly recommend this book.