Family Ties by Danielle Steel

                 I never thought I would become such a fan of Danielle Steel.  This is the second book of hers that I absolutely loved.  I would say I could not put it down, but I listened to this one.  So I guess I could say I was not able to change the discs fast enough.              

                Annie is just beginning her adult life when she receives the tragic news her sister and her brother-in-law have died in a plane crash.  She rushes to her nieces and nephew and takes on the responsibility of raising them.  The children become her life and she does not give herself time for anything else except for her career.  Now the three children are out on their own and living their own lives.  Liz, the oldest, is an editor at Vogue.  Next in line is Ted who is attending law school.  Katie, the youngest, is in college.  Annie does not quite know how to fully let go and permit them to make their own mistakes.  She knows she has to find a life of her own, but that is difficult to do when she has spent so many years forming her life around the children.  Plus there are plenty of things to worry about.

                Liz works far too hard at the magazine.  She has said no to the thought of finding love and as a result picks really bad boyfriends.  Ted becomes involved with an older woman and it quickly turns into a severely abusive relationship.  To make it worse, he does not tell his family this woman exists and they cannot figure out his weird behavior.  Katie, a very artistic person, drops out of school in order to work at a tattoo parlor.  On top of it, there is concern about the future with her boyfriend who has a different religion than herself.

                Annie can see the potential mistakes the children are making.  She wants to help but knows she has to let them make their own mistakes.  This is an internal struggle that does not lesson until Annie begins a new adventure of her own.  Ironically, once she gives the children their freedom, they come back when things get to be too much.  Is not that how it often works in life? 

                This book is well written and the characters are realistic.  No one is perfect, but the faults of the main characters are not terrible.  They are simply human.  Although, I must admit, I did want to scream at Ted.  I could see from the start where things were going, and it was not pretty.  But that is the benefit of being the reader.  You are on the outside and see things the characters do not.  I still wanted to scream though.