My mom said we were like the last two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. I agreed with her because Colton was my other half. From the first moment I saw him, I knew we belonged together.

So I know everyone talks about their “book boyfriends”, but can there be such a thing as a “book child”? I know when I first started my blog and really began delving into each of my books, I mentioned that I didn’t like to read about stories with children in them. I’ve come back to this idea a few times since then, but it’s safe for me to say, now that I’ve had a plethora of positive experiences, I was just reading the wrong books before. Ava is the most perfect book child I’ve ever read. Extra brownie points for the fact that she’s lactose intolerant and projectile vomits if she eats too much ice cream. I actually laughed out loud. 

Now that my testimony is out of the way, we can dig deeper into this extraordinary story. Our lovers, Ellie and Colton, were childhood best friends that were separated when Colton’s mom passed away and his dad moved them to a different city. They were six-year-olds in love. Inseparable. A bond that couldn’t be broken even with time and distance. Our author introduces our hero, Colton, and we are immediately thrown into this man’s world. He’s struggling with erectile dysfunction at the age of 22. It wasn’t funny but it also wasn’t sad or uncomfortable, because the idea that he could only get it up for the “right” woman is so romantic, I don’t even care if it’s not scientifically plausible. The right woman just happens to be his childhood best friend, Ellie. She is an exotic dancer with a three year old daughter, still living with her parents, trying to take college classes when she has the time. Colton works as a mechanic in his dad’s autoshop, but is also a co-owner of a moving business with his father. They stumble back into each others lives after eighteen years of separation, and it’s love at second(?) sight.

“Even when your face looked like hamburger meat, I still thought you were the most beautiful boy I’d ever seen.”

This story has very little drama in the way of events.  It’s simply a story about life. What it’s like to grow up and make mistakes.  What it means to believe that everything happens for a reason.  Jamie Schlosser, our author, surprised me in more ways than one with this narrative.  We’re given a lot of information up front, but then we get to sit back and enjoy watching everything play out. It’s the least stressed out I’ve been whilst reading a novel in over a month.  To say it was refreshing is an understatement.  I laughed and cried and thoroughly enjoyed myself in the few short hours it took me to read this in its entirety. Schlosser gifted us a treasure with this one. It’s not every day that someone can write about something as simple as life, and make it interesting and entertaining. Bravo, Schlosser. I can’t wait to read about Jimmy and Mackenna next! 🙂

“And how are things now? What’s that supposed to mean?” As she asked the question, I could see the doubt behind her eyes. She was still unsure about us. Well, that was going to stop right now. “It means now that I found you again, I’m not letting you go.”