Stealing Our Hearts

WOWZA. Alright Jaine Diamond, I see you!  I’ll admit, when I first downloaded this book, I was a little apprehensive. The title made me wonder if it might just be another “quickie” book or lack substance in some way. If you’ve read enough romance novels, you know the type I’m referring to.  Regardless, this book was FAR from that. A brilliant plot with just enough spice and unique characters to ensure it didn’t feel overdone, but dramatic enough to keep you dying for more. 

Diamond starts us off with a bang. A incredible introduction that immediately sucks you into the story. We meet our leading lady, Katie, as she is dragged into her best friend’s office by her dog, soaking wet, holding a bunch of tiny cherry pies. She barges into a meeting and all the air in her lungs immediately leaves her when she lays eyes on our hero, Jesse. This minuscule interaction between the two, just staring at one another, spirals our entire story into fruition. Katie is hired to star in Jesse’s music video for the debut of his new album. Yes, he’s a rockstar. I freaking love rockstar romance sub-tropes. The video is a hit and Jesse decides he wants to hire her to be his fake girlfriend for his six week tour. Yep, also a fake finance sub-trope. Double whammy and double the fun. 

As it always goes, they fall in love, Katie realizing it before Jesse causing a ricochet of issues and ultimately leading to their fall out. But holy crap, Katie is a firecracker! She is so much fun, so independent and brave. She takes on this job because she desperately needs the money and when she realizes she’s risking her heart and it’s not worth it anymore, she does what she needs to do to remove herself from the situation. Jesse is an entirely different ball game. This poor guy has no idea what’s going on with his heart. His feelings for Katie are like a slap in the face because he realizes they are there when it’s too late. Don’t worry – they get their HEA. Jesse does GOOD. Ugh it’s so cute! 

Also, the epilogue is a teaser for book two about Jesse’s sister, Jessa. I’m DYING. I need to start book two now! It’s safe to say I’m addicted 🙂

“She wanted more, but she wasn’t asking for it, either. Maybe she was afraid I’d never give it? Which was insane, because I’d give this girl the fucking world.”

“You are strong. You will survive this.” “At what cost?” I asked with a rhetorical laugh. “Not today. Probably not tomorrow. Or next week. Or even next month. But someday, you will realize that there is a part of you that won’t survive today, but the parts that do are the ones that are meant to.”

Similar to the afterglow of an orgasm, this novel left me warm and content. My body is at peace after the war my emotions just experienced. Our lovers got their well-deserved happily ever after…but had to lose everything first. 

As I go back and re-read my notes during my venture, I’m drawn to a quote that I reiterated many times. “Troy had fallen.”  The truth behind that quote left me shaking. Our poor, sweet heroine, Troy, experiences the greatest loss of all time. Her love leaves her.  At the end of book one, Leo leaves Troy in America and he goes back to Paris. People die, friendships fade, but when the love of your life stops choosing you, when they elect to leave you, there’s nothing like the gravity of that loss. Troy ends up in Paris in a study abroad program, and when the lovers reconnect it’s like a bomb goes off. Their love is so blinding, so painful, so persistent that they will stop at nothing, risk it all to be together. No matter the cost…until the cost is too much.

“You could break my heart into a million pieces or in two, but when it heals, the only person it will ever beat for is you.”

My heart wept with loss during the climax of this story. I could feel Troy’s agony and Leo’s devastation. I wanted to crawl into myself and stay there forever. I wanted to remember…but I wanted to forget…but I couldn’t.  Their love. This fusion of two beautifully broken souls is what kept me alive today. Each day I live to dive into the imperfect universes of my beloved characters and suffer along with them. Have my heart severed from my chest in the name of love. To relish in the sorrow and pain…but then to start anew. Like a forest after a wildfire, once the rain falls, growth can begin again.  Troy and Leo’s world, both in America and in Paris, was the best escape I’ve had in months. I disappeared into the pages of this masterpiece and found tranquility, even among the chaos of their lives. You know, undoubtedly, that Troy and Leo will never end. They will never stop loving each other. They will fight and die and begin again – forever – for the life they deserve. Oh my heart. I can’t even rate this duo because it doesn’t feel like it does it justice. For now I’ll just say this: if I learned anything at all from Troy and Leo, it’s that you cannot go wrong with “the lion and the lamb” reference. Gets me every time.

“Do you love the damned? Yes. Yes I do. And so the lamb sacrificed herself for the lion.”

and one more just for good measure 🙂

“I wouldn’t cry anymore for the lion who had slaughtered the lamb. I wouldn’t cry anymore for the lamb who had expected anything different.”

“I forgot where I was or who was watching. That was what happened when I was with Melissa, the world faded and nothing else mattered but us.”

This novel has left me an emotional wreck. It is filled with so many relevant issues that are brilliantly addressed, but I just wasn’t prepared.  Our author, Lym Cruz, packs this story FULL. Andrew and Melissa’s attraction to each other can only be recognized as fate.  The experience of this novel was wild. You get everything in this book, and I mean EVERYTHING. Sex, lies, pregnancy scandals, sex trafficking, racist, sexism, jealousy, betrayal…I could go on. As much as I could write about how this journey made me feel, I’d like to focus on the scary reality of sex trafficking. This issue plays a huge role in this novel.

Now, I’m sure most of you guys have read romance novels that involve sex trafficking in some way or another.  Usually the woman is sold to a man and she ends up falling in love with him, or she’s sold but then saved by an equally abusive man who she then falls for (she always falls for someone). Regardless, the story is usually about the woman’s experience while being trafficked. Cruz took a new spin on this – she wrote a book about the aftermath of sex trafficking. 

Our heroine, Melissa, was trafficked when she was 17, and was saved by Andrew, our leading man. Years later they run into each other and everything unfolds. They fall in love. Melissa shares the secrets of her time as a sex slave, something she’s never shared with anyone before.  We, as the audience, get to learn about where Melissa’s strength and confidence comes from. Although her family is insanely wealthy, she doesn’t take much for granted. Andrew also comes from a wealthy family, but his experience is drastically different than hers. As you read, you’ll understand what I mean.

Cruz has a very crafty way of building up tension in her novel. I was at the edge of my seat, waiting for the other shoe to drop, starting about half way through the novel. Really great job with the suspense factor.  Very interesting story…you can tell that Cruz intended to write separate books about the other friends we meet during this journey. 

Honestly, I can’t wait to read Robert’s story. As you read Flawed, you’ll meet Robert…get ready…I’m a huge fan already. He is a REALLY fascinating character. Cruz hints at a possible relationship for Robert during this story and I really hope it plays out in another book!  Needless to say, there’s a lot of potential for a great series to come out of this. Stay tuned, friends!

“My life is meaningless without you.”

“Maybe people really do walk into each other’s lives at the right moment. Maybe there is a purpose and a meaning to the universe. To life and death. Or maybe it’s all one big game of chance.”

J Saman for the win! Another deliciously captivating tale by a brilliantly talented author. Saman sucks you into Halle and Jonah’s world from very first page, and she doesn’t let up. She keeps you hanging on her every word, hungry for more. 

In this miraculous tale, our heroine, Halle, meets our leading man, Jonah, in a bar one night when she’s out with her girlfriends. They dare her to go up and talk to him and she ends up going home with him for the evening. Well, as it turns out, they have undeniable chemistry and fate decides to dabble in their lives. They run into each other again when Jonah is covering for another doctor at Halle’s gynecologist office…YEAH. I KNOW. Anyway, turns out that Jonah is actually the CEO of the medical institution that Halle’s gynecologist office is in…and also where her new job is. Jonah is Halle’s new boss. Lots of Grey’s Anatomy vibes. Jonah and Halle decide to casually see each other because they both have massive baggage that doesn’t sway them towards serious relationships. Halle’s ex fiancé is going to prison for felony charges because he was doing some illegal hacking and money handling behind her back. Jonah’s wife is dead. She’s been dead for two years and he’s still grieving and loves her. So like I said…lots of baggage.

For me, grief is a really unique topic. When it’s woven into a story well, it adds a level of pain and longing that isn’t achievable in any ordinary fable. But, if done poorly, it can leave you feeling empty and unfulfilled. Thankfully, Saman is a ingenious talent and has no problem whipping up gorgeous tales of handsome, tragic men and their equally beautifully, broken counterparts. That sums up Halle and Jonah for you. Both tragically damaged but with a irrepressible fight in them for this burning tie they feel for each other. God, the way Jonah speaks to and handles Halle during this journey is enough to strip away any fear that he won’t be able to let his dead wife go and move forward with Halle. I won’t lie to you, there are moments where I feared he might not make the right choice, he might give into his grief and guilt and close himself off. But Jonah is strong and his passion for Halle, stronger. 

I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: Saman writes suuuuuuch great love scenes. UGH. Just read the book and you’ll know what I mean. Everything has a point to it. Her characters don’t just smash and dash. There’s real desire in every moment. Bravo!

“You’re my biggest fear. Losing you. Keeping you. Both in equal measures.”

Ollie smiled. “Every second is a life-altering decision, but all routes lead to one destination. Weaknesses aren’t strong enough to deter you from your fate – they never were. We’re created with fault, Mia, and whether or not we made a different decision, all my paths would have still led me to you.”

There’s a gaping hole in my chest where my heart used to live. Ollie took it with him when he left us at the end of this novel. I’m not sure how long it’s going to take for me to recover from this one. My soul is screaming for relief; anything to soothe this ache. Mia and Ollie are revolutionary characters imagined in a world built in chaos and vulnerability. I can honestly admit that I’ve never been so afraid for a novel to end. I couldn’t stomach the agony as I turned the last page. Even though the epilogue is probably meant to give us some comfort and support in our grief, I couldn’t let go. Fiorina has done to me what no author has been able to achieve – utter and complete devastation. 

Let me be clear: in order to succeed at destroying my heart, the author must first create a couple so powerful, so addicting, with a love so strong that only they themselves can be the ones to destroy it. That is what happens here. 

“A love like this couldn’t exist in only one lifetime.”

Soulmates. This over-arching theme is prevalent throughout this tale, rearing it’s head in the precise places it’s needed. It’s almost as if the physical heart isn’t enough to describe the love Ollie and Mia have. It isn’t tangible. There is no earthly way to define their connection; it can only be manifested through something as divine as the soul. I adore this idea that two souls, who are meant for each other, will come together no matter the circumstance. It makes me wonder what travesties we might encounter in book two. As much as Mia pierced my heart in this novel, I can’t imagine the pain Ollie will cause in the sequel. BUT! There’s always a but. I hold onto hope. That’s all we really have left when Fiorina leaves us hanging by a thread at the end of this book. Hope. Determination. Love. These are the three consistent themes throughout our journey. The entire novel is written from Mia’s perspective; we get clear shot into her mind. It helps make her actions a little more understandable. We are able to sympathize with her, even though her self-destructive tendencies are excruciating to witness. Mia, our leading lady, feels nothing. At the beginning of the novel she has been diagnosed with Alexithymia and Emotional Detachment Disorder, plainly stated: she doesn’t feel feelings. Until Ollie. Mia is sentenced to two years at a university for the mentally unwell called Dolor, in the UK, after her suicidal and self-destructive tendencies went too far. It was either Dolor or a mental institution. Mia meets Ollie at Dolor and he quickly becomes an attachment. She feels for him. It’s beautiful. Ollie has what’s called Emotional Intensity. Ollie feels everything while Mia feels nothing. It’s simply brilliant. Like fire and ice. Black and white. Yin and Yang. And thus, our narrative was born.

Our author, Nicole Fiorina, has the gift of evoking empathy and encouraging vulnerability in even the most disengaged reader. Fiorina writes with such grace, her phrasing is almost melodic. Every line in this novel is gold, every sentence, quotable. I couldn’t stop to take a moment to breathe for fear that I might miss a note in this beautiful love song. Even the love scenes have a delicacy and warmth to them that you don’t often find in romance novels. Our author is able to clearly express every single emotion that Mia feels without it seeming contrived or excessive. Ollie’s constant professions of love are each unique in their own way, it’s like hearing him for the first time, every time. 

“After all, with him was where my soul belonged.“

This is a love story. A true, deep, soul shattering love story. This novel is frankly incomparable to anything I’ve read. Our author exceeded all expectation. I feel I haven’t done her justice with this review because the wounds on my heart are still so fresh. I did warn you all about how much loathe cliffhangers. Well, this ends in a cliffhanger, and a nail-biting one at that! There is nothing to soften the blow. Nothing to hold on to except, as I said before, hope. There aren’t enough words in the English language to illustrate the adoration and admiration I have for our author and these remarkable, unforgettable characters she built. Thank you a thousand times over for sharing Mia and Ollie’s ballad with the world. I wish I could reach a larger audience for you, Fiorina, because your story deserves to be heard. A five star review and utter devotion to your craft is what I can give you for now. And with that I leave you all:

“Stay with me Ollie.” “I am with you…always.”

“Perhaps a part of me had always been a little in love with him. But it was like being in love with the sun. Impossible and so out of reach.”

Thrilling, sexy, and unique with just a dash of new-age, relevant content, Sienna Blake creates the brilliantly concocted, dirty, friends-to-lovers romance, The Irish Lottery.  Blake ALWAYS comes through with her taboo plots that leave you dying for more. She also does a beautiful job of staying cognizant of important main stream issues like the “Yes All Women” movement. Although this movement was founded on the basis of sexual assault awareness and misogyny, it also reminds the world of the constant battle for equality and women’s rights. What are you wearing? What “signals” are you giving off? How many sexual partners have you had? The list goes on and on when it comes to the sexual double standard in our world today. Questions like these categorize women, putting us into boxes and making assumptions about our sex as a whole. Guess what? Women are sexual beings. We orgasm. We desire. We feel. We should be allowed to make our own choices, in all things, without the constant fear of judgement. Okay – I’m off my soapbox now.

Our heroine, Aubrey, has been living in Ireland for the past 4 years. And for the entirety of that, her best friend, Noah, has been in love with her. They met at Noah’s bar, where Aubrey now works as a barmaid. Her Visa has expired and she needs to go back to the US, but desperately wants to stay in Ireland because it’s home to her. At the beginning of our story we find out that Aubrey has recently become engaged to her boyfriend, Sean, basically only so that she can gain citizenship and stay in Ireland. Unfortunately, as life often does, things don’t go as planned and Sean leaves her. Aubrey is helpless and hopeless and Noah is too afraid to tell her how he feels. 

Countering Aubrey’s major problem, Noah’s mother has been diagnosed with a major heat condition and needs surgery. Sadly, Ireland’s healthcare system puts her on a 2 year waitlist for the surgery…and she doesn’t have that kind of time. Noah realizes he needs money fast, so he and his three brothers devise a plan to run a lottery online, women all over the world can buy lottery tickets, and the one winner…gets a night with all four of them. But the catch is, no one knows who they are. WELP. As luck would have it, Aubrey enters without Noah knowing and she WINS. Soooo you can guess what happens next. Holy mother of god that was the hottest scene I’ve ever read in my liiiiiife. It’s get the ball rolling for sure. Everything comes crashing down and then it’s built back up again only to hit rock bottom again. Roll. Er. Coast. Er. But oh how I enjoyed the ride. Read this story guys!! Plus, if you’ve read any of Sienna’s other books…Danny is in this one, and you know, even just a moment with him in it is perfection. ❤️❤️❤️ 

“Where there is love, there is hope.”

You were the best thing that ever happened to me, Jace Covington.” Tears prickle the back of my throat as I drop my hand. “I’m so sorry I ended up being the worst for you.”

Bully romance has never been done so well. This anger, the reason for Jace’s cruelty, runs so deep, you wonder if it’s not just stemming from grief. “Grief can make it hard to see the forest through the trees.” Jace, our leading male, met Dylan, the love of his life, in elementary school. He was the new kid, shy and angry, and she was the weird girl who wouldn’t leave him alone until they were best friends. They became inseparable. They did everything together, lived for each other, for years. Dylan fell in love with Jace, and Jace (unbeknownst to himself) loved her back.  Then, in eighth grade, Dylan moved away overnight. They didn’t even get to say goodbye. And then…Jace’s younger brother committed suicide. Nothing was ever the same. 

Dylan ends up back at in the same school as Jace, four years later, when her father lands himself in prison and she moves in with her aunt, uncle, and cousin, Oakley. Oakley is best friends with Jace. Jace hates Dylan and she has absolutely no clue as to why. Why everyone hates her. It’s a perfect example of adolescent naivety; on all fronts. No one stops to question what’s going on or why people are acting the way they are…everyone just reacts and responds, like bullets flying back and forth with no thought behind anything at all.

**TRIGGER WARNING**

Let’s talk about suicide for a moment. This is a hot topic in today’s world for various reasons, but I think above all, people are afraid of the things they don’t understand. And no one can understand why someone else would choose to end their own life. That’s the scary part of it all, really.  Mental health is such a huge issue in this world. Our minds are so complex and sensitive…but also the strongest part of us.  While I would never condone suicide, I do understand it, in my own way. I could sit here and tell you all about my SI, but I don’t want to.  I want you to take away one thing: you always have a choice. Jace puts our sweet, brave Dylan through the ringer because his brother committed suicide. He blames her without being able to understand why he did it. 

Death is a permanent scar that the people left behind are forced to bear. And suicide a burden you shoulder forever.

As I’ve mentioned before, there’s an invisible line that can’t be crossed for me in terms of bully romance. Ashley Jade walks it with perfection; like a tight rope. There are moments of this book that are almost impossible to read; the life Jace has lead since Dylan left, anything Liam-related, Oakley’s struggles…but there are also moments I went back to read over and over again:

“My nanna used to tell me butterflies appear when angels are near.”

My heart broke and re-broke so many times during this journey, I know I won’t ever be the same. I’m DYING for Cole’s story. I need it so badly!! 

But the heart doesn’t choose who we love by their worth. Because love isn’t a choice.  It’s an illogical, all-consuming consequence that results from someone stealing a vital piece of you.

“People aren’t black or white, Troian. Just because you’re not completely perfect doesn’t mean you are completely broken; a heavy armor of perfection will drown you just as surely as too many unpatched holes.”

ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER!!! ARE YOU GUYS TRYING TO KILL ME???

Wow…just wow. This book was detonation of pathos. I’m still trying to get a handle on how I’m feeling, what this story did to me. The ultimate taboo, forbidden lovers tale. Dr. Rebecca Sharp carved a masterpiece out of something that could have easily been turned into any old short, sweet wet dream. The intense empathy you feel while reading this is nothing short of agonizing. 

Troy, Troian, where do we even begin with her? She’s hypersensitive, intelligent, strong-willed, but naive as they come. She’s only eighteen, you can’t expect much more. Discovering your father sleeping with your best friend has to be harrowing, but on top of that, she has spent her entire life trying to be seen. Her father paid her no attention, but opened up his heart to her lifelong friend. She had every right to react the way she did, hell, I would have responded that way! As I was reading, I found myself hating her father and hating her best friend even more because she knew how Troy felt, how important her father’s attention was. Okay, moving on. Troy decides to move to Rhode Island to live with her mother and start college. And so it begins…

“What kind of woman begs for a breath at the bottom of the ocean, ma petite?”

From the first moment Leo sees Troy, he loathes her. It’s a beautiful deception. This novel feels a bit like an enemies-to-lovers romance, but it’s not, it’s so much more complex than that. This narrative cannot be put into a box, it can’t be categorized, it overflows with poetic prose and weaves itself into your heart. Leo is grossly French; I mean, he’s literally from France, but he couldn’t be more French if he tried and it is SO sexy. It’s important to take into account that neither Troy nor Leo know that he is her professor until at least the fourth time they’ve run into each other. Yes, that’s correct. This is a teacher/student subtrope and I am HERE FOR IT. Leo is drowning in his past; trying to run away from the mistakes he made while simultaneously nailing his own coffin shut with self-hatred. Troy is running too, but she’s in a free fall. She has no idea who she is or what she wants out of life. She hates the world around her and everyone in it until she meets Leo. Together, they heal each other in ways they didn’t realize were possible. 

“His art? That was easy. He loved art like Hades loved Persephone – something that both belonged to him yet was too good to remain in his dark and desolated world. And so he chased her angrily over the paper, capturing her inspiration in the few moments she deigned to give him.”

The amount of quotable lines in this book is outrageous. I wish I could tattoo the entire novel on my body. There is so much beauty in both Troy and Leo’s pain, it bleeds out on to the pages. You’re constantly holding your breath for this relationship to work out, even when you know it’s destined to fail. There’s so much at risk for both parties.  That’s the funny thing about love, isn’t it? You don’t get to choose who your heart wants. Troy and Leo were fated, they can feel it when they’re together and even more when they are apart. 

Side note: I swear to God, my heart died in my chest when I realized that Sharp was using the lion and the lamb reference throughout the book.  If you guys know me at all, you know Twilight was my life growing up. It’s what got me through everything, as cliche as that is, and it means everything to me that our author included it in this journey.

“This wasn’t Twilight. The lion wouldn’t fall in love with the lamb. The lion would destroy the lamb and the lamb would come willingly.”

Second side note: I only, just now, realized the significance of Troy’s best friend’s name. She is Lilith. In mythology and literature and biblical texts, Lilith is a million different things. An promiscuous woman, a deceitful plague, even a wild beast…but always sinister. Always evil.  Our author doesn’t expand much on Lilith’s relationship with Troy’s father, but it’s safe to say, in my opinion, that her name is a clear representation of her character.  

It’s difficult for me to keep writing because i’m itching to start the next book. Forgoing my book queue isn’t something I really ever do, but I had to make an exception with this. I can’t eat, sleep, or breathe until I know how this ends. Wish me luck!

“Aux objets répugnants nous trouvons des appas. In the things we loathe become the things we love.”

“James?” “Hmm?” My jaw trembles. “Make love to me?” “Sweetheart, I’ve been making love to you all along.”

This new-age “Pretty Woman” with a twist fulfills every desire you didn’t know you had. Our heroine, Aubrey, and her best friend, Natalie, begin working as high-class escorts for Manhattan’s elite. Natalie, because she wants out from under her parents control, and Aubrey, because she is providing for her grandmother and herself and New York is expensive. Natalie has the job when our novel begins and introduces Aubrey to this underground world. Both are good at what they do and can handle themselves, there is only one rule: don’t get attached to clients. It isn’t until Aubrey meets James, a delicious silver-fox, that she begins to lose sight of her goal. James and Aubrey have a connection unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It’s like he knows what she needs without having to speak. They fall for each other, hard and fast. 

Aubrey is in her last year of college, and is trying to balance school, her grandmother, and her new job…all while falling in love with a married man. Yep, that’s right. James is married. If you aren’t into stories where that’s a factor – you probably won’t like this book. This story is the exception, I always have to remind myself of this when I read things similar to this novel. James has been married to his wife for over twenty years. He has certain…needs that she refuses to meet for him, so they have an agreement that he can go outside of their marriage to fulfill them. Pretty messed up, if you ask me. As our story continues, James opens up more to Aubrey about his past and the connection he longs to find with someone. Little does she know, he’s found it with her. 

This book was incredible. While I didn’t cry or drown in emotions, I’ve never read sex scenes as perfectly depicted as those found in the pages of this novel. Holy shit, you get everything from threesomes to girl on girl to good old fashion love-makin’. I had to take breaks because I was profusely blushing! Sex was a huge theme in this novel, not only because the girls are sex workers, but because Aubrey and James speak to each other through the act. That’s how they show their love and affection. James even goes so far as to say exactly that to Aubrey at one point. The level of passion this story contained was off the chart. Lucia Franco surprised me in more ways than one with this treasure. Bravo!

“What are you thinking about, baby?” I ask, my voice soft. Lifting his head, he looks into my eyes. “That I finally have a reason to leave my wife.”

“Do you plan on catching me when I fall, Troy?” I flirt, although there is way more meaning behind my words than either one of us can comprehend right now. “Only if you do the same.” His stern look scares me because I want more than anything to believe what he is saying, but I still don’t know if I can.

Evelyn Montgomery does two things really well: suspense and sex.  During the entire novel, you’re constantly on edge, questioning whether or not Troy is going to make the right decision. And even when you think he has finally made a decision, he just as quickly changes his mind. I’m like get it together, man!! We need you! And then…omg…the sex. Holy cannoli it is mind-blowing. Jo and Troy have rockin’ chemistry and Montgomery knows how to dish it out. Sex, for our two leads, is a way to speak to each other without having to actually use their voices. Troy is afraid, almost the entire time, that if he finally gives in to Jo, and admits that he loves her, he might lose her.  So he show her how he feels through their love-making and it’s deliciously perfect.

Troy is a Navy Seal. I think we can all gather enough information from that fact to understand that he’s probably been through the crapper. He watched his twin brother die in combat, and he blames himself. Then he witnessed another horrific death that has lead him to lead a detached, loveless life. Jo, a woman he met ten years prior to our story, is the only person he feels alive with. He loves her without knowing it for many years. He is so conflicted in himself, that he’s constantly pushing Jo away, only to run back to her shortly after. Back and forth and back and forth. Jo waits for him, holds her heart for him, even when he tells her not to. 

“Losing someone you never really had hurts more than I ever wanted to know.”

Our story begins five years after the last time Jo and Troy saw each other. Jo was married, divorced, and had a daughter during those five years. When Troy waltzes back into her life, it’s almost like no time had passed at all. They are still desperate for each other. She cannot resist him. We get insight into both of their minds through their different perspectives (you guys know how much I love that), and it is so refreshing. We experience Troy’s battles with his PTSD and the constant internal conflict he struggles with in terms of his feelings for Jo and her daughter, Anna May. We also watch as Jo grows stronger and stronger in regards to what she and Anna May deserve. She will not let Troy destroy her daughters heart like he has hers many times over. 

A lot happens in this novel. Jo has some demons from her past that come back to haunt her and almost destroy everything she’s ever loved. Be ready with a box of tissues and maybe a shot of something strong…Troy experienced some pretty horrific things that he recounts in his nightmares. It’s difficult to watch him battle with his past. I devoured this tale in about four hours tonight; I couldn’t put it down. Do yourself a favor and give Evelyn Montgomery a try. I sure am glad that I did.

“I’ll take her with me, always.”