Book Review — Full Tilt (Full Tilt #1) by Emma Scott

“I would love you forever,
if I only had the chance…”

• Buy FULL TILT (Kindle)
• Buy FULL TILT (Paperback)

WOW!! I read this book start to finish without stopping and I was hugging my book with tears in my eyes by the end. This is one of those stories that reminds you to be grateful for every moment of life. The writing was captivating, the romance was heart-breaking yet achingly beautiful, and I absolutely LOVED Kacey and Jonah’s story! It’s an unconventional romance that delivers such a raw, emotionally intense impact on its readers that you’ll be thinking about it long after you finish reading. A top recommendation and highly recommended for fans of Me Before You.

Kacey Dawson has always lived life on the edge–impulsively, sometimes recklessly. And now, as lead guitarist for a hot up-and-coming band, she is poised at the brink of fame and fortune. But she is torn between wanting to be a serious musician, and the demons that lure her down the glittering, but alcohol-soaked path of rock stardom. A wrecked concert in Las Vegas threatens to ruin her career entirely. She wakes up with the hangover from hell and no memory of the night before, or how she ended up on her limo driver’s couch…

Jonah Fletcher is running out of time. He knows his situation is hopeless, and he’s vowed to make the most of the handful of months he has left to him. His plans include seeing the opening of his glass installation at a prestigious art gallery…they do not include falling in love with a wild, tempestuous rock musician who wound up passed out on his couch.

Jonah sees that Kacey is on a path to self-destruction. He lets her crash with him for a few days to dry out and get her head on straight. But neither of them expected the deep connection they felt, or how that connection could grow so fast from friendship into something more. Something deep and pure and life-changing…something as fragile as glass, that they both know will shatter in the end no matter how hard they try to hold on to it.

Full Tilt is a story about what it means to love with your whole heart, to sacrifice, to experience terrible grief and soaring joy. To live life with all its beauty, and all its pain, and in the end to be able to smile through tears and know you wouldn’t have changed a thing.

This is my third time reading an Emma Scott book and just like each time before, I loved every word of the story. Her writing flows effortlessly and quickly draws you into the story and before you know it, you care about her characters with all your heart. It’s everything I could ever want from a book. A truly perfect reading experience.

As mentioned in the blurb above, Kacey is a rock star musician whose band is on the brink of internationally famous stardom. But with fame comes an uglier side that spirals her downward away from the music that she was passionate about. Jonah is working as a limo driver tasked with driving her band and they meet when he’s commissioned to take her home one night after a wild party that goes too far. But she’s passed out drunk in his car and no one is answering her door so he does the only thing he can think of to keep her safe for the night… and takes her home.

His life is hanging precariously in the balance. With only a finite number of months left to live, everything he does is carefully structured in an effort to give him the most amount of time possible. He’s surrounded by friends and family and is passionately devoted to finishing his art installation — a legacy he wants to leave in the world.

But this wild, lost girl throws his structured life out of orbit. Given his heart condition, he’s wary of letting anyone get too close to him — he wants to save them from the pain of losing him and focus all his effort on creating his art and spending time with loved ones — but as they grow closer each day, neither one can resist the pull they feel.

“I want to be able to kiss you if I felt like it, and I think you want that too. Like our first kiss… It was everything to me. Everything.”

“It was for me too,” I said. “I want to kiss you again. I want to kiss you so bad I can’t breathe. I want to be with you every second of my life but… God, how much time is that? How do I put you through that?”

It was heart-wrenching to see these two people who, in another life, would have so easily fallen into a passionately long-lasting relationship trying to hold back their feelings even though they were almost brimming over. You could just feel that they were meant for each other and they could too because no matter how hard they tried to remain just friends, the pull between them was too strong to resist.

And soon their friendship turned into an irresistible love that consumed them both.

“I can’t stand it. I have my circle and that’s it. I don’t want to tell people outside the circle. I don’t want them to have to find out. I don’t let anyone in…”
“And yet,” I said, gulping air, getting a hold of myself. “Here I am.”
“Here you are…” He said, his eyes roaming my face. “Believe me, I didn’t want to let you in. But it was almost as if…”
“What?” I whispered.
“As if I didn’t have a choice,” He said. “I tried to keep [my] walls up, keep to my routine… But you got in anyway.” He gently swiped a tear from my chin. “You feel it too, right?”
I nodded. “Yes.”

Ohhhh my gosh, the build-up as they went acquaintances to friends and finally to lovers was so well-written. My heart was racing! It was incredibly beautiful even through the pain. I loved how the focus was on celebrating life — celebrating every precious moment of life surrounded by friends, loved ones, and family. It wasn’t about a series of exhilarating bucket list events, but rather about creating memories and moments that would last forever.

Honestly, I thought I was handling my emotions pretty well for most of the book, but then this one sentence towards the end just did me right in and my tears started flowing. As a very devoted romance reader, there are certain things that I *need* in my books. A happy ending is one of them. But not all stories have fairy tale endings, but a love story like theirs, that held on until the very last precious moment deserved to be told, to have its moments and memories memorialized, read, felt, remembered. Their love story was beautiful. It was an unfortunately-timed love, but a soul-deep true love just the same. It never wavered, was never questioned, and you knew without a doubt that their love would always be a part of both of them. Kacey and Jonah’s love was a universe. Infinite and never ending.

“I love you,” I said. “God, I never thought this would happen to me.”
“But it did,” she whispered. “It happened and all we can do now is take care of each other. Live in the little moments, right? Just like we promised. The little moments. We have so many. Thousands upon thousands.”

You could definitely read this book as a standalone. The story comes to a conclusion and ends in a place that is honestly just right. However, there will be a second book (All In) coming in the fall that continues a part of the story. My advice to you is that if this book sounds good to you, jump in and read it right now without hesitation, especially if you loved Me Before You and are looking for a beautiful and emotion-filled story that’ll tug all your heart strings.

Love, loss, tragedy, beauty, friendship, romance, memories, moments… the message you’re left with to live every day to its fullest serves as a powerful reminder. Life is precious. Never forget to live it and cherish the moments. Without a doubt, this is one of my favorite books of the year. I highly recommend it to everyone!

You are a universe, Kacey. I kept waiting to find the end of your love and beauty, the end of your generous heart. I never did. I never will.

Rating: 5 stars! Can standalone.

• Buy FULL TILT (Kindle)
• Buy FULL TILT (Paperback)

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Book #1: FULL TILT
Book #2: ALL IN (my review)