5 stars

Book Review — The Girl He Used To Know: A Novel by Tracey Garvis Graves

March 30, 2019 by Aestas · 15 Comments

“From the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of his face. It’s been ten years since we’ve seen each other and though I often struggle to recognize people out of context, there’s no need for me to question whether or not it’s him. I know it’s him.”

HOLY FREAKING WOW!!!!!

THIS BOOK WAS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!

I’m going to be honest with you guys… it’s been a while since I read a truly great book.

If you’ve been following my reviews for a while you know how much I love to gush over books I love. I love sharing my excitement with you and that’s truly the main reason I started to blog in the first place. However one thing that has always been very important to me is that the books I recommend have to be worthy of the praise I give them. What that means is that sometimes (like recently) a few weeks may go by without any recommendations, and other times I may have multiple recommendations at once. This is my way of keeping things honest with you guys and not just reviewing for reviewing’s sake. If the book doesn’t make me want to shout from the mountaintops about how great it is, I just won’t want to review it. And lately the books I’ve read have been decent, but nothing rave-worthy.

Until this book.

Right now, this is me shouting from the mountaintops to tell you to READ THIS BOOK if you are looking for a truly wonderful, unforgettable story that is so full of heart it made me laugh and cry and fall in love with every word!

From the moment I heard about this book I had a good feeling about it – mostly because on one hand the blurb just sounded good, but more importantly one of this author’s other books On The Island (my review) was one of my original favorite ‘founding’ books back from 2012 when I first started this blog and the three things I knew about this author was that 1) she wrote beautifully, 2) her stories were unique, and 3) years after reading her books I still considered them top favorites. And I’m happy to say that this new book fit all those three categories as well!

Honestly, I’ve almost always been able to tell from reading the first page if a book is going to steal my heart or not. Nine out of ten times this is always the case. And from the first two paragraphs of this book I just *knew*.

I *felt* the story. I connected to the characters. I loved the writing. I was swept away and drawn into Annika and Jonathan’s relationship — both past and present — and most importantly the story intrigued me and made me want and *need* to know more. After reading the prologue, I actually immediately put the book down, went and grabbed a cozy blanket, made myself a hot cup of tea, and hunkered down for a good long read.

I can recall with unbelievable clarity almost everything that happened during the time I spent with Annika. Probably because no one has ever loved me as fiercely and unconditionally as she did.

It’s hard to put exact words to how much I loved this story and now that I’m thinking about it I’m actually not sure I want to say very much about the story at all because it’s very unique and specifically the way the story unfolds is something I think you should just experience without knowing anything detailed about what to expect.

The thing that stood out to me the most about this story was that it was so full of HEART. It was PURE. So utterly pure and beautiful. The author touches on the themes of being true to yourself and following your heart with so much respect and grace and subtly — truly a case of ‘showing’ rather than telling.

The first three quarters or so of the book were a heart-warming, sweet, and romantic second chance love story, and then all of a sudden this HUGE emotional impact just HIT. The whole reason for the timeline suddenly made sense to me and CHILLS ran through me from head to toe. My heart was pounding. The intensity was overwhelming. I needed answers so badly and tears were pouring down my face as I read as fast as I could and just OH MY GOD THE STORY WAS INCREDIBLE! Right up until the very last word.

Without a doubt, this was one of the very best books I’ve ever read. From start to finish, this was a beautifully written, compelling, addictive love story with so much heart that I know this story will stay with me for many years.

If you want a truly fantastic book to read, THIS IS IT!!!

Rating: 5+++++ STARS!!! Standalone Contemporary Romance.

PS: Yes, it is absolutely worth the price!

Book Review — Tinsel: A Lark Cove Novel by Devney Perry

February 17, 2019 by Aestas · 2 Comments

“If I did anything in the next nine days, I hoped to show her that at least one person believed in her, that one person didn’t expect her to conform to a certain role…”

OMG. OMG. OMG!!!!

Holyyyyyy wow!! This book was absolutely incredible and I finished it bawling happy tears!! Is that even a thing?? GAH! Seriously that was one of the most beautiful endings I’ve ever read! Holy freaking feels, you guys! From start to finish, this was a captivating love story with deep emotions that truly made me care for the characters, and the beautiful writing kept me glued to every page! In all honesty, this was one of the BEST BOOKS I’ve read in a long time and without any doubt this is a 5++ STAR FAVORITE!!

Devney Perry is easily my most consistently favorite author. I’ve read every book she’s released and each one has become one of my top favorite recommendations. Whenever anyone comes to me for recommendations, she is always the first author name I give them because her books are just so well rounded and relatable and they feel so real that I truly feel like they’ll appeal to absolutely anyone looking for a beautiful love story to read. Each one of her books is addictive and full of feels, they’re passionate and funny and emotional, they’re so well written and the characters end up feeling like people you know, they’re well paced and while each story is quite distinct they’re also all balanced… In every way her books are everything I could ever want from a romance novel and literally every single book she writes is pure gold!

This is the last standalone in the Lark Cove series and while you could actually read this book alone without any confusion, all the books in the series are top favorites of mine so if you’re looking for a bunch of amazing reading, I would recommend reading them all in order. They’re all listed down below. And here’s the blurb for this book:

Sofia Kendrick has always cherished her tiara. As the youngest daughter of a wealthy New York family, she’s lived the life of an American princess. But after two scandalous divorces and a breakup smear her name across the society rags, the shine from her crown has dulled. People call her superficial, even gaudy.

She’s nothing more than tinsel.

Desperate for escape and starving for peace, Sofia heads to Montana for a holiday weekend with her brother. But she doesn’t get the relaxing vacation she planned. Instead, she’s put to work in a bar alongside Dakota Magee — a man who does not want her help. A man who is set on teaching her a few lessons about real life and hard work. But Sofia has a couple of life lessons of her own to teach. Like how to fall in love.

This story features an interesting heroine because in previous books, she came off as an unpleasant character and certainly not the type of person you’d consider to be heroine material but the author did such an amazing job of making you truly sympathetic to her and make you understand her side of things and why she was the way she was. Another thing I really appreciated about her character is that she *was* flawed but she was aware of it and actively worked on improving herself. It’s hard to fault someone who is trying to be better. She was quite smart and she meant well. Her life had just never led her in a direction where she had any incentive or direction to use any of those for good.

“You think it’s true.”
“Huh?” Thea asked.
“The magazine. You think what she wrote was true.”
“The truth?” She sighed. “Yes and no. Yes, I think they captured the facts. No, I don’t think you’re all of the things she called you.”
“Thank you.” My chin quivered. That was maybe the nicest thing she’d ever said to me. “I, um… I feel kind of lost. I don’t want to be that person.”

As a child she’d always felt overlooked by her wealthy family’s clear preference for her brother and sister’s interests and over time that had turned her into a purposeless individual who someone on the outside might truly see as shallow.

But after a scathing article highlighted all her worst traits and printed them front and center for the world to read, she began to question her life choices and needed an escape, and perhaps a fresh start.

In Montana, staying at her brother’s family home, she got put to work at her sister-in-law’s bar under the scowling but sexy watch of Dakota Magee where slowly but surely she began to find purpose.

“That’s your tip jar. Write your name on it.”
She hesitated, her eyes locked on the marker… Finally, she took the marker and carefully wrote out Sofia in swirly, flowing letters.
When she was done, I took it and set it on the bar, making sure it was front and center… I wanted hers to be visible.
Because she was visible.
She had more potential than she knew. She had more intelligence than most — in spades.
If I did anything in the next nine days, I hoped to show her that at least one person believed in her, that one person didn’t expect her to conform to a certain role because of her heritage or last name or birth order.

It was heartwarming and heartbreaking and both sweet and adorable to see her learning to be a real person and I loved the way Dakota at first begrudgingly but eventually quite sincerely helped her.

“I don’t want to let my family down,” I whispered. “Not again.”
“You might.”
“What?” I stood back, making sure I’d heard him right.
“You might.” He nodded. You might not do exactly what they want or how they want it. But take it from a guy who has disappointed his family for years. It doesn’t matter. Don’t do this because you want to make them proud. Do this because it’s going to feed your spirit. My guess? They’ll be damn proud, no matter what happens.”

Despite how deeply they fell in love with each other, there were actually a lot of things keeping them from building a life together right from the start and I appreciated how believable those hurdles they had to get over her. From family pressures to long distances to life goals, they had a lot of external issues to work through before earning their happily ever after.

Dakota and I soaked up every second together, savoring this time.
I’d lost track of the number of times he and I had broken apart. The number of times we’d agreed to go our separate ways only to find ourselves thrust together again.

This story really packed on all the feels and I loved the progression of time — it just made their story that much more believable and by the end of this book I was seriously bawling happy tears!!! It’s so rare for a book to pull that much emotion out of me but it just hit all the right notes and the ending was PURE ROMANCE PERFECTION!!!

If you’re looking for a truly amazing romance reading adventure, I highly recommend both this book and all the ones in this series! I can almost guarantee you’ll fall completely in love with the Lark Cove love stories!

Rating: 5+ STARS!! Contemporary Adult Romance, can standalone

________________________

Series of standalones.

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Book Review — The Simple Wild: A Novel by KA Tucker

December 6, 2018 by Aestas · 7 Comments

City girl Calla Fletcher attempts to reconnect with her estranged father, and unwittingly finds herself torn between her desire to return to the bustle of Toronto and a budding relationship with a rugged Alaskan pilot…

WOW! WOW! WOW!! This was one of the best books I’ve read all year! And since we’re in the last few weeks of 2018, that’s saying quite a lot! It was breath-taking, captivating, and beautifully written — a story of family bonds, heart-break, healing, and unexpected romance. The story was both slow-building and slow-burning and yet there were times when the sheer depth of emotion had me sobbing like a baby even while I was smiling. I was enthralled by the story and it was really one of those books that just sweeps you away on an adventure — a true escape!

So just to back up a little here, I’d been saving this book ever since it came out in August. I knew I would love it as I’ve loved so many of KA Tucker’s books over the years — in fact, I’ve loved every book of hers that I’ve read! But unfortunately this book was released during an insanely busy part of my summer and I just did not have the time to read it then so I saved it for just that right time when I knew I’d need a winning read and I was right because only a few pages into this book and I was already completely drawn into the story and hooked!

Calla Fletcher was two when her mother took her and fled the Alaskan wild, unable to handle the isolation of the extreme, rural lifestyle, leaving behind Calla’s father, Wren Fletcher, in the process. Calla never looked back, and at twenty-six, a busy life in Toronto is all she knows. But when her father reaches out to inform her that his days are numbered, Calla knows that it’s time to make the long trip back to the remote frontier town where she was born.

She braves the roaming wildlife, the odd daylight hours, the exorbitant prices, and even the occasional—dear God—outhouse, all for the chance to connect with her father: a man who, despite his many faults, she can’t help but care for. While she struggles to adjust to this new subarctic environment, Jonah—the quiet, brooding, and proud Alaskan pilot who keeps her father’s charter plane company operational—can’t imagine calling anywhere else home. And he’s clearly waiting with one hand on the throttle to fly this city girl back to where she belongs, convinced that she’s too pampered to handle the wild.

Jonah is probably right, but Calla is determined to prove him wrong. As time passes, she unexpectedly finds herself forming a bond with the burly pilot. As his undercurrent of disapproval dwindles, it’s replaced by friendship—or perhaps something deeper? But Calla is not in Alaska to stay and Jonah will never leave. It would be foolish of her to kindle a romance, to take the same path her parents tried—and failed at—years ago.

It’s a simple truth that turns out to be not so simple after all.

I loved the vibe of this story! It had a thrill that came with unexpected adventure, deep family feels, a bit of mystery from the unknown nature of her travels, and once you threw in a grumpy sky cowboy into the mix it had an unlikely romance that I couldn’t help rooting for!

“Just don’t make the same mistake I did and fall in love with one of the pilots.”
I chuckle. “I’ll try my best not to.”
“I’m being serious.”
“It’s not a firehouse, Mom.”
She holds her hands in the air in surrender. “Fine. I know. But there’s something about the guys that work up there. I can’t explain it. I mean, they’re crazy, landing on glaciers and mountain ridges, flying through whiteouts. They’re like…” Her eyes search for words within my walls. “Sky cowboys.”
“Oh my God!” I burst out laughing. “Do I seem like the kind of girl who’d fall for some Alaskan sky cowboy?” I can barely get the words out.
She levels me with a flat look. “Do I?”

He saw her as a stuck up high maintenance city girl, and she saw him as a grouchy close minded and judgmental recluse. Even though she was totally out of her element and in a whole new upside down world to the only one she’d really known, the longer she stayed in the wild the more she began to understand and respect their way of life… and the more she began to see that the grouchy sky cowboy she couldn’t stand at first might have a soft spot hidden inside. They each had so much to learn about the other and I absolutely loved seeing them slowly bicker and banter their way to falling in love.

“You should stay another week or two. Or even longer…”
I give him a flat look.
But there’s no hint of humor on his face. “Trust me, Calla, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life if you don’t.”

Even though this story was slow-burning, everything that happened was deeply meaningful and in its own quiet, all-consuming way this book had so much heart!! I cried, I laughed, and I felt it with everything I had.

“We both knew this was never going to be easy,” I hear him whisper.
“Yeah, I guess. I just didn’t think it’d be this hard.”

Bottom line, THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING!! A stellar story and one of my only 5 STAR FAVORITES of the year!

Rating: 5 STARS! Standalone Contemporary Romance.

EDIT: The author has released an unexpected sequel continuing this story!!! Details below:

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Book Review — Five Years Gone by Marie Force

October 10, 2018 by Aestas · 18 Comments

“Where’re you going?”
“I don’t know.”
“When will you be back?”
“I don’t know that either.” He held my face in his hands and gazed at me, seemingly trying to memorize my every feature. “I love you. I’ll always love you.” Then he kissed me as passionately as he ever had and was gone, out the door in a flash of camouflage.
I never saw him again.

GAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

URGHHHHHHH.

ALJSKSJDALKJLKSJDKS

MY FEELS!!!!!!

*sniffle*

HOLY FREAKING HELL. This book wrecked me. I’m sitting here with mascara streaks all over my face. I have no idea what I’m feeling. I’m so deeply conflicted. But I am FEELING ALL THE FEELS with all of my heart. On one hand, this book was absolutely AMAZING. Like screaming-from-the-mountaintops AMAZING. It’s the kind of book that grabs you by the heart-strings and keeps you emotionally connected to every angsty word on every single page. But on the other hand, I’m so conflicted over the ending. SO CONFLICTED. This “situation” that built up over the book had to end one of two ways and even though this book has a complete epilogue, up until the very last word I was rooting for a complete different outcome…. Except, that I’m fully able to admit that even if I had gotten the other outcome, I probably would have still been left broken hearted. So now I’m just a complete and total emotional wreck whose torn between being fighting mad and yet totally in love with this book that has made me FEEL more than any other book has in a long time. Just…. GAH!!! WOW!!! UGH!!!

I need a hug.
And a drink.
And maybe a therapist. :/

*deep breath*

Ok I’m gonna try to do more than just unload all my messy convoluted feels here and review this book with as few details as possible because I really want you to go in spoiler-free cuz honestly I’m just darn curious to see what other people think about this ending. Like, seriously, I want to know.

So the story starts when John and Ava meet. They sparked from the first night they met. He was in the military and couldn’t tell her anything about his work, and she was trying to make a life for herself a little distanced from her overprotective family so they just shared their time together but kept their relationship a secret from the world.

They shared two beautiful, passionate years together until a deadly attack extinguished four thousand lives in the blink of an eye and he grabbed his go-bad, kissed her, walked out the door, and she never saw him again.

They weren’t married or engaged so she didn’t have any legal way to find out anything about his status. All she knew was the at the man she loved more than anything had vanished off the face of the earth and no amount of searching brought her anywhere closer to finding out even the smallest thing about what had happened to him.

She mourned him and the love they’d shared for five long years. And then she had to move on. She couldn’t give up the rest of her life to a memory and she had absolutely nothing tangible left to hold onto.

And everything changed at her sister’s wedding when she was paired up with Eric, the best man who, though fighting demons of his own, warmed a part of her heart that had been cold for so long.

He healed her and she healed him. He was a good man — the best kind, loving, caring, gentle, and understanding. He was everything she needed and they were able to support each other in ways neither of them thought they’d ever feel again.

Every mention of anything that connected to John, brought all the emotions she’d tried to bury crashing back. She healed, but just couldn’t ever truly let go. And no matter how much she tried to move on, she just couldn’t et go of the obsessive, instinctual need to keep searching for the man she’d loved. And Eric supported her every single step of the way — even when it was the hardest thing he’d ever done. And then… a shocking news story changed everything…

You guys, I seriously FELT Ava’s pain. The author conveyed it so well — it was the epitome of “showing rather than telling” and I was right there with the heroine every step of the way. Little things like how she’d read a paper connected to the events that took John away and all the feelings would surge back. As a reader, this made the story feel so much more real.

This story was BUILT so well. It was perfectly paced and took the time to let the emotions of the reader catch up to the characters. Nothing was rushed so I really felt like I was experiencing all the right emotions at all the right times and I really did feel incredibly connected to this story.

It was like a montage of piece after moving piece that together created this intricate web of emotional connections between the characters. And then this one massive moment threw everything into chaos. The complexities of my torn loyalties are a testament to how strong the righting was.

Prior to reading this, I’d been in a bit of a book rut. A lot of books sounded good to me but none were delivering that kind of emotional punch that I so deeply crave in the books I read. So from that standpoint, this book delivered in every way.

You guys I seriously CRIED while reading this. And the way I always know that a book is truly an amazing read is because I didn’t cry out of sadness, I cried out of sheer emotional overflow. I was completely lost IN the moment and the story and my heart broke because no matter which direction the story went it was guaranteed to be heart-breaking.

When I got to the ending I was literally like:

WHAT?????????

OH MY GOD. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sorry, but just…. no!!!!!!

But like, I do get it. And I would have been devastated for *** if **** had **** but still.

I’m so conflicted, but honestly, I think would have preferred it had ended the other way around. Like, emotionally I’m not okay with the outcome. I was right there with her up until the end… but now my sympathies have just shifted. Although… in her defense, I can get where she’s coming from. And I feel like I would have been so sad if it had ended the other way too.

Okay… It’s like if you’re Team Outcome A then this is going to be the best and most satisfying book you’ve read in ages. But if you’re Team Outcome B, you’ll be left with your heart ripped out. BUT… and here’s the conflicting thing: regardless of if you’re rooting for Outcome A or B, you’re still gonna be broken hearted regardless so just… GAHHHHHHHHH!!!! To quote A Knight’s Tale: “Pain! Lots of pain!!!”

And because I’m still so conflicted I have no idea how to rate this book. Like, I want to give it 5+++ STARS, but that feels like a betrayal to my desired outcome. So what I absolutely can say with completely honesty is that this book has 5 STAR FEELS. I can’t promise you that you’ll love what it makes you feel… but regardless you’ll FEEL it with all your heart and soul.

All I can say is that one way or another, you’ll need a hug when you finish reading this book.
That, and a huge glass of wine.
And chocolates.
All the chocolates.

*sniff*

Fuck.

(PS: this can standalone. It has a complete epilogue. There will be another book though, a spinoff standalone focusing on another couple.)

Book Review — Timid: A Lark Cove Novel by Devney Perry

September 4, 2018 by Aestas · 1 Comment

“Thank you,” I whispered.
“For what?”
“For being a fighter.”
“I’m not.” She kissed my chest. “But I’ll always fight for you.”
“Why me?” I asked.
“Because you’re you.”

HOLY FREAKING SQUEEEEEEEEEE!!!! YES YES YES!! This was one of my most HIGHLY ANTICIPATED books of this whole year and is now one of my TOP FAVORITES!! Oh my gosh, it was AMAZING!!

For those of you readers out there who (like me) absolutely love reading about functional couples who talk through their issues and fall crazy madly deeply in love with each other, then this is the book for you!! These characters, their emotions, their romance, their everything FELT SO REAL!! So genuine. So heart-felt. I seriously loved reading every word of this story! Plus, there was even a suspenseful twist towards the end that kept me glued to the page!! I could not put this book down, I loved every single word, and I recommend this book to EVERYONE!!

Honestly, the blurb gives the best intro to the book so I’m just going to share it here for you:

Willa Doon has always been shy. Her quiet demeanor was something she’s always embraced. That is, until Jackson Page moves to town. The one man she desperately wants to take notice struggles to remember her name.

Year after year, Willa stands by, watching as the bartender slash playboy drowns his demons in beer and sex. Then one night, he shows up at her door, suddenly aware that the girl he’s seen around Lark Cove is now a beautiful woman.

Except what he doesn’t remember is that this visit isn’t his first. They spent a night together once before. A night he’s forgotten, thanks to a bottle of tequila.

A night that crushed a timid girl’s heart, and set a broken man on the path to heal them both.

After reading the first standalone in this series (see below), I was sooooo looking forward to Willa and Jackson’s story! Theirs was the perfect story to write next but the good news is that it genuinely can standalone so if you want to read all the books, then you’re in for a big treat, but if you want to read this book alone, you won’t be confused.

Willa’s crush on Jackson had literally begun the moment she first spotted him nearly a decade ago but after years and years of unsuccessfully trying to get his attention, she’d given up hope — after all, he couldn’t even get her name right.

The setup of this story was intense!!! A longing crush. Years of unrequited love. A forgotten night. A broken heart. And now… perhaps… a chance at love.

Had he forgotten me completely in his inebriated state?
“You just went home and fell asleep?” I asked.
He glanced over. “Pretty much. Had some crazy dreams though.”
I narrowed my gaze, assessing his expression. He wasn’t lying. He wasn’t pretending. He wasn’t omitting pieces of his story.
He really had forgotten.
He’d forgotten the best night of my life. The best first kiss in the history of first kisses.
He’d forgotten me.

I think my favorite thing about Willa was that even though she was shy, sweet, and quiet by nature, she was also hella strong and no matter how hard she’d crushed on Jackson, she wasn’t going to just give into him easily the moment he gave her attention. After so many years of ignoring her, she really made him work to earn her heart and her trust, and that really made me respect her.

She shook her head. “I’m not much of a fighter and I rarely stand up for myself. But I’m standing up for you. I’ll fight for you.” Her hands slip up to my cheeks, pushing me back so she could look me in the eye. “I’m not letting you go. And I’ll never leave you behind.”

Jackson was a truly imperfect hero and I liked that because it made him feel very real. He definitely made mistakes and was a little clueless at times, but he was well intentioned to be sure and undeniably persistent in his pursuit of her. I think my favorite thing about him though was that he had no problem admitting his flaws and apologizing for them sincerely. So it was hard not to love him.

“Hey. Don’t cry. I’m the asshole here. I’m sorry.” His hands cupped my face like they had when he’d kissed me. A tear fell and he brushed it away with his thumb. “What can I do?”

My favorite thing about them as a couple was that they genuinely TALKED. This is such a rare and precious thing in books to find couples who talk through their issues instead of just flying off the handle in bouts of stupid. Gah! I loved them! Not to say that they were perfect, because they weren’t. But their flaws were understandable, their mistakes were forgivable, and they way they supported each other was admirable.

He took my face in his hands and gently kissed my forehead. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not staying mad at me even though I deserve it. For getting so worked up over my [*****] that you’d throw down…”
“I’ve never thrown down before but I think I could win.”
He chuckled. “I’d put my money on you.”

And when things did go badly, ohhhh my word, that hug scene was one of the BEST apologies I’ve ever read. It was so real and raw and believable.

Also, side note, but Willa’s parents were amazing! I love when a romance isn’t just about the main couple but includes the family around them and hers was such a wonderful, supportive, and heart-warming unit.

And when Jackson’s past (don’t worry, not an ex!) came crashing back into their lives, it really showed first hand the strength of the relationship that they’ve built.

GAH. I TOTALLY LOVED THEM!!!

“Thank you,” I whispered.
“For what?”
“For being a fighter.”
“I’m not.” She kissed my chest. “But I’ll always fight for you.”
“Why me?” I asked.
“Because you’re you.”

And true to Devney Perry’s now-signature style, this book has a suspenseful understone that really ramps up towards the end and I loved the intensity and mystery it brought to this otherwise sweet and heart-warming romance. It was the perfect counterbalance that really rounded out the whole book perfectly.

This was one of the most genuine and believable romances I’ve read this year and it is definitely now one of my top favorite recommendations!!!

Rating: 4.5 – 5 STARS! Contemporary Adult Romance, can standalone.

________________________

Series of standalones.

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BOOK REVIEW — All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover

July 18, 2018 by Aestas · 105 Comments

I crack open my cookie and slip the fortune out of it. “If you only shine light on your flaws, all your perfects will dim.”

OMG. OMG. OH. MY. GOD!! This was one of the most POWERFUL, BEAUTIFUL, HEART-BREAKING, and HEALING LOVE STORIES I’ve ever read. It’s about a married couple struggling through some very dark days and HOLY EPIC FEELS, you guys!! I read the book in one sitting and absolutely devoured this story. I felt so strongly for this couple and everything they were going through. And then as I was reading there was just this MOMENT where everything CLICKED and I swear I just literally burst into tears and then SOBBED my way through the whole rest of the book. But in the BEST WAY. These weren’t tears of sadness, rather just an EMOTIONAL OVERFLOW. Oh, and WHAT AN EPILOGUE!! It was PERFECT. This book was PERFECT. Everything about it was PERFECT. You have to read it!! One of the BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR!!! 5 STARS ALL THE WAY!

Every once in a while a book comes a long that takes you by surprise and blows you away. This was one of those books for me. It takes an unflinching look at one of the biggest, darkest, most painful struggles a married couple can face and portrays such a raw, honest view of how the different parts of this situation affect the husband and wife both as individuals and as a unit. By going back and forth through the years of their relationship, this book quietly builds an incredible impactful story that worked its way into my heart. I felt deeply connected to this couple’s pain and heartbreak, as well as their love and healing. Not to mention that the writing was oh so beautiful. I’ve read every book Colleen Hoover has written and have loved them all but I have to admit that this one is was really special to me. It’s not that common to find love stories about already married couples — so often, the stories end with a marriage or at best you see glimpses of it in an epilogue — so reading a book where the entirety of the story was dedicated to life after “I do” was both incredibly refreshing and very powerful. With this book, Colleen Hoover has truly reminded me why she is one of my all-time favorite authors whose books I recommend to nearly everyone I meet.

“I have loved you every single second of every day since the moment I laid eyes on you.”

This book really grabbed a hold of my heart from even just the first few pages. As I mentioned, it’s broken up into alternating chapters of ‘thens’ and ‘nows’ going back and forth between the heart-breaking day Quinn and Graham met…

“I’m Graham,” he says, reaching out his hand.
“Quinn.”
Even his smile is sad. It makes me wonder if his smile would be different under different circumstances.
“I would say it’s good to meet you, Quinn, but this is the worst moment of my life.”

… and a time years after their marriage as they faced an unanticipated turn of events that spiraled them down a path they never thought they’d take.

“Our marriage didn’t collapse. It didn’t suddenly fall apart.
It’s been a much slower process.
It’s been dwindling, if you will…
We don’t talk about it…
In our defense, it’s hard to admit that a marriage might be over when the love is still there… The problem is, love and happiness are not concordant. One can exist without the other.”

Gah, this story just felt so REAL. I’ve highlighted so many passages from my book that half of it looks yellow. Colleen Hoover really just peels back the layers of this marriage and lays it out bare. The love. The need. The emptiness. The happiness. The loss. All the different elements playing their part in the story.

Most of the story is told from the heroine’s perspective. Towards the end, you get to see the other side, but it’s done in a very unique way. And I have to admit, she really did such an amazing job of placing the reader right in the heroine’s mind — feeling every emotion that she was going through.

Graham presses his mouth to mine. I can taste his tears. Or maybe they’re my tears. He pulls back and presses his forehead to mine. “I miss you, Quinn. So much. You’re right here, but you aren’t. I don’t know where you went or when you left, but I have no idea how to bring you back. I am so alone. We live together. We eat together. We sleep together. But I have never felt more alone in my entire life.”

In my eyes, jumping back and forth in time was the perfect way to balance this story. It meant that my poor heart got a break from the intensity of what they were going through in the present day, but it also helped grow my understanding of them both as their own selves and as a unit. My heart soared with happiness for them falling in love and ached for the devastation their challenges wreaked on their marriage.

I felt so bad for them and the unfairness of the cards they’d been dealt. I genuinely wanted so badly for them to find a way through the Category 5 storm they were weathering.

The old man leaned forward and looked at me very seriously. “Our marriage hasn’t been perfect. No marriage is perfect. There were times when she gave up on us. There were even more times when I gave up on us. The secret to our longevity is that we never gave up at the same time.”

And OMG….. THE BOX!!!!!

The moment — the moment — I realized the significance of that box, tears sprang to my eyes and I just began to sob. It was the missing piece. It was everything I needed. I actually had to stop reading at one point because I literally couldn’t see the page through my tears. From that point forward, every part of the story was just so emotionally POWERFUL. As I said earlier though, these were GOOD TEARS. These are the kinds of tears I want a book to pull from me. They’re not sad tears, but rather just literally the product of being so connected to the story that your emotions spill over.

“No matter how hard I try… no matter how much I love you… I can’t be the one thing you’ve always wanted me to be…”
A tear immediately falls from my eye. And then another. But I remain stoic as he steps toward me.
“If this is what our marriage is… if this is all it will ever be… will that be enough? Am I enough for you?”

You’re left with the beautiful, resounding truth that when love is real and true, it can conquer anything. I’m not sure where this quote is from but it really rings true with this story that “The grass is greenest where you water it.”

Gah, and the epilogue!! SO BEAUTIFUL. By the end I was just sobbing big ugly crocodile tears of happiness.

“I didn’t marry you just for the good years. I didn’t marry you just for the amazing chemistry we have. And I’d be foolish to think our marriage could last an eternity without a few tough moments. So, while this year has been our toughest yet, I know one thing with complete certainty. I love you more this year than any year that came before it.”

I think my favorite thing about this book was that there wasn’t any fairytale deus-ex-machina-style fix to the problems that this couple faced. I loved that the way they worked through it actually was about how they dealt with it and, rather than finding a magical way around it. It felt so much more real and believable because of this. I’m trying to be as vague as possible to keep this spoiler free but I think you’ll see exactly what I mean when you read it.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough. It’s one of my favorite Colleen Hoover books ever. It’s definitely one of the best books of the year. It’s an instant top recommendation of mine. Just read it. I promise it’s amazing!

Rating: 5 STARS!!! Contemporary Adult Romance Standalone.

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