Book Review – The Sweet Gum Tree by Katherine Allred

“You’re the only one I’ve ever wanted, Alix, the only one I’ll ever want. That’s a promise.”

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Oh WOW  !!! What an AMAZING book!! Love! love! love!!

I’m a mess – it was an intense, utterly riveting book that I literally could not  put down, that kept my heart racing, kept me near tears for a good chunk of it, that had me hanging off of every word that I read, and the story just ripped my heart out but yet still had a very sweet ending.

The writing was beautiful and flowed effortlessly, the characters were vivid, and the story was gripping and sucked you right it from the start.

If you are looking for a captivating, bittersweet, emotional read with a happy ending, this is it!

I started reading this book around midnight after a whole day of traveling expecting to just read for an hour and put it down. Boy was I wrong! I read straight through the night and finished the book around 6am when the sun came up!! I just couldn’t tear myself away from it!

The first half of the book starts out in a small Southern town where Alix, an 8 year-old girl from a very well-respected family who reaches out to help Nick, the 10-year old son of a dead-beat drunk who owns the local salvage yard. She befriends him and over the years, her family shelters him as he and Alix grow closer and closer. Even from a young age, they have a connection that is just so beautiful and powerful.

“…while I was vowing to save Nick, he had taken on the job of being my protector and staunchest defender.”

As they grow up, it becomes impossible for them to deny the love they’ve always had for each other.

“There was only one boy I wanted, and I lived for the times when I could be alone with him. It was simple. When I was with Nick, I was happy. When I wasn’t, I was restless and miserable.”

But when tragedy outside of their control strikes, Nick is forced to leave town. The second half of the book occurs 15 years later when Nick returns home and tries with everything he’s got to put their relationship back together.

This book got me so into it, that when I read these words, ““Then, fifteen years after he left, Nick came home.”, I just felt my heart clenched right up and tears literally just started falling from my cheeks. I just needed  things to be made right again so badly.

“Do you want to know the real reason I came back, Alix? It was because of you. You’re my roots. Wherever you are would be home to me…I’ve never stopped loving you. I won’t give up that easily.”

There is a huge twist to the story with secrets that come out explaining the true reason why he had to leave that had me almost hyperventilating and clutching at my heart.

This story is about powerful love, loss and betrayal, family, second chances, secrets that test the strength of family and relationship bonds, overcoming prejudices, but most importantly its about a very beautiful and sweet love story that start when Alix and Nick were young and never lets go throughout all the years of hardship.

The book was told from Alix’s perspective – almost as if she were retelling it from the end. But I loved how, especially in the first part of the book when she is a child, she explains it through the eyes of child while still giving insight on the side from her adult, mature self.

I just totally fell in love with Nick. He’s was exactly my kind of hero – first he was totally HOT, but what really melted my heart was how protective he was. I just love that quality in a man. And he was just such a GOOD guy – so respectful, always trying to do the right thing, and he was just completely, utterly swoony. I’m smiling as I write this just thinking about him.

But that isn’t to say that he (or Alix) was perfect – they made their fair share of mistakes but the mistakes were understandable… I didn’t always agree with what they did, but I could totally understand why they did it. But the strength of their love for each other won out in the end.

The intensity of Nick and Alix’s love took my breath away at times and while there are a fair number of sex scenes, they are not portrayed very graphically. They are more focused on descriptions of emotions rather than acts.

I think fans of Take This Regret will really enjoy this book, and vice versa.

This book is going on my favorites shelf! Absolutely LOVED it!! A must-read!!

Rating: 5 stars. Standalone romance. 

• Buy THE SWEET GUM TREE (Kindle)