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reteika23's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Murder
jazzynicolette's review
5.0
You're the one
This book was good from the very first page. Preston and Martese was definitely made for each other. It was like they came into each other lives when they need each other. I thought the ending was perfect.
This book was good from the very first page. Preston and Martese was definitely made for each other. It was like they came into each other lives when they need each other. I thought the ending was perfect.
pamazon45's review
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Unconventional love and situation but nonetheless absolutely a great story. I wish the storyline was longer it just felt rushed but brought in so many points to highlight. Still I enjoyed reading this story. E. Carter eats up another project.
siya_siyonzana's review
2.0
I'm just...
Wow.
What did I just read? Endiya did you do any research sis?
This story started off so good. My heart broke for Martese and Preston started off as an ass. But then everything just went downhill from there.
The guardianship regarding Amaya was so unrealistic.
The situation with Anne and Martese's ex made absolutely no sense.
It's like the author thought of scenes but did not do actual research into how things happen. Preston knew the details of Martese's case so how could he have a consultation with Rick's family? Why would Anne sign her parental rights away to Martese?
There was just a lot going on in this book and there was very little explanation for it. There was no need to make Rick a "hero" after we basically hated him for 90% of the book.
I'm just glad this was a novella because I probably would've DNfd it had it not been.
Wow.
What did I just read? Endiya did you do any research sis?
This story started off so good. My heart broke for Martese and Preston started off as an ass. But then everything just went downhill from there.
The guardianship regarding Amaya was so unrealistic.
The situation with Anne and Martese's ex made absolutely no sense.
It's like the author thought of scenes but did not do actual research into how things happen. Preston knew the details of Martese's case so how could he have a consultation with Rick's family? Why would Anne sign her parental rights away to Martese?
There was just a lot going on in this book and there was very little explanation for it. There was no need to make Rick a "hero" after we basically hated him for 90% of the book.
I'm just glad this was a novella because I probably would've DNfd it had it not been.
shardy1's review
5.0
Excellent
I had so many emotions reading this book. People will go through very bad things in life and none of us can’t say how we would react to an event until we go through it ourselves. I loved the relationship that was built between PP and MM. The growth that was shown between these characters was everything
I had so many emotions reading this book. People will go through very bad things in life and none of us can’t say how we would react to an event until we go through it ourselves. I loved the relationship that was built between PP and MM. The growth that was shown between these characters was everything
readlexread's review
I’ll probably come back to this one because I liked the main premise of two people coming together to care for a child (one was granted guardianship) but whew, some of the opening chapters cover heavy topics that weren’t acknowledged in a content warning so I needed to step back because it wasn’t the lighter-hearted read I was looking for.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Self harm and Violence
shambam's review
5.0
This author has me hooked
Two books in two days by the same author is a record, she knows how to keep you engaged and the plot twists are wild. I cried so hard and I still feel like I need to cry more
Two books in two days by the same author is a record, she knows how to keep you engaged and the plot twists are wild. I cried so hard and I still feel like I need to cry more
now_booking's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
3.75
Another banger by this author. This is my 3rd read in a row by this new-to-me author and I can say she knows how to write deeply emotional, incredibly dramatic romance with love, tears and a high dose of messiness. In this story, Martese is living her HEA with a career military spouse when her existence is overturned upon his death. Rather than being deployed to Afghanistan as she had thought, he’s actually been just miles away with a secret family. Clearly devastated by this betrayal and struggling to process it, Martese’s social work job has her delivering a newly-orphaned child to party boy lawyer, Preston, who was named in the child’s mothers will as the legal guardian. Sparks fly when the two meet and they must help each other heal from past brokenness.
This book was heartbreakingly raw. You could feel the realness in Martese’s emotions as she processed the loss of her husband in such tragic and dishonorable circumstances. She experiences on-page mental breakdowns and so be mindful of that if that may be triggering. I think all the aspects of the book dealing with the main premise were beautifully-handled. But whereas Martese was a complex character dealing with a lot that challenged even her own perceptions of who she was, I feel like less was done with Preston, and there was scope to also have his character as developed. Like why was he an f-boy prior to Martese, what made him so relationship-phobic, what then prompted the sudden shift. I think he started of damaged and interesting but then his character development sort of petered out. Poor Amaya who arrives in the story under tragic circumstances is fantastic, but the severity of the circumstances in which she arrived are glossed over- she’s expected to be okay and I suppose she is but it felt weird that they weren’t more focused on her mental health when she as a child was going through trauma arguably at least as severe as Martese’s. It didn’t seem on-brand for Martese and Preston to have overlooked this and for it not to be interrogated on page being how mental health-positive this book was overall. Also, I found the transition of Martese and Preston’s relationship to an intimate one very abrupt and somewhat unrealistic. It didn’t really make sense to me. Furthermore, the resolution at the end and the explanation of Rick’s betrayal just didn’t really add up for me- I found it to be one twist too many for my taste.
Nonetheless, overall, I adored this. This author writes raw, emotional romances that you can’t put down whether or not you like the characters and whether or not you think they’re messy. The characters are real and problematic and eminently human and eminently deserving of love and that’s unique in romance where sometimes it can appear that only perfectly nice characters deserve to be loved. I’m already prepped to read my 4th in a row from her!
This book was heartbreakingly raw. You could feel the realness in Martese’s emotions as she processed the loss of her husband in such tragic and dishonorable circumstances. She experiences on-page mental breakdowns and so be mindful of that if that may be triggering. I think all the aspects of the book dealing with the main premise were beautifully-handled. But whereas Martese was a complex character dealing with a lot that challenged even her own perceptions of who she was, I feel like less was done with Preston, and there was scope to also have his character as developed. Like why was he an f-boy prior to Martese, what made him so relationship-phobic, what then prompted the sudden shift. I think he started of damaged and interesting but then his character development sort of petered out. Poor Amaya who arrives in the story under tragic circumstances is fantastic, but the severity of the circumstances in which she arrived are glossed over- she’s expected to be okay and I suppose she is but it felt weird that they weren’t more focused on her mental health when she as a child was going through trauma arguably at least as severe as Martese’s. It didn’t seem on-brand for Martese and Preston to have overlooked this and for it not to be interrogated on page being how mental health-positive this book was overall. Also, I found the transition of Martese and Preston’s relationship to an intimate one very abrupt and somewhat unrealistic. It didn’t really make sense to me. Furthermore, the resolution at the end and the explanation of Rick’s betrayal just didn’t really add up for me- I found it to be one twist too many for my taste.
Nonetheless, overall, I adored this. This author writes raw, emotional romances that you can’t put down whether or not you like the characters and whether or not you think they’re messy. The characters are real and problematic and eminently human and eminently deserving of love and that’s unique in romance where sometimes it can appear that only perfectly nice characters deserve to be loved. I’m already prepped to read my 4th in a row from her!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Violence, Vomit, Stalking, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Police brutality
steel_city_peach's review
4.0
This was definitely a good read. I enjoyed all of the twists and turns. I absolutely loved that it wasn’t predictable.