Georgia’s Bookshelf

Synopsis:

The Griffins and the Gallos have been battling for control of Chicago’s underworld for generations.

Their bitter rivalry reignites when Aida, the youngest and wildest Gallo sibling, crashes a party at the Griffin mansion, accidentally setting fire to the library.

To stave off all-out war, her father arranges a marriage with Callum Griffin, eldest son and heir.

Cold, ambitious, and brutal, Callum is determined to tame his headstrong bride. Aida is more than capable of giving as good as she gets – starting with poisoning Callum on their wedding night. In their struggle for dominance, who will break first?

Genre: Dark Mafia Contemporary Romance

Tropes:

Arranged Marriage
Enemies to Lovers
Age Gap
Mafia

My Thoughts:

Brutal Prince is the first book in the Brutal Birthright Series by Sophie Lark and my first introduction to the author. I’d seen a snippet of it on TikTok and instantly added it to my TBR. A mafia romance is questionable by some, but is right up my alley.

I knew when planning out my A-Z Reading Challenge that Brutal Prince was going to be my choice for the letter B. This was a book I was extremely excited about and was anticipating when I’d be able to read it. However, as I came closer to reading it, I saw on TikTok that a lot of people had negative thoughts on it and the whole Brutal Birthright series – not something you want to see when you’re excited about a book you’re finally getting round to read. I didn’t let this sway me because obviously, here I am with a review having read it for myself.

Brutal Prince follows two rival mafia families who have been at war for generations. The Gallos are the Italian mafia and the Griffins form the Irish mafia.
The rivalry begins again following a visit from the Gallo children to the Griffins daughter’s birthday party, Nessa, where Aida, the youngest of the Gallos accidentally sets fire to the Griffin library.

Callum, oldest and only Griffin son is furious and tracks down the Gallos to seek revenge and to find the pocket watch that was stolen from him. When finding one Gallo son and Aida, he sets his bodyguard to attack the brother. To prevent Callum from having the watch she stole, Aida throws Callum’s grandfather’s watch into the lake, before helping her and her brother escape.

Upon hearing of the events that happened at the lake and at the library, the Gallo and Griffin fathers meet to come to a mutual agreement that would benefit them both and end their rivalry. The fathers decide to arrange a marriage between Callum, the oldest and only Griffin son and Aida, the youngest and only Gallo daughter, leaving everyone in the family confused and furious.

Within two weeks of the agreement, Aida and Callum are married, and Aida has began living in the Griffin family home. At first the pair can’t stand each other and are forced to spend time together to navigate their new marriage to make it appear real to other people in their community. During their period of hatred, their pair embark on various tricks and pranks on each other, one being that Aida eats strawberries on their wedding day, after learning Callum is deathly allergic.

After consummating their marriage, their angry feelings towards each other slowly develop into something more and as they spend more time with one another, working together on family related business, they develop unexpected feelings.

They attend a range of events with one another, where they meet with a familiar Russian mafia, the butcher. Not long after this event, the butcher attempts to burn down part of the Gallo family business, following a conversation with Callum that ended with an unwanted result. Callum, Aida and the Gallo brothers gather together to hit back on the Russian butcher, but when attending the strip-club the butcher’s mistress works at, Aida and Callum are drugged and kidnapped in retaliation. Aida is able to break free and save Callum, before both escaping.

Just when things were beginning to settle, Aida is kidnapped by her obsessive ex boyfriend, who can’t move past their breakup. Callum comes to the rescue after discovering she’s gone missing and finding one of her shoes in a car park. After tracking her down, Callum finds Aida and attempts to save her – only for the house to be set on fire, resulting in their escape being harder to navigate.

After a physical fight with Aida’s ex boyfriend, Callum is left hanging on the edge of the falling building, loosing hope he’ll survive, only Aida is able to save him. The pair return home and when home, Aida gives Callum the pocket watch that she had thrown into the lake, after having a diver go in and retrieve it, upon learning of the sentimental value. This closes to the story to an end, where Aida and Callum have gone from hating to each other, to falling in love.

Oh my god! Wow! I’m so glad I ignored the opinions that I had read of this book before I got round to reading it myself.

I throughly enjoyed this book and it was just what I had been craving. It’s been ages since I’ve read a spicy mafia book and this one definitely hit the spot. Also, the illustrations inside of the book? 😳 Wow, I wasn’t expecting to see certain scenes actually visualised in the book 🥵. That was something I wasn’t aware of when starting to read this book 😂. I had seen the ones of Aida and Callum, but I just thought they were to help readers visualise what the characters looked like, not what they also looked like in specific scenes 😂. I really wanted to read a possessive and dark romance book and this fully gave “touch her and die” vibes. Especially when Callum’s bodyguard made negative and degrading comments about Aida, resulting in Aida attempting to shoot the bodyguard in retaliation for him ending her brother’s sports career. This prompting the “touch her and die” comments from Callum.

I started this at 10pm on Saturday and read it all the way through till Sunday, finishing at 3am. I couldn’t put it down!

I enjoyed the plot line and characters a lot. I liked how Aida wasn’t a shy and innocent character, she held her own and was sarcastic and provoking.

I liked that we had an introduction to Nessa, who I assume will be the main female character for book 2 and also how Nico hinted at his attraction for Nessa – gives a sense of what book 2 will be about.

I do think that the book was quite short and felt a bit rushed. I was hoping and expecting it to be more of a slow-burn romance where they were enemies for a lot longer. I think with how short the book was, I wasn’t able to become emotionally invested in the characters as much or as giddy as I was expecting. I think if the book had of been longer, where Aida and Callum despised each other for a lot longer, I would’ve been very giddy and excited for when they eventually got together. I also think consummating their marriage early on prevented the slow-burn from developing tension, where you were like “finally” when they eventually got together.

I feel like they didn’t hate each other for as long as I hoped and with it being the first book in the series, I would’ve liked it to be more prolonged and slow-burn because it’s something I don’t think we’ll see in the next books of the series – since their family rivalry has ended.
I also think because it was rushed, we didn’t get to see a development of the other characters. I feel like Aida barely had interactions with her own family, so when they met for her mother’s anniversary, it felt pointless and lacked any emotional connection or empathy. It just felt like a filler, if anything. Along with the spice that was included, I think it could’ve been a lot spicer. The few spicy scenes that were included, were spicy, but I think there was room for more chapters containing spice.

For these reasons, that’s why I gave it the rating I did. If the story had’ve had more of a slow burn, where tension could build, I would’ve gave the book 5 ⭐️’s, so that’s the only reason why it didn’t.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Georgia

♥

January 08, 2024 No comments

Synopsis:

It’s been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge without a trace.

Back again to tie up loose ends and care for her ailing father, Nic is soon plunged into a shocking drama that reawakens Corinne’s case and breaks open old wounds long since stitched.

The decade-old investigation focused on Nic, her brother Daniel, boyfriend Tyler, and Corinne’s boyfriend Jackson. Since then, only Nic has left Cooley Ridge. Daniel and his wife, Laura, are expecting a baby; Jackson works at the town bar; and Tyler is dating Annaleise Carter, Nic’s younger neighbor and the group’s alibi the night Corinne disappeared. Then, within days of Nic’s return, Annaleise goes missing.

Told backwards–Day 15 to Day 1–from the time Annaleise goes missing, Nic works to unravel the truth about her younger neighbor’s disappearance, revealing shocking truths about her friends, her family, and what really happened to Corinne that night ten years ago.

Genre: Suspenseful, Mystery-Thriller Fiction

Themes:

Missing Person

Secrets

My Thoughts:

I can’t quite remember where I saw All The Missing Girls by Megan Miranda, but it intrigued me enough to add it to my TBR jar.

After reading All your Perfects, I was itching to read a book, so I decided to choose one from my newly made TBR jar. Alongside the A-Z Reading Challenge, I made a TBR jar filled with additional books I wanted to read this year. So when I gave the jar a good shake, All The Missing Girls was the first book from the jar.

I’ve not read anything by Megan Miranda, so this is my first read by the author.

All The Missing Girls follows Nicolette (Nic) as she returns back to her hometown, 10 years after the disappearance of her friend Corinne. Nic is back in town to clear out and sell her childhood home, as her father is living in a nursing home, after being diagnosed with Alzheimers. Before returning home, Nic received a letter from her father that read “That girl, I saw that girl”, but when questioning her father, he’s not lucid – prompting Nic to wonder what really happened with Corinne. The police files and evidence remain untouched, almost forgetting 18 year old Corinne’s disappearance 10 years ago. The chapters flick between present time and memories Nic has of Corinne before and during the time she disappeared.

The story continues to two weeks later, where Nic has been visited by her fiancé as another 18 year old girl has gone missing, Annaleise Carter, the same girl who Tyler had in his truck the day he visited Nic on the day she returned to town.

After persuading her fiancé to go back home, she receives a visit from old flame Tyler and upon his startling entrance to her home, she’s left uneasy at his appearance. She receives a phone call from her brother asking her who she’s with and when he finds out who, he’s demanding her to get out of the house – reaffirming her uneasiness. Police sirens begin to grow louder, where she demands Tyler tells her what he did. It’s where she realised the blood and dirt on his fingers, before he informs Nic that they found a body.

Reverting to the previous day, Nic is waiting for fiancé Everett to be asleep, before she uses the key from her father’s wardrobe and slips out to the woods where Annaleise was taken. She goes to Annaleise’s home and enters to find answers for her disappearance. When looking through her things, she finds artwork of Corinne and decides to take them, alongside her laptop. Later on, she goes to visit Tyler but he’s nowhere to be found and when attempting to leave, she’s encouraged to stay by the bartender as he spots a car that’s been circling the street. When returning home, Nicola hunts through Annaleise’s laptop, only to find nothing but missing records. During this, Nic reflects on the day of Corrine’s disappearance, where her brother punched her, leading Tyler to punch her brother back. Nic relalises that Annaleise was their alibi when they were questioned by the police.

Skipping back another day, it is revealed that Nic’s fiancee, Everette is in town to help Nic’s father when he’s being questioned by police about his whereabouts when Corinne disappeared. It sparks Everette to want to know the events leading up to Corinne’s disappearance, in which Nic reveals they went to a fair as a group and each person left at different times, unknowing what actually happened to Corinne.

The pair go to Nic’s brothers house for food and when enjoying a meal with his wife Laura, she reveals that Tyler was the last person to contact Annaleise on the night she went missing, sparking the idea that he was involved. When Nic attempts to place back money she borrowed from brother Daniel in his office, she discovers a key with the letter ‘A’ on it. She questions the key, before taking it with her.

Jumping back to the previous day, Nic is searching through her father’s bedroom after he tells her to get rid of things – especially with the impending arrival of the police who may have a search warrant. When searching, she finds a notebook and several pieces of paper in a fan. Before she can look into them further, she’s met with the arrival of her fiancé, who is in town to prevent police from questioning his father-in-law with dementia. The pair go to visit her father in the nursing home and when arriving, a comment is made about another visitor – that being Tyler. During their interactions, Nic’s father makes a comment about how he has to pay for it, when he is told not to speak to anyone who comes to question him.

Going back yet another day, Nic is outside her house late at night when she hears footsteps running through the woods. She decides to follow them, in hopes of discovering who they are and where they’re going. When following them, she finds them going to Annaleise’s home but is unable to identify who they are. She decided to visit Tyler to see if it was him, but is met with Corinne’s ex boyfriend Jackson, who warns her to stay away from Tyler as he’s being pestered enough by the police. During their conversation, Jackson reveals Annaleise’s obsession with Corinne’s disappearance where she would ask lots of questions and act like her. Instead of following Jackson’s instructions, she finds Tyler and asks of his whereabouts and he reveals it wasn’t him in the woods. He’s being scrutinised by the police as they believe he is responsible for Annaleise’s disappearance since the pair had been involved with one another.

Nic reflects on the stories that came to light during Corinne’s disappearance and the type of character she was – reckless and full of secrets. The reveal that she was pregnant before she disappeared is mentioned and how despite his denial of seeing her the night she disappeared, Jackson received a voicemail from Corinne begging him not to leave.

Whilst back at home, Nic spots another person running through the woods late at night, so again, she decides to follow them. Only she finds out it’s Annaleise’s brother meeting up with friends, who is seemly unfazed by her disappearance.

8 days after Annaleise’s disappearance, Nic is visited by a detective asking questions about her past relationship with Tyler and whether him breaking off his relationship with Annaleise has anything to do with Nic’s return home. The detective begins leading to the conclusion that it was a coincidence that Annaleise went missing the day Nic returned home, following the end of Tyler and Annaleise’s relationship. Before anymore questions can be asked, Daniel and Nic rush to their father’s nursing home, where he had taken a bad turn. When arriving at the nursing home, they find their father restraint and sedated, following an outburst where he believed Nic was in danger. They return home only to find that someone has been in the house looking through their belongings.

A few days earlier, Nic goes back to the fairground where events had previously went down. While there, she reflects on the events that happened before Corinne’s disappearance as a way to envision what Annaleise witnessed that day. During her reflection, it is revealed that after Daniel punched Nic, he was secretly comforted by Corinne, in a more than friendly way. A few days later to this, Jackson, Corinne’s ex boyfriend revealed that he didn’t know she was pregnant, despite what everyone else thought and that the baby couldn’t have been his. Only later on in Nic’s memories, it is revealed that the pregnancy test was hers, but Corinne hid it in her bin.

2 days after Annaleise’s disappearance, the community is searching different areas of the town. When searching motels, Nic speaks to a man who off the record says he saw a girl running through the woods and through a motel window. Nic begins retracing her steps into the motel room and when redialling the phone, it rings her brother.
The day after Annaleise is declared missing, Nic finds her brother car at her home. When searching the house, she can’t find him but can hear his phone ringing. After looking inside his car for answers, she looks towards the garage where she then begins heading. In the garage she finds Daniel digging up the concrete as he’s concerned about who laid the concrete originally and has grown suspicious as to why his father doesn’t want the house sold and why it was laid the day Corinne went missing. Nic calls for help from Tyler and the trio begin digging the concrete floor up, after digging for a while, they find a body of a girl with long hair, seemingly belonging to Corinne. After discovering the body, they decide to remove it from their home and take it to Tyler’s workplace.

Going back to the previous day, before Annaleise went missing, Nic is visited by Annaleise herself who is trying to post something through the door anonymously, only Nic catches her in the act. Nic invites her in, where Annaleise reveals she has photographs of Nic’s house during the time Corinne went missing and in the images, a body can be seen alongside a shadow of a person. Annaleise explains that she’d been blackmailing Nic’s father and now it’s Nic’s turn to be blackmailed. Annaleise states she can have the photographs in exchange for money that Nic doesn’t have. Annaleise leaves Nic to think it over, but not before taking her ring as leverage. Nic contacts Tyler and reveals what Annaleise has done, both of them questioning who the shadow could be – her brother or her father. When questioning the identity of the shadow, Nic’s brother arrives and sees the photographs – him being equally shocked at the discovery of what happened to Corinne. Nic explains the blackmail to her brother and Tyler, before Tyler contacts Annaleise to come to the house under false pretences. When Annaleise arrives, the trio attempt to persuade her to stop her blackmailing and return Nic’s ring, but before doing so she runs off into the woods and the trio loose her. During a reflection to the day Corrine disappeared, Nic thinks about how she saw Corrine at the side of the road when driving, Corrine walked out in front of the car Tyler and Nic were driving in. Leading them to swerve to avoid hitting Corrine, but when getting out and looking for her, it remained unknown whether they’d hit her.

Going back to the day Tyler arrives at the house covered in pollen, he reveals a body has been found, belonging to Annaleise. Nic begins thinking of different possibilities for her death before asking whether she had a gunshot. When Tyler confirms the gunshot, Nic thinks about her brother and how he had their fathers gun, only she remembers how Annaleise was seen entering the motel after leaving the woods, meaning that Nic’s brother couldn’t be the one who killed her. Nic thinks about the number Annaleise called at the motel, remembering that it was for her brother and sister-in-law’s house. This is when Nic puts the pieces together that it was Laura, her sister-in-law who murdered Annaleise because of her affair with her husband. The puzzles begin to connect as Nic places her brother as the shadow entering Annaleise’s house and him being the reason for the missing files – he did it to hide his affair. During this, Tyler confirms to Nic that it was her that killed Corinne when she stepped in the road.

As Tyler is revealing everything to Nic, police sirens can be heard, Nic realises that she needs to make it look like Tyler and her were sleeping together to avoid Tyler being framed for Annaleise’s murder, as he is covered in pollen from the farm where she was found. They are questioned by the police, but ultimately aren’t arrested for Annaleise or Corinne’s murder.

The story ends 3 months later where Tyler and Nic are expecting a child together and are renovating her childhood home in preparation for her father moving in with them. Annaleise’s life is cracked open and scrutinised but her murder remains a mystery.
Woah! When I first began reading this I was really struggling to get into the book and I fully thought I would end up DNFing it. I struggled to understand the writing style and the way that it was set out, but I stuck with it and I’m so glad that I did. The more I read, the more I understood Megan’s writing style and the way it was laid out.

The story goes backwards, starting from the day Nicolette arrives back home and goes back each day, with each day revealing something more about the story and events that resulted in Corinne and Annaleise’s disappearances.
Within each chapter, there are a series of flashbacks to memories that Nic has of Corinne and to the day she disappeared. At first, I found this hard to understand when it was a flashback and when it was present time, as there wasn’t any note to show it was a flashback. The only indication was that the first few words of the start of the paragraph were in bold and a different font. Once I understood when was present time and a memory, I was able to follow along more closely.

Alongside the flashbacks, I initially struggled with knowing the timeline of events as it doesn’t go in chronological order. The chapters work in a timeline that works backwards, starting with Nic’s arrival home, before jumping to the hook of the story where Tyler is covered in pollen. The story then jumps back to 2 weeks after Annaleise’s disappearance, before working back a day at a time, eventually leading up to the day of her disappearance and then going back to the two weeks after her disappearance and the day she is found. This was something I struggled with chapter to chapter, being able to understand what came before and after, but majority of the time the events continued into the next chapter. Once I understood the timeline, I was able to understand the events more. I think it was an interesting approach to the story and enjoyed it, the events were flipped in a way.
I think Megan did a very good job of describing what the characters were like through Nic’s perspective. I felt like I was able to gain a full insight into what each a character’s personality was like. Through Nic’s memory, Corinne came across as a girl who was popular and always looking for trouble. She had two close friends who would follow her around, making them easy to manipulate. Corinne came across as a good friend, but extremely reckless and manipulative. I envisioned her as similar personalities to Allison from Pretty Little Liars.
The way this book was detailed, I had very vivid images of how it could look on a screen as a series and I would love to see it happen. It reminded me a lot of Amazon prime’s Cruel Summer series, which I enjoyed. The whole story is based on the premise of secrets.

I throughly enjoyed reading this book, despite thinking it would end in a DNF. I couldn’t put down my kindle and after each chapter, I wanted to know more. The chapters seemed very long at first, but as I became more interested, they didn’t seem long enough. I think the book length was the perfect length, not too long or too short. The only thing missing was the explanation of how Corinne’s body ended up under the concrete. It was alluded to being Nic’s father, but it would’ve been nice to see how she got from being hit by Nic’s car to being under the garage floor, as it wasn’t mentioned.

I thought that Corinne could randomly turn up alive on Nic’s doorstep, so I wasn’t expecting her to be under the concrete – that was a surprise. I did suspect that it could’ve been either the father, Tyler, Nic or her brother. I just wasn’t expecting Nic to have not known she killed her. It’s always deceiving when you think it’s the main character because even though it’s their perspective, they aren’t going to give it away that it’s them straight away. They’ll always hide some truth from the reader. I fully didn’t see Laura being Annaleise’s killer, but it wasn’t shocking.

I have to say, my heart was racing ever so slightly, which makes it the first book to have made any sort of movement since Verity. The title did throw me off a bit, ‘All The Missing Girls’ implied and gave the impression that there would be a group of girls missing, not two. I guess the title is the plural of two, but I was expecting there to be more than two and potentially a serial killer in the town who was targeting girls.

It would be interesting to read other books by Megan Miranda, not anytime soon (extensive tbr), but potentially in the future.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Georgia

♥

January 07, 2024 No comments

Another tag I saw on bookstagram by another fellow reader and thought it would be fun to add my answers!

Morning or Evening? – I’m a night owl, so I have to say evening. I much prefer reading in bed when everyone’s asleep and it’s quiet. I feel like I can fully immerse myself into the reading world and concentrate on the story.
I’ve tried reading during the day, but I just can’t get into a book. Mainly because I live at home with my parents and two siblings, so it’s always a lively house.

Audiobook or Ebook? – I’m an Ebook reader through and through! I do love physical books, but the lack of space in my bedroom prevents me from being able to be a physical reader.

I used to read on my phone until Christmas, where my parents got me a kindle ~ isn’t she pretty?

Paperbacks or Hardbacks? – This is a tough one! I use to always hate hardbacks, but I like them because the spine doesn’t crack and the cover holds its shape ~ but equally I do like a paperback. So I guess both? I just wish hardbacks weren’t so tall.

Mood reader or TBR? – I think I’m a mood reader, but I’m also a planner so I think that prevents me from being a mood reader. There are times when I’m craving a certain romance trope, but a lot of the time I have my books planned out.

For example, I’m doing the A-Z reading challenge this year and I have all my books planned ~ and I’m doing it in alphabetical order (preventing me from being a mood reader)

I do have a tbr jar this year, so that’s also preventing me from being a mood reader.

Emotional or Happy Reads? – Ooh I have to say both! Early 2023 I would’ve said happy reads only, but then I read Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover and that had me unexpectedly crying ~ so I’m saying both, with the condition that the books are a happy emotional read.

Silence or Noise? – Silence! I cannot read well during the day ~ especially when a certain brother is playing on his PS5.

I just for the life of me cannot concentrate with background noise, it’s the main reason I’m a night reader. I am going to attempt reading whilst having background noise such as rain or a cracking fire.

Bookmark or Dog Ear? – Bookmark forever! I love choosing a pretty design and I can’t deal with folding over pages. I like my books to look crisp and brand new.

Old or New Releases? – I have no preference! I read a variety of ages books, it depends on what is being labelled old. There are books that are older than others, but are new to my radar. There are also classics that I am yet to read.

Classic Lover or Hater? – Neither! I haven’t read any classic books so I can’t say I hate them ~ although Jane Austen’s books are on my list, along with a few other classics.

One Book or Multiple?– I have the attention span of a goldfish, so I am a one book girlie only. I struggle to remember plot lines, so if I were to add a second book to the mix, I’d never remember what happens or I’d create an alternative ending of the two mixed together.
I also can’t really read a series back to back because I forget what happens in which book, which stresses me out.

Georgia

♥

January 05, 2024 No comments

Synopsis:

Quinn and Graham’s perfect love is threatened by their imperfect marriage. The memories, mistakes, and secrets that they have built up over the years are now tearing them apart.

The one thing that could save them might also be the very thing that pushes their marriage beyond the point of repair.

Genre: Contemporary Romance Fiction

Tropes:

Marriage in Trouble
Souls Mates
Second Chance
Infertility

My Thoughts:

The first book review of 2024 and of course it had to be a book by my favourite author, Colleen Hoover.

All Your Perfects kicked off my A-Z Reading Challenge that I set for 2024 and of course, I had to start alphabetically – making All Your Perfects my reading choice for the letter A.

When I planned All Your Perfects as my read for letter A, I didn’t have any idea of what the storyline was about. I simply chose it because of my trust in Colleen Hoover. When it came to setting out my book journal, I discovered that it’s actually book number 4 of the Hopeless series – oops! A quick search on google reassured me that despite it being a series, each book can be read as a standalone. It wasn’t until searching the tropes that I learned it’s about a marriage is crisis and second chances – it would pay me to actually read the synopsis before reading the book.

I must say, I wasn’t very hopeful towards reading this book. I just felt like it was a book of Colleen’s that might leave me feeling ‘meh’. After I read Reminders of Him, I developed very high expectations of any other emotional books that she’s created – so part of me was expecting the same emotional experience of bawling my eyes out at 3am.

All Your Perfects follows the marriage between Quinn and Graham, who meet in an unconventional way – outside Quinn’s ex boyfriend’s apartment door, waiting for each other’s significant other to finish their affair.

Whilst waiting outside for the affair to finish, the pair become acquaintances, bonded by their reeling heartbreak and sharing of the Chinese that they stole from their significant others, before parting as odd acquaintances, only to meet up months later and developing a whirlwind and unexpected romance.

Despite meeting at their lowest points, they develop an instant attraction and spark to one another, making it seem fated and impossible to ignore.

We meet them 8 years later, far from a picture-perfect romance that they used to be, where they are struggling with real obstacles of marriage, barely talking about their problems to one another and the struggles of Quinn’s fertility.

Told in fragments, the story alternates from past and present – the past being their happiest and development of their relationship and the present being their most difficult and breakdown of their marriage. With every glimpse into their happy past, it only makes their present more saddening to learn about.

Then (past) – The last thing Quinn expected was to meet the love of her life outside of her cheating ex fiancés door. Despite leaving his number the night of their significant other’s affair, Quinn doesn’t make any attempts to contact Graham, fearing that any relationship with Graham would remind her of her lowest point. A year after leaving behind their cheating partners, Quinn and Graham reconnect by fate at a restaurant.

Now (present) – Seven years later, Quinn and Graham’s perfect love is threatened by their imperfect marriage and fertility struggles. The memories, mistakes and secrets they built up following their fertility devastation begins tearing them apart.

As the story is from the perspective of Quinn, we learn of a woman who is drowning in grief and shame, as she comes to terms with the possibility that her dream of being a mother will not happen. This struggle places a huge strain on her marriage to Graham, who she feels an immense amount of guilt for, as she’s not able to make him a father. Their fertility struggle results in the pair becoming lost within their marriage, keeping secrets about their feelings and like ghosts within their own marriage.

During the present, we see the pair in a constant cycle where Quinn prepares time and time again for her greatest wish to come true, only to be met with devastation. The devastation leaves Quinn withdrawn from her marriage to Graham, who wants nothing more than to reconnect with the woman he fell in love with 8 years ago.

The reflection to the past shows the development of Quinn and Graham’s picture-perfect and whirlwind romance that develops and progresses over a year. The pair quickly become engaged and married, where on their wedding day, they make a promise – should they ever want a divorce, they would open a wooden brown box with some secret contents. Leading to the impression that the contents inside could lead to the saving grace of their marriage. The contents are revealed at the end of the book as being letters they each wrote to one another, only Graham has added letters, detailing his feelings since their fertility struggles and how despite their struggles, he will always choose Quinn.

Throughout the book, I wanted to shout at Graham and Quinn and shake them into seeing sense. The fact that they weren’t able to communicate with one another was extremely frustrating because it would solve the main issue in their marriage – aside from the infertility.

I found the alternating chapters between now and then very effective in developing the characters and making me develop an emotional connection to them. It allowed for the development of the stark contrast in their relationship, which personally made me root for them to get back to the way they were in the past.

In terms of the fertility storyline, I wasn’t sure what the result would be for Quinn and Graham in their journey to parenthood. Through the book, I did hope that they’d eventually succeed with their dream of being parents, but I also liked the way it did pan out. I think it was fitting that Quinn eventually came to terms with her fertility and found peace within it. I think this ending was important because it showed that they were able to fix their marriage without having a baby and not because they had to for the sake of having a baby. Quinn’s miscarriage and hysterectomy did have me reeling for her because I did think she’d eventually have her miracle and I really hoped she would, but I like that the story wasn’t predictable. I do wonder why Quinn’s sister being a surrogate wasn’t an option.

When it came to opening the wooden box they created on their wedding day, the letters from Graham had me welling up. I wasn’t bawling like I have done previously with Colleen’s books, but I had tears in my eyes – especially when Graham was revealing that despite their infertility devastation, he would always choose Quinn. Since the story is from Quinn’s perspective, I liked the inclusion of the letters, as I was able to gain a full insight into Graham’s thoughts and feelings, as opposed to reading Quinn’s assumptions of them. I think the letters were essential since it was all from Quinn’s POV. I really liked how attentive Graham was and how despite being constantly pushed away by Quinn, he never left her side – a true example of ‘for better for worse’. He could’ve so easily walked away, but he didn’t and I think that just shows how much he loved Quinn. His love for Quinn was further cemented when he was willing to walk away to allow Quinn to find someone who already had kids, so that she would experience being a motherly figure in some capacity. That really was a true example that he was willing to sacrifice his love, to ensure that she wasn’t in pain anymore.

When it was revealed that Graham had kissed another woman, initially I was against him and had little hope or want of them reconciling, especially since Quinn and Graham both experienced the devastation of being cheated on. When he explained why he kissed another woman, it was sort of a justified reason – although I’m not justifying or excusing cheating in any form, I can understand why he did it. He explained that the woman reminded him of Quinn and because they had basically become strangers in their marriage, he kissed another woman to feel like he was close to Quinn and how she used to be.

Where can I find a man like Graham? – Maybe not a one that kisses other woman, but someone who cares unconditionally and is attentive.

Quinn and Graham’s story really does cut at the heartstrings and is a refreshing, honest and realistic portrayal of life until the very last page. It shows that in life, not everything goes to plan. I do resonate with Quinn’s fertility issues and I think it’s something every woman worries about. The story was a bit anxiety inducing towards my own fertility and the possibility that I could have the same fate as Quinn.

The story is told in Colleen Hoover’s unique style, full of short, crisp sentences that pack a punch and a half. As always when finishing a CoHo book, I’m eager to read everything and anything.

This book really tugged at my heartstrings. I was completely hooked from the get-go and couldn’t put it down. With every chapter flicking from past to present, I was eager to know what happened in the next chapter, to know whether the characters gained happiness of parenthood and reconciliation. Overall, I enjoyed it a lot :).

Highlight worthy quotes:

“Every day, I miss you. When I’m at work, I miss you. When I’m home, I miss you. When you’re next to me in bed, I miss you. When I’m inside you, I miss you.”

“I promise that I will love you more during the storms than I will love you during the perfect days. I promise to love you more when you’re hurting than when you’re happy. I promise to love you more when we’re poor than when we’re swimming in riches. I promise to love you more when you’re crying than when you’re laughing. I promise to love you more when you’re sick than when you’re healthy. I promise to love you more when you hate me than when you love me.”

“If you only shine light on your flaws, all your perfects will dim.”

“I will love you more as you’re walking out the door than on the day you walked down the aisle.”

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Georgia