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Review

3.5 stars!

The premise of this book completely sucked me in – childhood sweethearts… brother’s best friend… second chance romance. It’s the trifecta of romantic set-ups that I’m always a sucker for, so I knew I had to read it.

The book begins in the past, showing us the history between Royal and Demi. Royal was a foster kid who was befriended by Demi’s older brother, Derek, and who instantly became a fixture in their lives. He always showed an interest in Demi, and over the years she went from thinking he was a gross, annoying boy, into having a mad crush on him. And when she was old enough, he made his move.

“I’ve waited years for a date with Demi Rosewood. Pretty sure it’s going to be epic. Pretty sure I’m never going to want to let you go.”

We don’t see much of them together as a couple, but we know they were together for 18 months during which time they fell into mad, all-consuming love.

I’m addicted. Obsessed. Consumed.
And so is he.
He is mine, and I am his.
We’re going to be together forever.

Until one day Royal disappeared without explanation and Demi’s parents demanded that he never be mentioned in their house again, leaving her shattered.

Seven years later, and Demi has moved on with her life. Though she has never forgotten her first love, she has a job that she loves, is engaged to her college boyfriend and is living a life that many would envy. But it all starts to fall apart when her fiancé abruptly calls off the wedding and is then involved in a horrific car accident that leaves him comatose in hospital. Demi is left to play the part of the dutiful fiancée because nobody knows what happened between them and she feels that she can’t abandon the man and his family when his very future is in the balance.

And then Royal comes back into her life. His leaving all of those years ago wasn’t his choice and he still loves Demi deeply, and unbeknownst to her, he hasn’t been far away and he knows about her life and what she’s dealing with.

Loneliness is watching the only girl you’ve ever loved find happiness in the arms of another man.

Their reunion is full of all of the anger, hurt and confusion that you would expect, but from the first moment it’s clear that the connection that bound them together as teenagers is still very much alive. The love is still there, and Royal puts his heart right out there for her.

“We have a history,” I say, “that no one can take from us. No matter what happened in the past, no matter what happens from here, it can’t take away from the good thing we had. You were my first love, Demi. You only get one.”

But she’s understandably angry. Royal destroyed her when he left, and though he’s made his feelings clear to her, he won’t tell her his terrible secret that drove them apart. I could feel Demi’s torment and could absolutely understand her frustration, blended with the thrill of seeing him again. And I loved how open she was with him about her feelings.

“Part of me wants to pick up where we left off. Part of me wants to jump in your arms and kiss you and smell you and feel you and lose myself in everything about you. And the other part of me hates you. Because you’ve ruined love for me, Royal. I’m never going to love anyone the way I loved you, and I want to. So. Much. I want to feel the way I felt with you…with anyone but you. And I’ve tried. And I can’t. And I hate you for that.”

It’s a tricky situation with some back and forth as they sort through everything, but their passion for each other is overwhelming and they can’t fight their attraction, and the steamy time is hot! But Royal is still keeping his secret, Demi’s family are not going to be accepting of his return, and then there’s the situation with her fiancé and his demanding family, and the secrets that she is beginning to uncover about her current life. There’s a lot of drama going down, but it’s all interwoven really nicely and I struggled to put this book down, desperate to know how it was all going to play out.

Fuck it.
Those lips belong to me.
They always have.
They always will.

I enjoyed this book. Royal and Demi are great characters, and the book is written in dual POV so we get to know them really well. They both have some questionable behaviour, but given that their situation is dramatic to the extreme, I was willing to cut them some slack. What irritated me more than anything was the family situation!

But even with all of the drama going down, this is very much a love story, and I really enjoyed that. I liked the way that Royal and Demi handled their reconciliation and how they didn’t hide their emotions from each other, talked about how they were feeling, and followed their hearts. I also really like the way the additional drama added a nice sense of complexity to an already intense reunion. And the swoon was gorgeous!

“We wasted almost an entire decade apart. I don’t want to go another day without you in my life. I’ve had a life without you. I don’t want to go back to that.”

It all ends well, with an epilogue to tie everything up nicely, and I’m looking forward to reading more books in this series and getting to know Demi’s siblings – Derek’s book is up next.

I enjoyed it – 3.5 stars.

The Rixton Falls series