New from J.B. Hartnett!
WATCHING THE SKY CRY
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Blurb
Ten years is a long time when you’re thirty-two. We’d seen our share of ups and downs, but I could honestly say, they were mostly up. That’s the thing about happiness though. It lulls you into a false sense of security.
Neither one of us ever thought we’d ever be touched by crippling loss or immeasurable grief. But not all stories have a happy ending, and I knew, better than anyone, that sometimes, one of you won’t make it till the end. One of you has to go first. And one of you will be left behind to pick up the pieces.
That one is me.
But starting over isn’t what I thought it would be. I need escape from the memories that plague me, remind me. So I went back to where it all began. To the town where I was born. To the place whose beauty could pierce my pain. Where I experienced my first kiss, where I fell in love, where a man was my earth. And I…
I was his sky.
Review
4.5 emotional, second-chance stars
Wow, I loved this book! Heartbreaking, emotional and dramatic with a beautiful second-chance-romance, this book captured me from the very beginning, and I absolutely loved it!
Rylie was living a wonderfully happy life until a twist of fate saw everything change. Slowly and painfully, she lost everything and she was left all alone and unable to deal with her grief. Two years later and she’s finally hit rock bottom, and with no idea where to turn and desperate for a fresh start, she returns to the last place she remembers being happy – the country town where she spent her childhood summers, and likewise, the place where she fell in love and had her heart broken for the first time.
Rylie and Quentin were best friends. Whenever Rylie was in town, they were constantly together, and they wrote to each other when they were apart. They shared their lives, their secrets, and their hearts, but a misunderstanding and the naivety of youth tore them apart. Now, 20 years later, Rylie is back in town and it doesn’t take too long before she runs into the first man that ever owned her heart.
You have always and will always be my first. My first love, the first girl I ever kissed, the first girl I ever touched. The mind is a powerful thing, and I know for a fact the fantasy of you will always be better than the reality of anyone else. You are my heart. You are my saviour. You are my sky.
Quentin is all kinds of awesome. Gorgeous, strong and alpha, he is a man who knows what he wants, and what he wants, is Rylie.
“I was too young to understand what letting you go meant when I was eighteen. Now I know, and I don’t plan on giving up this time.”
This is an amazing second chance romance! It’s been 20 years since Rylie and Quentin have seen each other. They’ve both lived their own lives and there is a lot that they need to overcome, but at the same time their bond has never really been severed, and the connection they share is still very much evident.
“I came here because, for me, no matter how much it hurt the last time I left all those years ago, it feels like…home.”
He crossed the room to me, opened his hand, and placed it palm flat against my chest as his voice cracked. “My home is here,” he said.
There is no game playing here. Rylie and Quentin are up-front and honest about what they are feeling and what they want, and it is fantastically refreshing and wonderful to read. Of course it’s emotional and intense, but there’s also a sense of fun and friendship between them, and that, mixed with their incredible chemistry, makes every moment they have together absolutely sensational….
“I used to tell you everything,” I said, wistfully recalling all the letters and phone calls from years past.
“You did.”
No bullshit.
Honesty.
I lifted up to my tiptoes, so I could almost look him eye to eye, and said, “I’m really looking forward to having sex with you, Quentin.”
At my admission, he threw his head back and filled the entire first floor of his house with laughter.He leaned down and kissed me again, more chaste this time. “Now, we get to know each other. When it happens, whether it happens tonight or another one, I just want it to mean to you what it’ll mean to me.”
…and wonderfully romantic.
I didn’t want a casual fuck, nor did I want a lover. I wanted him to take my soul as his own, fill my heart with his words, and love me with everything he was and ever would be.
“Rylie,” he said gently. “I love you. I’ve loved you since I understood what the word meant. I love who you are now, who you were then. And I’m gonna love you no matter what happens.”
But the love story is just a part of this book. There is more to their past than either of them knew, and there are all sorts of family dramas that are about to be revealed, and Rylie and Quentin just have to hold on tight to each other and see it through together as it all unfolds.
I was surprised at the direction of the book, and though I picked some of the twists, I liked the unexpectedness of the story and I thought this dramatic part of the book was really well done. I felt connected to the side characters, I was invested in how their stories played out, and I enjoyed the way Hartnett wove all of the different elements of the story together to create an interesting and intense read with lots of heart.
But my focus was, as always, on the romance, and Rylie and Quentin’s story is beautifully told, making me feel everything, and I was completely swept up in their functional, swoony love story that is all about second chances, healing from the past, and finding your happy ever after.
My heart had healed with the balm of another, love blossoming, love renewed, reunited in the arms of the first man who’d treasured it, and treasured it still.
This is my first book by J.B. Hartnett, and I’m very much looking forward to reading more of her work.
I loved it. 4.5 stars.
An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Excerpt
You never had a girlfriend.” I whispered.
“No, Rylie. I didn’t.”
I pushed away from him, my mouth coating itself in preparation for what was to come, and ran toward the field behind his parents’ house. I threw up everything in my stomach, but I kept heaving with wracking sobs, unable to keep my shit together. If I’d listened….if I’d answered his letters…if I hadn’t met Nick…
His hands were in my hair, pulling it back, but it was no use. I was a mess in every way possible.
“This isn’t…” I hiccupped, “how I imagined this going.”
“Yeah?” he said softly. “How’d you imagine it?”
“We would have it out, and then we’d have angry sex, and then we’d fall in love and have babies and live happily ever after.”
See? Honesty.
“Oh Rylie,” he said with humor in his voice, not at all bothered when he wiped the edges of my disgusting mouth with his hand. “I’ll be pissing you off again…probably on purpose just so we can have that angry sex you just mentioned.”
Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card
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About the Author
Julie is a southern California native, a fan of a really good story (preferably a romance with a happily ever after), really good pie (preferably pumpkin)and copious amounts of coffee (preferably Folgers).
She has always enjoyed writing and at one time thought she might be a singer/songwriter. The ‘writer’ part is that one that stuck.
Julie is obsessed with Pi…the equation and the food. She’s allergic to cats, cantaloupe and hates mushrooms. So if you ever want to give her a gift, those are out for sure.
She currently lives with her romance hero husband and two boys in Melbourne, Australia.
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