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Review

“You don’t plan life, it just happens. And you sure as hell can’t control the things that happen to you. They just do.”

This is a dramatic YA romance that deals with a whole lot of issues – family, illness, violence, relationships, separation and first love. It’s sweet yet intense with the different aspects of the story blending really well, and I really enjoyed Cass and Isaac’s story.

Cassandra MacKenzie has her immediate future all planned out. She is working her butt off in her senior year at high school with plans to travel across the country to Berkeley for college. It’s what she’s wanted for as long as she can remember, and her dream is finally within her grasp. Except things at home aren’t great with her father spending the majority of his time away for work, and her mother not handling the situation well. But despite that, she has no interest in anything that could deviate her from her goals, or the time for any interruptions to her carefully controlled life.

Isaac Silva is back home in Massachusetts after his family’s temporary relocation out of state. Isaac is also in his senior year at high school, and his biggest aspiration is to graduate and get the hell away from the hell that is his home life.

When Cass and Isaac meet there is definitely an attraction there, but Cass’ focus on her goals and Isaac’s pessimistic view on love and relationships means that nothing is going to happen between them. So they agree to become friends instead, which works out fantastically with the two of them growing close and becoming an important part of each other’s lives – except that their attraction to each other only grows stronger.

He scares the shit out of me! With Isaac, I get lost and I can’t get lost. I need to control something in my life. My heart was my responsibility.
… I needed Isaac with me to make sense of things. My family was out of control. Our friendship was the only thing that was working for me.

This is a slow burning relationship. The chemistry is there and you know it’s going to happen, but there is so much going on in Cass and Isaac’s personal lives that it sort of overshadows everything else. A relationship is never going to be easy, no matter how much they feel for each other.

I am hers. I am forever hers. However she may have me, I will settle for any crumb that she feels fit to give me. But I am hers. Body and soul.

The story is written in dual POV so we can see Cass and Isaac’s individual journeys, which I really appreciated. They are both in awful situations, and watching them try to deal with the drama in their lives is the focus of the story, the love story is just a bonus, and I liked seeing them start to really open up to each other, lean on each other and explore what is between them. And when that happens – it’s gorgeous!

But can to people with such very different dreams find a future together? And can their young love survive the turbulence of their home lives?

“Life doesn’t always see eye to eye with a person’s plans. Sometimes you have to let go if you want to experience the true beauty life is willing to offer you.”

I enjoyed this book. While I didn’t feel myself completely sucked into the story or fall in love with the characters as much as I would have liked, the story intrigued me enough to keep me interested, and I was curious to see how it was all going to play out. I liked the love story – it’s real and honest – and though it was a bit angsty and I found some of the behaviour to be frustrating at times, I could understand where the characters were coming from with all that they were dealing with.

The story ends well with an epilogue that finishes off everything really nicely, and the stage is set for future books featuring some of the side characters. I’ve gotta say that I’m really intrigued by Cass’ brother!

This is a good read and a promising debut, and I look forward to checking out more of this author’s work in the future.

3.5 stars.

An Advanced Reader Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.