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Review

3 stars

This book is the follow up to the emotionally intense Lead Me Not, leading on directly from that devastating ending as Aubrey and Maxx fight to drag themselves out of the mess they were left in.

Beware that this review will contain spoilers for the first book.

Aubrey and Maxx’s tumultuous love story began when Maxx attended a substance abuse therapy group that Aubrey was co-facilitating as part of her College studies. Their strong attraction developed into soul-deep love as they threw themselves into a forbidden relationship, but everything came crashing down for them as Maxx’s dealing and drug use escalated to horrifying consequences, and Aubrey’s relationship with a patient was revealed, threatening everything she had worked towards. They both hit rock bottom, and for her own sanity Aubrey had to walk away from the man she loves.

When this book starts, Aubrey is facing up to the consequences of her actions. I love that she doesn’t hide anything, she owns up to her mistakes and she works to make amends. Her heart is broken, and she has no idea where Maxx has gone and even though she’s trying to get her life back on track, she cannot forget about the man who owns her heart.

I was tired of hurting. Tired of fighting. Tired of everything.
Holding on to him had always been hard. But losing him was worse.

Meanwhile, Maxx has checked himself into rehab. He, too, is wanting to reclaim his life and he is working hard to get clean and come back and be the man that he knows he can be – with his girl by his side. Not realising that she’s trying to move on and create a life without him in it.

But as they are both well aware, life doesn’t go the way you expect it to. Out of rehab, Maxx is dealt blow after blow as he attempts a straight life, his past continues to impact his present and he struggles to find a way forward. And Aubrey is left questioning everything as her head battles with her heart and she is left figuring out what she truly wants. And then there’s the mess that is their relationship – both desperate for each other, and Maxx battling to win back his girl despite her (very justified) fears. It’s an emotional ride, and I love that despite everything they don’t hold anything back from each other.

“I want you to leave, Maxx, but I need you to stay. Please.” My lips trembled. “I’m such an idiot. I want the one thing that can hurt me the most. But I can’t help it. You’re in my blood, Maxx. You’re everywhere. In everything. I can’t escape you. I don’t want to escape you. You’ve destroyed me. But I want you to put me back together. Can you do that? Can you make everything right again?”
… “I will if you let me … I will do everything I can to make it up to you. I swear it, Aubrey.”

But the romance takes a bit of a back seat as we get lots of detail about Aubrey and Maxx’s individual journeys. We witness their struggles, and Maxx’s story in particular broke my heart – he tries so hard to do the right thing, and I could feel his frustration and desperation with what he was going through. I thought Aubrey’s story was dragged out a bit more than it needed to be, but I did like the direction of it as she once and for all confronts the demons from her past and finds her way forward.

How do we build a life on such a shaky foundation? One painful brick at a time. And just maybe we’d find our happily ever after.

It’s a bit of a depressing read at times and very slow moving, and I found that I wasn’t as invested as I was while reading the first book. But I did enjoy revisiting these characters and seeing where this next part of their story went. It’s a bit of an up and down road but the book ends well, and there’s an epilogue which provides great closure.

Maybe not exactly what I was hoping for, but I’m still really glad I read it. 3 stars.

 

Twisted Love