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Review

“When we were kids, I was in love with you … That never went away, Hannah.” He rested his forehead against mine. “And now that I know you again, I’m even more in love with you.”

HOLY. FREAKING. SWOON!

I am a mad, mad fan of this series, and with this book set 5 years after the ending of the last one, I feel like this book signifies the changing of the guard – with Joss & Braden, Ellie & Adam, Jo & Cam and Liv & Nate all loved up and happy together (with babies – squee!), it’s now time for the younger generation to have their stories told, and it’s starting with Hannah.

A presence in the series since On Dublin Street, Hannah is Ellie’s younger sister. Now 22 years old, Hannah is a mature, confident, sensible and responsible young woman. She is a high school English teacher with a loving family, good friends and an organised, happy life. Her peace starts to crack when a random reminiscence of the only boy she has ever loved, Marco, drags up memories from the past that she has long ago tried to forget.

The story of Hannah and Marco’s past unfolds early in the book as Hannah reminisces about her first love and how he broke her heart. Hannah’s attraction to a troubled teenage Marco was explored a little bit in the last book of the series, and that same period is explored further here, this time from Hannah’s POV, showing us the intensity of feeling, and the depth of the bond between her and Marco.

“When I’m with you it feels like everything’s going to be okay. I can’t explain it.”

Her life takes a huge turn when back in the present, five years after Marco abruptly left Hannah shattered and forever altered, he is suddenly back in her life. The broody teenager is now a confident, self-assured man who is comfortable with himself, knows what he wants, and isn’t afraid to go after it. And what he wants is Hannah.

“I’m not going to hide that I want to get to know who you are now. I’m also not going to hide the fact that I think you’re still the classiest, most fucking beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, or the fact that I remember the taste of you and it still makes me hard.”

Hannah is understandably angry, and terrified of letting Marco back into her life – scared of opening herself up to him and making herself vulnerable again. So even though she still has strong feelings for him, she puts her walls up and pushes him away.

“I don’t care if you’ve changed. I don’t care who you are now. I don’t need or want your explanations because what you did, you didn’t do it to me, you did it to that girl you left behind. And I’m not her anymore. You made certain of that. She might have needed answers and an apology, but me…I don’t know what you’re talking about.

It may sound like a cliché storyline, but the way it’s done is so honest and open, between two very mature and level-headed characters. It is refreshing and captivating. They show so much strength of character in opening up to each other, letting all of their anger, fear, and passion out. Each little encounter between them had me on the edge of my seat. And of course, it leads to all kinds of hotness…

“I know you still care.” His words whispered across my lips, his mouth almost touching mine. I shivered, my breath stuttering. “And, baby,” he continued, “I don’t think I can pretend any longer that I don’t think about being inside you nearly every hour of every day.”
His words were almost the equivalent of his mouth between my legs.

Samantha Young writes incredible leading men, and Marco is a worthy addition to her already awesome line up! He knows he made the biggest mistake of his life letting Hannah go the way he did, and with his dedication and commitment to winning Hannah back, his openness with his feelings and his sexy swooniness, the man is absolutely perfect!

“I’m your best friend … You’ve just forgotten. My fault, I know. I can help you remember.”

But they are both hiding secrets from their pasts, and when those secrets not only come out, but collide, it has the power to shatter their blissful reconnection.

My heart broke for both Hannah and Marco as they confronted all that had happened in the past, and realised where it left them in the present. With Samantha Young’s gift for storytelling, I could understand both of their perspectives, and could feel their pain. So. Many. Feeeeeels! I thought the drama did start to drag on a little bit, and my palm started to get a bit twitchy with the need to slap someone, but it is resolved just in time, and in absolutely beautiful style, leaving me happy and sappy.

“I’m in love with you. There is no one else for me and I don’t know how I know, but I do know that there never will be.”

Along with Hannah’s coming of age, Jo’s younger brother Cole is also all grown up, and OMG, I love him! I loved him when he was younger earlier in the series, and I love him as an adult! A gorgeous, inked-up tattoo artist, he is Hannah’s best friend and an absolute sweetheart, and their friendship is gorgeous! With a bit of a glance into his romantic life, I’m sure that we’ll see him get his own story at some point, and I can’t wait! The other up-and-coming character is Dec, Hannah’s younger brother. Their immature arguments and bantering is gold, and I’m hoping that we get to see more of him.

And, of course, all of the characters from the previous book are involved. Hannah sort of ‘belongs’ to everybody, so it’s like she has four big brothers and four big sisters all being protective and sharing her life with her, along with her family – and this is a very close-knit group so they are all over each other all of the time. It was fantastic catching up with them all five years down the track, and there is a lot of opportunity to see some real development for everybody (Braden and Nate still make me swoon *dreamy sigh*), and those Sunday lunch scenes are getting way out of control with a bunch of kids involved now, and are even more sensational because of it!

I loved this book! It fits beautifully into the series, and provides further proof of why Samantha Young is one of my favourite authors.

4.5 stars.