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Blurb
I was his weakness. He was my strength. Until I destroyed him.
I was infatuated with Shane Wilder since the first time I saw him surfing. But we couldn’t be together. Not yet, anyway. I was too young and screwed up. He was too focused on chasing his dream.
So we became friends. We met on the rooftop for late-night confessions under the stars. Cruised along the Pacific Coast Highway with the wind in our hair and the sun on our faces.
I took photos of all the beautiful and ugly and interesting things, while he traveled the world in search of the perfect waves.
I told him I would wait for him.
I never meant to lie.
I never meant to ruin his life.
I. Destroyed. Him.
As his star faded, mine burned bright. But as everyone knows, all that glitters is not gold.
Now I’m back after seven long years, hoping for a chance to right my wrongs and fix what I’ve broken. This time I can only hope that loving Shane Wilder will be enough to save him.
Ask any man what his greatest weakness is, and if he’s being honest, he will tell you it’s a woman. Not just any woman. The one woman who is capable of bringing him to his knees. The one woman who has the power to destroy him. Rip his beating heart from his chest. Ruin him. I knew that Remy was capable for doing all those things.
My greatest weakness was, is, and always would be, her.
Review
“We’ll never say goodbye.”
5 stars!
Wow, what a read! Gritty, emotional, dramatic, beautiful, sexy and romantic with just the right amount of angst, a forbidden YA/NA romance and an absolutely gorgeous second-chance love story, this book had me feeling all the feels, and I freaking loved it!
I’m a big fan of this author, and this is the first book she has written away from her debut Beautiful series, and it’s a wonderfully engaging story, the first in a series of standalones, and I loved meeting this new bunch of characters and getting lost in their world. The book is written in dual POV and in two parts – then and now – letting us get up close and feeling the love story from the very beginning, before giving us a second-chance-romance. We experience it all with these characters, and I loved every moment of it.
Remy St Clair had a very difficult childhood. Constantly scraping for money and moving around with her flighty mother and twin brother, she is now 16 and has arrived in a coastal Californian town where she hopes they can finally put down some roots. Very quickly she meets and is smitten by local pro surfer, Shane Wilder. He is 21 and way out of her league with the world at his feet, but he is just as drawn to her as she is to him.
“You have a Mona Lisa smile,” he said a few minutes later.
I turned my head to look at him. “What does that mean?”
“Mysterious. Hard-won. It makes me want to do just about anything to see your smile.”
“I get the feeling you don’t usually have to work that hard.”
“I get the feeling you’re worth it.”
Their attraction blooms until he learns her age and firmly places her in the friend zone, and their blazing attraction is forcibly buried as they become friends. He shares his love of surfing with her, she shares her love of photography with him, they became each other’s confidants and the closest of friends as Remy shares the horrors of her life with him and he gets to see the reality of her difficult life, stepping in to help whenever he can, all the while trying to ignore everything that they feel for each other.
It was that fucking tragic. I had fallen for a girl who was too young for me. A girl who was tragic and beautiful and broken. She fucked with my head, got under my skin, and changed the tempo of my heartbeat.
Their situation is heartbreaking as they are unable to be together in the way they truly want. But they are so perfectly matched and Remy’s experiences have made her mature beyond her years. Their interactions are smart, funny, sweet, flirtatious and sizzling with want, it’s only a matter of time before they give in to all of the chemistry brewing between them.
“Tell me a secret.”
“I’ve wanted to kiss you since the minute I saw you.”
“That’s not a secret.”
His lips curved into a smile. “No?”
“No. So obvious.”
Their fall for each other is absolute. Wildly in love and planning on a future together, they are on the verge of having it all when everything falls apart. It’s tragic and unfair, and my heart ached for them as they are both left shattered and alone.
Fast forward seven years later and Remy is now a hugely successful model and wealthy beyond her dreams, whereas Shane’s life hit rock bottom. He’s been through hell, and she wasn’t able to be there for him, but now she’s coming back for him, hoping to fix all that happened between them and find a way to get the happy ending they both so desperately deserve.
I LOVE a second chance romance, and this one was so, so good! I could feel the excitement, the pain, the hurt and the anger, the love, the lust, the chemistry that is still so strong, and the overwhelming longing that these two have for each other. There is so much that they need to work through, and they run through all of those emotions as they deal with the changes in their lives and find their way back to each other. I was captivated and loved how realistic it all felt. Extreme, yes, but so well written, and so very beautiful.
Remy and Shane are such fantastic characters – both strong and determined, they go through so much and their journeys are a wild rollercoaster. I love them individually, and even more together, their love for each other shining in every encounter.
“The world was so cold and lonely without you.”
“Firefly. I’m here. Right beside you.”
There’s also a wonderful cast of side characters. Remy’s brother, Dylan is a mysteriously complex character, and his relationship with Remy was truly special. Shane’s friends are great, and his father is an absolute scene stealer. I’m really excited to read more about these characters as the series go on, and can only assume that Dylan’s book will be next. Through the whole book I was guessing where his story was going to go and I was nervous, but the ending gave us a glimpse of what could be coming and if I’m right, I am so freaking excited for his story!
This book is raw and gritty in places, but it has a wonderful feeling of hope, finding your place in the world and finding the right people to walk that path with you. It’s an absolutely beautiful love story with an epilogue that left my heart happy with a massive grin on my face.
A fantastic read. 5 stars!
An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Love & Chaos
About the Author
Emery Rose has been known to indulge in good red wine, strong coffee, and a healthy dose of sarcasm. When she’s not working on her latest project, you can find her binge-watching Netflix, trotting the globe in search of sunshine, or immersed in a good book. A former New Yorker, she currently resides in London with her two beautiful daughters and one grumpy but lovable Border Terrier.
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