My Forever June by DeAnna Kinney

 Can love truly save a life?

June Russell is a free spirited artist living her dream life in her recently inherited beach cottage on Oak Island. She is addicted to coffee and clutter, and with her quirks and mother issues, she is perfectly content to be alone, feeling her life is utterly complete. But when the adorable Tucker Mitchell helps her out of a sandy situation during an altercation on the beach, the powerful sparks are hard to ignore.

Despite the facts that they are completely opposite and not looking for love, they fall—hard, neither one seeing it coming. And just when they think life couldn’t get any sweeter, illness strikes, blindsiding them both. Will they overcome despite the odds against them? Or, just when they have found each other, will fate play a cruel joke and separate them forever?

Well, damn.  Damn, damn, damn.  I need a strong drink after finishing this heart-wrenching story.  Damn.

June is a free spirit.  Under the intense scrutiny of her mother for most of her life, she finds respite in the summers at her aunt’s cottage.  When her aunt passes away, she leaves her estate to June and June high tails it out of her life and starts anew at her beach cottage.  When an incident on a beach brings Tucker and June together, the sparks are immediate.  But they are two very different people.  Tucker soon comes to learn what makes June tick though, and they each fall completely in love with one another.  But circumstances soon take a turn for the worst.  Will June and Tucker be able to fight through it and let their love survive?

Well, I tell you what…I was not expecting such a completely heart-wrenching story when I picked this up.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s done so well, but it goes places that I really didn’t expect.  It’s a deep read, ya’ll.

June is just so…cool.  I mean, I think most of us wish we could let our inner June out.  She comes from a very regimented upbringing with a very critical mother and her answer to that is not to hide within herself, but to let it all out.  She lives by her own rules, and she’s quirky and wonderful.  Tucker…whoa.  He is about as perfect as a book boyfriend can be.  Sexy, kind, but basically the complete antithesis of June’s free spiritedness.  He’s quiet and reserved, but they share a critical and uptight upbringing, which I think helps to bond them together.  Tucker falls in love with June, but honestly I’m not how anyone could not.

While reading this I had one of those experiences where my inner monologue was like “Sara…this is going to well.  Brace yourself!” and my inner monologue was right.  Oy.  It was going too well, the love was too perfect, so we got a big old dose of reality.  It was tough, but you know I soldiered on to see how it all turned out, and I’m glad I did.  This was such a deeply emotional story, and it was told very well.  I liked the characters, the plot and while it may be a boy-meets-quirky-girl story it really sets itself apart from other books I’ve read recently.  4.5 stars.

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DeAnna Kinney, in addition to writing, loves to read, the color purple, Star Wars, decorating on a budget, and dancing while she cooks. She believes whole-heartedly that chocolates and a good book go hand and hand. And, having experienced it first-hand, believes utterly in the power of true love. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, three children, and a fish named Hector.