Him
…I need time. Time to heal those wings and learn to use them…
Was part of the letter Rebecca Trent, Daniel Brightmore’s fiancée and best friend left when she ran away. The person he trusted the most for the past decade disappeared without giving him a second glance. She taught him how to love, believe in family and that everyone deserves a happily ever after. Now he’s struggling between wiping any traces of her from his life and drowning his sorrows away with the help of his new best friends—Don Julio and Jack Daniels.
Her
Rebecca’s past suffocated her to the point of not wanting to continue, her lifeline and the only reason to live began to withdraw from her. She wished it had been her imagination, but heard it loud and clear: “If not, there’s always a divorce, nothing is forever.” This time it became a leave or die situation. Something has got to change—she had to change. Packing light and leaving a letter behind, she takes a journey that can help her find herself through the shards of her painful childhood.
As letters, memories and stories are exchanged, two once inseparable people reconcile what’s left of their relationship. Beyond the confines of everything they built together, they’re left with two lonely people searching for what it means to be whole. Will they find meaning under their bruised psyches or will their pasts get the better of them?
…I need time. Time to heal those wings and learn to use them…
Was part of the letter Rebecca Trent, Daniel Brightmore’s fiancée and best friend left when she ran away. The person he trusted the most for the past decade disappeared without giving him a second glance. She taught him how to love, believe in family and that everyone deserves a happily ever after. Now he’s struggling between wiping any traces of her from his life and drowning his sorrows away with the help of his new best friends—Don Julio and Jack Daniels.
Her
Rebecca’s past suffocated her to the point of not wanting to continue, her lifeline and the only reason to live began to withdraw from her. She wished it had been her imagination, but heard it loud and clear: “If not, there’s always a divorce, nothing is forever.” This time it became a leave or die situation. Something has got to change—she had to change. Packing light and leaving a letter behind, she takes a journey that can help her find herself through the shards of her painful childhood.
As letters, memories and stories are exchanged, two once inseparable people reconcile what’s left of their relationship. Beyond the confines of everything they built together, they’re left with two lonely people searching for what it means to be whole. Will they find meaning under their bruised psyches or will their pasts get the better of them?
After
I read the first book in this series Where Life Takes You, I was ready to throw
my kindle across the room out of anger over the cliff hanger. Becca left
Daniel after they both had finally found their future together. Next To
You explains her reasons and how Daniel sees this relationship and thankfully
picks up right where the first book ended.
Becca
destroyed him when she left without saying goodbye. The letter she wrote
trying to explain her thinking served only as a reminder that she didn’t give
them a chance. Becca had been a victim all of her life, she felt he
deserved more than that in the woman he wanted to marry so striking out on her
own, her goal was to become strong and independent. Hoping that he finds
happiness while she is gone, she gives him permission to go on dating other
women but when she returns, if they have a chance she would be willing to
consider it.
Daniel
didn’t see things the same way. Burning her belongings and truck and
getting drunk was how he planned on healing from the empty heart he now had.
This book gives us his POV to the events and allows us to invest even more in
him. While she was evolving into the woman she needed to be, he was being
shattered from the powerful man he once was. Both had to suffer in this journey
but at times I didn’t know if there would be anything for her to come back to
the way he was suffering. He knew she couldn’t have arranged her
departure alone and their friends appeared to be supporting her choice so he
felt absolutely alone in life. Now you can read how this unfolded because
giving you more description to the book at this time will take away from the
emotional journey you are about to embark on.
The
author gave us a powerful story of how the two dealt with the separation and
once they saw each other again. Daniel wasn’t done rescuing Becca but she
did find more strength in herself and came back a stronger woman. We also
learned more about her story in this book and it made her leaving a better
choice. Trust me I was furious at the end of book one, it made no sense
for her to just leave when she was on the edge of happiness, but the author
showed us what she had wasn’t real and she needed to find what she had buried
deep inside of her soul long ago. It also made her love for Daniel even
more realistic. She wanted to give him the best and she was far from that
even though she had a great mask on.
This
story is about truth, trust and love. It also portrays what the heart and
soul can overcome when given the chance to heal and process the events.
It would have been easy for the author to let Becca keep her past buried and
continue to pretend but she knew that both of these characters deserved more
than that. It did break the reader’s heart to see the pain, but I think
most of us understand now and applaud the author’s courage to tick her readers
off for the good of the story.
I
would recommend this series to any reader who loves realistic life
stories. The world isn’t a nice place but for people like Becca, home is
even worse. Daniel wanted to be her super hero but what she needed was a
man to just love her, the real her and give her the time to find that
person. I fell in love with these characters in the first book and I
think I fell even deeper in book two.
Claudia lives in Colorado with her family and three dogs. Two
beagles who believe they are human, and a bichon who thinks she’s a
beagle. While managing life, she works as a CFO at a small IT Company.
She’s a dreamer who enjoys music, laughter and a good story.
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Great review! This sounds like a very character driven story that has a lot of depth! Glad you liked it! :)
ReplyDeletetoo cool :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the review, I'm glad you liked the second book ^_^
ReplyDelete