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Review

4.5 stars

This book is a companion novel to Leo – it’s essentially the same story, but from the hero perspective. I admit that when this book came out, I wasn’t all that excited to read it. I was happy with Leo and didn’t feel like I needed an additional story, but I picked this one up on a whim, and OMG, I loved it! Maybe even more than the first!

The storyline of Leo has a twist to it, and in this book the expectation is that you know that twist right from the beginning, so make sure you have read the first book before even attempting this one! So there’s nothing I can say without spoiling Leo for you, so if you haven’t read it, please don’t read this review any further.

For those who have read Leo, you’ll be happy to know that this isn’t just a straight retelling of the original story. Obviously some scenes are repeated, but with the switch in perspective everything has a different slant on it and this book showed me everything I wanted to know –

I’m going to show her how deep my feelings are for her and make her trust down her soul that I want to take care of her. Because I do. And then when I tell her who I am she’ll know we can be together.

Leo and Evie shared a difficult childhood. Both in the foster system, they were treated terribly, but they found comfort and happiness together and even at their young age, they fell in love. Leo was adopted when he was 15 and promised to come back for Evie when she turned 18, but he never returned. Now it’s been 8 years since they’ve seen each other, Leo has been through hell and come out on the other side, and he’s finally ready to face his past and claim the girl he’s never forgotten.

I didn’t know it was possible to hold your breath for eight years, but apparently, it is.

God, I loved seeing these two together! I know I’ve seen it all before but they are amazing together! They have overcome so much to get where they are and they are both so well adjusted considering all they have been through. They are fantastic as individual characters but together they just shine! Things progress quickly but realistically between them, and they are so functional! They don’t hold their feelings back from each other, and they don’t let their past difficulties dictate what’s happening between them. There’s no stupid, no game playing, they just accept what’s developing between them and they go with it. Their feelings for each other are intense and their relationship is a very emotional one, but they also have fun together, they tease and they play, and the sweet little gestures are just gorgeous. It’s all very special.

If I wasn’t before, I’m ruined for life. Hopelessly. In. Love. The girl is it for me. Yeah, ruined. Happily ruined, standing smack dab in the middle of the ice cream aisle.

I loved seeing the depth of Leo’s love for Evie, his complete and utter adoration of her, and his commitment to making her life better and building a future for them. He is one swoontastic man-in-love, and his protectiveness of his girl, and his unquestionable loyalty and devotion to her is beautiful!

“You are my dream,” I whisper to her in the dark. “You are my every dream come true.”

And OMG, the love scenes from his POV were swelteringly hot! There’s lots of them, and they are descriptive, but they are also incredibly emotional, with Leo’s heart already well and truly gone by the time they reach that point in their relationship, and I thought they were really well written.

How did I doubt it would always be this way? Then, now, a million lifetimes from this one. My Evie, my heart, my lion tamer.

But more than just being a heart-warming romance, this book is Leo’s story, showing us all of the different sides that make up this amazing man. We see flashbacks to his past, as well as all of the other things that he is dealing with while he is trying to concentrate on his reconnection with Evie. There’s no doubt that life has treated him unfairly and he’s been through hell, but he has risen above it and he is just a guy following his heart and trying to make amends, and that is beautiful to see.

“I realize now that there are a lot of paths in life. Some we choose and some are chosen for us. I was dealt some shit, just like a lot of us are, and I made a lot of poor choices too. I have to take responsibility for those. But the only thing we’ll get from trying to figure out where another path would have taken us are questions there are no answers to, and heartbreak that can’t be healed. Regardless of how we got there, all any of us can do is move forward from where we are.”

But there are secrets and surprises, and even though I knew it was coming, I still felt that big moment, and my heart squeezed with joy at their happy ending. And then there is an epilogue from Evie’s POV which takes us further into the future so we get a chance to see how everything works out for them, and it was so, so gorgeous!

I loved this book. I’m so happy that I decided to pick it up, and recommend it as a wonderful companion to the first book.

4.5 stars.

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