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Review

This is a beautifully heartfelt story that captivated me from the very start. It’s a sweet, funny, sexy, and deeply emotional romance combining some of my favourite types of stories – forbidden romance with a big brother/best friend set up, and a military theme. Jackpot!

4.5 “wait for me” stars.

Jessa has been in love with her big brother’s best friend, Kit, for years. But he has never noticed her, and instead she has had to watch him manwhore his way around town before joining the Marine Corps with her brother, Riley, and being sent overseas on deployment.

The summer of Jessa’s 18th birthday, the boys arrive home on leave, and Kit decides that it’s time he makes his move. He has been attracted to Jessa for a while, but she has always been just a little bit too young, and Kit hasn’t wanted to risk his friendship with either her, or her over-protective brother. But he can’t resist her any longer.

“I was thinking about you a lot when we were away … I couldn’t get you out of my head.”

And here begins their epic summer of love. Kisses, sweetness, nights spent under the stars, laughs, swoony declarations and eventually, steamy time. It’s emotively written and beautifully played out as Jessa and Kit experience the wonder of being together and falling in love for the first time.

It’s gorgeously swoony, but realistic, but it’s not all perfect. Firstly, they are keeping their romance a secret – not only is Jessa’s brother protective of her (and he knows exactly what Kit’s past with women is), but her father has some severe PTSD which means Jessa’s home life is strictly regimented and controlled by him. Add in to that the fact that her father hates Kit, and it’s all very messy. So they keep their deepening relationship to themselves, which adds an element of intensity to the whole thing.

“If you ask me do I want you to be waiting for me the day I get off the plane? Yes. Do I want to talk to you every night on the phone and know that you’re my girl and that I’m coming home to you? Yes. Am I going to be thinking of you every single moment while I’m gone – yes.”

And then there is the fact that Kit is only on leave for four weeks before he has to go back on deployment overseas for a year.

I want to take a piece of her with me and leave a piece of me with her. How do I get enough of her to last me a year?

And all the while I was while reading about their blissful time together, the happiness they find with each other, and the way that their being together is changing both of the lives for the better, in the back of my mind was the ominous prologue which hinted at devastation to come. It adds a sense of dread to the whole book, as we know that something is going to happen to shatter their worlds. And let me tell you, knowing that something is coming does nothing to dampen the hit when the story takes a huge shift. It is heartbreaking, it is painful, and I sat there reading with tears streaming down my face. The feeeeeeeels! It’s all beautifully written, and incredibly emotional. And as hard as it was reading certain scenes, each little moment adds something amazing to the story, and it makes a very sweet and somewhat predictable book so much deeper and heartfelt than I was expecting.

“Come back to me,” I whisper.
“Always,” he answers.

I love that this story is told in alternating POVs. I love that we get to see absolutely everything – the good, the bad, the devastating and the blissful. I love the smaller storylines running through the book. And I love that we get an epilogue that gives us a glimpse into the future, providing closure on everything. Jessa and Kit’s story is absolutely captivating, and I couldn’t put it down.

I loved it – 4.5 stars.

 

The Come Back To Me series