Buy: Kindle Ebook | Paperback

Review

5 stars!

OMG, this book! I loved it so much! A stunning romance that is as unique as it is beautiful and realistic, it’s a truly special story and one of those books that you just want to curl up inside of and never leave.

“When I was seventeen I fell in love. And I never fell out. I was lucky.”
“No, Barret. I was the lucky one. Still am.”

Barrett and Tess were high school sweethearts who fell in love at 17. Now in their 40s, they have been married for 22 years, have four children and two businesses, and they’ve lost their groove a bit while dealing with life, work and kids. They’re still madly in love, they just miss the ‘us’ they used to be and are trying to find their way back to each other.

My gut clenches at the thought of her feeling less than anything but the love of my life. How did this happen between us? Did I pull away first, or did she? Or did it just happen because we both forgot to care? Forgot to put effort into each other and started to take the other for granted?

I read Feels Like Home by this author earlier this year and it instantly became a favourite. At the time I read it I didn’t realise that each of Van Wyk’s books, though standalones, tie together, and this is the first of the inter-connected standalones that she has written and I’m SO glad I went back and read it as it forms a strong base for the books to come, while also delivering a beautiful story. And the writing is stunning! I highlighted like a lunatic while reading, and I can’t believe this is a debut novel!

Through the trials, tribulations, and arguments, we’ve never lost one thing. We’ve never fallen out of love. Never once have I wished for our lives to be different. Sure, it’s more fun to always be happy. But that’s not life. Life is ugly and mess, and marriages are hard. If it were easy all the time, no one would appreciate the wonderful times. It’s in the messy that we appreciate the pristine. And the pristine that is Tess and Barrett Ryan is a beautiful thing.

Barrett and Tess have the kind of soul-deep love that everybody wants to experience. We see it in their everyday interactions, and in the flashbacks to their past, and all of it builds their relationship, bringing depth to the story and making us understand exactly what they’re going through. The problems they are experiencing are relatable, and I suspect everybody who is married with children will have experienced some of what they’re going through. It’s a wonderfully written dynamic and they are so amazing together and this book completely captured my heart as I got swept up into life with this wonderful family.

“I miss you,” I say.
Her body sags against me, and tears immediately form in her eyes. She’s always been an emotional sap, but I know it’s more than just her normal emotions getting to her now. She feels it too. I need to do something about it, and seeing her to the point of tears breaks my heart. She should never feel that our relationship will cause her tears.
“Don’t cry. Please, Tess. It breaks my heart. I can’t take the tears.”
“I’m sorry.” She sniffles. “I can’t help it. it’s not just the sex. Yes, I miss it terribly, but it’s you. I miss you too. We have to find a way to get back to ourselves.”
“Come on now, I know it’s really just my magical penis that you miss,” I tease her.
She looks up at me with a watery smile and says through her chuckling, “You know it.”

What makes this book so special is that Barrett and Tess never doubt their love for each other. In fact, they revel in it. They know each other inside and out, and are madly, wildly, deeply in love with each other, it’s just all of the other stuff that’s gotten in the way without them even noticing, and they are both desperate to reconnect. So they take off for a week of alone time in order to get back to ‘them’, and to start rebuilding their life together. And OMG, what a reconnection!

I didn’t realize that I missed dating my husband.
He reminded me that I did.
He reminded me that I loved falling in love with him the first time.

It’s sweet, romantic and sexy, and Barrett’s huge heart and unabashed love and adoration for his girl, and his efforts to show her that, had me in a world of swoon!

“I love you, Tess. You need to understand that. You need to feel that my soul is empty without yours attached to it. My heart, my love responds only to you. Even after I take my last breath on this earth, my love is yours.”

*dreamy sigh*

This man.
He’s far from perfect.
But he’s perfect for me.
Our dream is wide awake, and we are living it.

And more than heartfelt declarations, their passion for each other is still very much alive, and the sexy time is seriously sizzling! Tess is a very lucky girl!

“All. Week. Long. You’re mine. Mind and body. Every single part of you is mine.”

But it’s not all soul-searching and deep and meaningful conversations. There’s a wonderful sense of playfulness to this couple. They laugh, tease, joke and banter, and seeing them joking around with each other, their kids and their friends shows how real they are, and how fun and light-hearted their lives are, and the little glimpses we got of that are just gold!

“I said no. End of discussion.”
“But, Dad, it’s not to get boys to notice me! The shirt is cute!”
“I have no doubt the shirt is cute. I also said no.”…
She throws her arms up in the air and screeches, “Inconceivable!” before stomping away. It’s possible we may have made her watch The Princess Bride one too many times.
Barrett roars with laughter at her response, smiles my way, clearly satisfied with the way his end of the discussion went.

There’s no massive drama, no angst or heartbreak, it’s just a story of two people who are very much in love and dealing with all that life throws at them.

I love being yours.
There’s not a single person on this earth who I’d rather do life with.
You have my heart forever.
We fumbled.
We picked ourselves back up.

I seriously loved this book. I was completely hooked from the moment I opened it all the way through to the final pages. Knowing some of the future stories already, I enjoyed seeing their beginnings, and I’m excited to continue exploring this fantastic group of characters.

Such a special read – 5 stars.