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Review

“I will fight for you every day for the rest of my life.”

4.5 stars

OMG, I loved this book! I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did, or to feel as much as I did while reading, it totally took me by surprise, and I love that! It’s an absolutely beautiful story about two damaged people coming together, and fighting hard to create something very special. It’s slow moving with lots of detail and every little moment is dripping with chemistry, sexual tension and emotion. I was captivated from the very beginning and got completely swept up in the story.

Joss is a single mother with a bastard ex-husband and she has worked hard to create a good life for her and her daughter on the small and remote Bristol Island. Isaiah is a single father who has escaped to Bristol Island with his daughter for a fresh start a year and a half after the tragic death of his wife.

Isaiah and Joss meet when they are called to the local high school to discuss their 14 year old daughters – specifically, Joss’ daughter, Harper’s involvement with a group of girls that are bullying Isaiah’s daughter, Natalie. Understandably, both are protective of their girls, and the meeting does not go well with both of them being immediately and intensely antagonistic towards each other despite Joss’ apologies. But in such a small community, Isaiah and Joss continue to run into each other over the coming weeks, and as much as they may not want it, they can’t deny that they are attracted. And as the situation with their daughters starts to smooth itself out, their frequent encounters lead to friendship.

He stopped next to her and held the box of popcorn he’d grabbed at concessions out to her. She looked at it for a moment and then back up to him.
“Peace offering.” He took a deep breath as he waited for her to say something.
“Did you poison it?” She watched him coolly. He deserved that.
“No. I’ll share it with you. If you die, I die. We’ll be all Romeo and Juliet about it.”

And friendship very quickly leads to something more…

“I’m distracted by you every time I see you. When I’m with you, I think about kissing you, touching you, tasting you—” he paused for a moment as he tensed his jaw “—fucking you—a whole mess of things I can’t seem to stop thinking about.”

I loved watching Isaiah and Joss come together. The slower pace of the story allows us to see every little moment between them, and the build-up is sensational! There is epic sensual tension, but more than that, you can see real feelings developing, and I was completely swept up in their story.

“I’m ready for you.” There was no truer statement ever made. “I’m so fucking ready for you.”

They both have serious baggage – Isaiah is still recovering from the tragic death of his wife, and while supporting his daughter through a very hard time, he is learning how to let go and move on. And Joss has made bad choices in her life, and lives with the consequences and the guilt of that, but she is also trying to put it behind her. And despite their difficult beginning, they fall and fall hard for each other.

“I’m falling in love with you. You should know that.” His voice was serious and calm, but her heart sped.
She smiled. “Good. Because I’m pretty sure I’m long past the falling part and well into the love part.”

Let me take a moment to swoon over all that is Isaiah. We already know that he’s highly protective of the people that he loves. He is determined to be there for his girls, and he is infinitely supportive and caring, and will do anything for his family. He’s also a bit of an alpha and I loved seeing that side of him come out. Isaiah is a sexy, sexy man with a very dirty mouth and the steamy time in this book is absolutely sizzling! Hot and descriptive, it had me fanning myself, but it’s an important part of their relationship, and there is a lot of emotion that goes along with it.

“I love you—every flaw, every mistake, every imperfection. You are so worthy, so fight for this.”

This is a very functional, highly passionate relationship, and the actual ‘together’ part is easy – they want to be together, and they are. It’s all of the other stuff they have to deal with that brings the drama. But through it all they are there for each other, they support each other unconditionally, and they settle into a life together with their daughters. They are open and honest about what they are facing, and they strand strong in the knowledge that together they can overcome their pasts

“I told you you were going to have to fight for us now … I don’t require or need you to be perfect in order to move forward. I know you’re struggling right now, and you may for some time. But we’re stronger when we’re together. Hell, our daughters are too.”

I loved the addition of Natalie and Harper into the story. They are both wonderful characters who bring so much to the book – moments of lightness with their teenage dialogue and antics, and the element of family drama ties in beautifully with their relationship as they become a family, and I particularly loved Natalie’s journey as Isaiah and Joss help her through all that she goes through. Isaiah in the role of loving Dad is so, so, gorgeous!

“I need to make room for someone else in my life.” His eyes were tearing over already, and at the sight of it, Nat’s did too as a quiet whimper escaped her. “I can’t hold onto these things and let go of her at the same time, and I need to let go if I’m going to give myself to someone else.”

But as wonderful and functional as they are together, there are still battles to overcome and what brought this book down for me was the excessive drama at the end. Thankfully, it’s external to the relationship and only goes to further strengthen the bond between Isaiah and Joss, but for me it was just overdone.

 It seemed like it was put in there just to create drama, and it wasn’t needed! The book was more than enough without it, and it dragged down what was, up until that point, a 5 star read for me.

But putting that aside, I absolutely adored this story. It’s beautifully written with lots of emotion, and a love story that is deep, passionate and all-consuming. I was completely swept away.

I loved it – 4.5 stars.

 

The Bristol Island series