Always Isn’t Forever by J.C. Cervantes, coming 6 June!
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Blurb
Best friends and soul mates since they were kids, Hart Augusto and Ruby Armenta were poised to take on senior year together when Hart tragically drowns in a boating accident. Absolutely shattered, Ruby struggles to move on from the person she knows was her forever love.
Hart can’t let go of Ruby either…. Due to some divine intervention, he’s offered a second chance. Only it won’t be as simple as bringing him back to life—instead, Hart’s soul is transferred to the body of local bad boy.
When Hart returns to town as Jameson, he realizes that winning Ruby back will be more challenging than he’d imagined. For one, he’s forbidden from telling Ruby the truth. And with each day he spends as Jameson, memories of his life as Hart begin to fade away.
Though Ruby still mourns Hart, she can’t deny that something is drawing her to Jameson. As much as she doesn’t understand the sudden pull, it can’t be ignored. And why does he remind her so much of Hart? Desperate to see if the connection she feels is real, Ruby begins to open her heart to Jameson—but will their love be enough to bridge the distance between them?
Review
3.5 stars
I was drawn to this book by the beautiful cover, and when I read the blurb, I knew I had to read it. Such an intriguing concept – a YA soulmate romance with a touch of supernatural – but so much more, a story of love, grief, loss, and learning to let go. It’s emotional, but has a happy ending, and it’s a beautiful little read.
“How long will you love me?”
“Always.”
Ruby and Hart are childhood best friends-now teenage sweethearts, madly in love, soulmates, and planning on a long and happy life together once they graduate senior year. Until Hart’s sudden and tragic death. Utterly devastated, Ruby is left completely lost, with no idea how to go on with her life.
She has no idea how empty I feel, how most days I feel like I’m bleeding out. How I feel like a shell of who I used to be. How I can’t access the simplest things like a good dream or even a smile.
In a supernatural twist, five months after his death, Hart is given the opportunity to return to his true love– however, it will be in the body of the high school party boy whose own actions have left him on the brink of death. Hart will come back in Jameson’s body, but he will be unable to talk about who he really is, and his memories will disappear bit by bit, leaving just his soul behind in somebody else’s body. But it gives him the chance to be with his girl again, so he goes for it.
Ruby and Jameson have always hated each other, but when he leaves the hospital after his near death experience, he’s different. He’s sweet, kind, and very apologetic about his past actions, and Ruby feels drawn to him in ways she doesn’t understand. She has questions, but she’s so mired in her grief for Hart, that she resists the pull she feels to somebody new, preferring to wallow in her pain and memories.
“You think you want to be happy, but you feel too much guilt … because if you let go of the pain…then you let go of Hart.”
It’s an interesting and intriguing journey for both Ruby and Hart. She’s fighting a battle between letting go of what she’s lost, and finding the will to move on. He is struggling to prove who he is, while seeing his friends and loved ones in so much pain, and wondering whether him being there is helping, or just make things worse. But the longer he waits, more of his memories fade, and his time is running out.
I’d rather let love break me open than never know its depths.
This is an emotional read, but there are some really sweet moments too. There’s lots of character growth and big life lessons, and a beautiful love story that made my heart pound. It’s a unique read, and I was questioning what a HEA even looks like for these two, but the author does manage to bring a happy ending, and though it did leave me with some questions, I finished this one with a smile on my face.
Even if love always ends in goodbye, we have a choice, a choice whether to allow it in, to change us, to drive us toward a better part of ourselves…even if it means breaking open.
Even if it means letting go.
3.5 stars.
An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.