When I Should’ve Stayed
(Red Bridge, #2)

by Max Monroe

 

Released – 1 July 2025

 

Available Now!
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Blurb

He may have let her slip away, but he never stopped loving her.

Josie: Before the Moment

There are ghosts at every corner. In the stolen kisses while I waitressed at the diner, in the town festivals at the square, in the many jokes about Betty Bagley and her pie at the Fall Farmer’s Market, and in the countless nights watching Clay make drinks with that handsome smile of his while I sat on a stool at his bar.

It should all feel familiar and comforting, and yet, it just makes it hard to breathe.

Tonight will be a defining moment for the rest of my life. I have to end it now…before it ends me.

Clay: After the Moment

When Josie and I said “I do,” I thought it’d be us against the world forever. But I wasn’t expecting the world to be so against us. I know I should’ve stayed that night. And I definitely should have gone back sooner.

Because I don’t know how to be here. I don’t know how to be anywhere. I don’t know how to be without Josie at all.

She’s fun and fiery and strong-willed and stands up for the people she loves—even when it borders on reckless. She’s everything good about humanity—my perfect person.

She might say we’re done, but it’s not over. We’ll never be over.

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Review

4.5 “You’re officially my favorite thing” stars!!

When I Should’ve Stayed is another wonderful book in the Red Bridge and an emotional second chance romance that is easy to get lost in. Josie and Clay fell fast and hard when they met and for a little while they had it all. But when certain tragedies occur, sometimes it’s hard to move on. Clay is surprised and heartbroken when Josie files for divorce and for five long years his heart hasn’t been whole. Now, to make a little girls dream come true, Josie and Clay have to pretend to get married. This is the perfect time for Clay to fight for Josie the way he should have years ago.

I loved this story and how it jumps back and forth between the before moments and the after moments. I felt Josie and Clay connection right off the bat and I was routing for them from the get go. They share a beautiful romance that should have been the forever kind but something happens that pulls them apart. We don’t get the reason until we’re almost at the end and it’s a tear jerker getting to that moment and then beyond. My heart broke for Josie and for all that Josie and Clay missed when they weren’t together.

There were a few times I was frustrated because I think these two could have found their happily-ever-after so much sooner if they just talked to each other but I still loved the ride they took me on. I loved the sexual tension and the navigating of feelings that never truly left them. I knew they were meant to be even though they were apart for so long. I believed in their love and am so glad that Clay wasn’t going to give up just because Josie pushed back when she heard about the secret he’d been holding onto. He was all in and I loved his persistence and his huge, sweet heart.

This story takes place during the same time as What I Should’ve Said and so we have to relive the heartache we already experienced with Norah and Bennett. It brought back sad memories from when I first read what they all go through but I loved seeing the love and support these characters had for each other all over again. It’s a wonderful group of characters and I can’t get enough of them.

*ARC generously provided by the author*

 

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Red Bridge

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About Max Monroe

A duo of romance authors team up under the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling pseudonym Max Monroe to bring you sexy, laugh-out-loud reads. 

Max Monroe is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of more than ten contemporary romance titles. Favorite writing partners and long time friends, Max and Monroe strive to live and write all the fun, sexy swoon so often missing from their Facebook newsfeed. Sarcastic by nature, their two writing souls feel like they’ve found their other half. This is their most favorite adventure thus far. ​

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