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Our story started the day I saved her from a playground bully when we were only four years old.
\nShe thought I was her hero, but I was just Beau Aikin, small town boy.
\nEventually we became more than classmates. We were best friends.<\/p>\n
When tragedy strikes, I don\u2019t think twice about stepping in to help.
\nTo once again be Addy\u2019s hero.
\nNot just hers, her five-year-old daughter\u2019s, too.<\/p>\n
Only now, I want her. More than anything.
\nFriendship isn\u2019t enough anymore.
\nBut she\u2019s off limits for so many reasons.<\/p>\n
Love.
\nLust.
\nGuilt.<\/p>\n
It all haunts me and it feels like everything is against us.
\nBut I\u2019ll do anything to make her mine.<\/p>\n
This is our story of the path to us.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add to Goodreads<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 4.5 stars<\/b><\/p>\n This is such a gorgeous read! A sweet and emotional small-town, friends-to-lovers story with a bit of a twist and a whole lot of heart. I laughed and a I cried, and I felt everything with these characters, and I loved their story.<\/p>\n Beau and Addy met as children and throughout their childhood they became the best of friends. As a teenager, Addy fell in love with Beau, but was too shy to do anything about it. Beau didn\u2019t realise his feelings for his best friend until years later when it was way too late, and their situation had become horribly complicated \u2013 she became pregnant after a drunken and emotional night spent with Beau\u2019s younger brother. Eek! Years later, and the two of them are still the best of friends, but then tragedy rocks both of their worlds. Beau and Addy will need to lean on each other like never before, while being there for Addy\u2019s five year old daughter, Zoey.<\/p>\n Their new situation brings a change to their dynamic, with all of their feelings coming to the surface. But with so much history and complicating factors, there is so much standing in their way. Especially with their fears that taking a chance could mean losing it all.<\/p>\n She was his. Never mine. Not in that way. I may have loved her first, but in the end, she was and always would be my brother\u2019s.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is such<\/i> a gorgeous story! It\u2019s heartbreaking in places, and so damn emotional. I was in tears at one point, only to be grinning hugely a few pages later. And it\u2019s so realistic! Beau and Addy are real, their reactions and their feelings are real, and I could understand and empathise with everything that they were going through.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t think of a moment in my life that I haven\u2019t wanted her. Sure, I was an idiot for a lot of years but now my eyes are wide open and I\u2019m not sure I can settle for anything less than all of her.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Their relationship is just wonderful. True best friends, they are loving and supportive with each other, but they also tease and joke, and there\u2019s a great sense of fun between them. Add in little Zoey, who is such a big part of their lives and who brings so much to the story, and the family dynamic is fantastic!<\/p>\n There\u2019s this sense of so much<\/i> just simmering below the surface with these two, and the slow burn as the book builds up to the inevitable is full of anticipation as the reader (and seemingly everybody in town) waits for these two best friends to finally act on their all-too-obvious love for each other.<\/p>\n \u201cIt might seem like we\u2019re skipping steps here, but we aren\u2019t. Not really. Because the way I feel for you isn\u2019t new or out of nowhere. It\u2019s been there all along. I was just too scared to do something about it. If you didn\u2019t feel the same way, or if it didn\u2019t work out\u2026 fuck, Addy. I can\u2019t lose you.\u201d It\u2019s sweet, funny and emotional, and once they go there, holy hell it\u2019s freaking hot! And the way it all plays out is gorgeous – functional and angst-free, just how I love my romance to be.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat have I gotten myself into?\u201d Jennifer Van Wyk writes wonderful small-town-romance, and she\u2019s delivered a beautiful story for Beau and Addy. I was right there with them from start to finish and I felt it all. Absolutely gorgeous.<\/p>\n 4.5 stars!<\/p>\n An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Zoey gets tired of the hug-fest long before I do and not so subtly demands to be set down and runs to play with Macaroni. Before Addy can leave me also, I hug her alone, loving the feel of her softness in my arms. \u201cI got something I want to talk to you about after Squirt goes to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2063She looks up at me, chin resting on my chest. \u201cGood stuff or bad stuff?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2063\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2063\u201cWell, I have something I want to talk to you about, too, so it works out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2063\u201cGood stuff or bad stuff?\u201d I ask, repeating her question.<\/p>\n \u2063\u201cGood. I think.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2063There\u2019s heat in her eyes and with the way she\u2019s touching my arms, as if she can\u2019t not touch me, and hope flares in my chest that maybe she\u2019s on the same path as I am.<\/p>\n \u2063\u201cAddy\u2026\u201d I lean my head down so our foreheads are resting against one another and breathe her in. She always smells so good. A mixture of the flowers she\u2019s been arranging all day and her own unique sweetness. I bet she\u2019s sweet everywhere. My mouth waters just thinking about it. She shudders under my touch, almost like she knows what I\u2019m thinking. \u201cDamn, I hope your good stuff is the same as mine.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2063She nods her head against me and I give her waist a squeeze. She stumbles just enough that it gets her closer to me. Closer isn\u2019t enough. The need to become one with her is almost more than I can bear. Addy\u2019s everything I ever wanted and for the first time in my life, I feel like she\u2019s within reach. Like maybe it\u2019s finally our time.<\/p>\n \u2063One hand travels slowly up my arm and over my shoulder until it settles against my neck. Her thumb slides over my chin, barely grazing the edge of my mouth. Her eyes watch her own movement until slowly they rise, connecting with me.<\/p>\n \u2063\u201cBeau.\u201d I breathe in my name from her lips and it fills me with so much need and want. It\u2019s caveman-like. I understand why stories are told of them throwing their women over their shoulders and tossing them into a cave so they can have their wicked way with them.<\/p>\n \u2063Macaroni barks and scratches at the door, breaking the moment. We jump apart like we were just caught doing something wrong but I can\u2019t allow the thought to settle in. Nothing about being with Addy is wrong and I finally get that.<\/p>\n \u2063I just hope she does, too.<\/p>\n \n \u2063\u2063<\/p>\n From the Ground Up<\/em>\u00a0was Jennifer\u2019s first published novel and now that she was bitten by the writing bug, has no intention of ever stopping. Jennifer makes her home in small town Iowa with her high school sweetheart, three beautiful, hilarious and amazing kids, one crazy Jack Russell terrier. This is where her love for all things reading, baking, and cooking happen.\u00a0 Jennifer\u2019s family enjoys camping, boating, and spending time outside as much as possible. You\u2019ll be her best friend if you can make her laugh and follow up with asking her what to read next. When she\u2019s not writing, you can find her cheering the loudest at her kids\u2019 sporting events (read as: embarrassing them), sipping coffee or iced tea out of a mason jar with her Kindle in her lap or binging on Netflix.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Amazon\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Twitter\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Instagram\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Reader Group<\/a> Goodreads\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0BookBub\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Book + Main<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/The-Path-To-Us-Teaser.png?resize=493%2C493&ssl=1\")
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\nReview<\/b><\/h4>\n
\n\u201cI know what you mean.\u201d
\nHe nods. \u201cBut I can\u2019t put those feelings aside any longer. You and me? Nothing else makes sense to me like being with you does.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n\u201cA lifetime.\u201d
\nShe sucks in a breath and tears instantly flood her eyes.
\n\u201cYou like that.\u201d
\nHer hair slips over her shoulders when she shakes her head. \u201cNo. I <\/i>love that.\u201d
\n\u201cNot as much as I do.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nExcerpt\u2063<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\nAbout the Author<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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