What happens when you fall for the boy next door?
Bea Norwood had the market on normal.
Drama free life? Check.
A single-mother who doubled as her confidant and partner in crime? Check.
A neighbor and best friend she trusted more than anyone? Check.
But that was until the day her mother remarried. The day that changed everything.
When her best friend’s cousin, Liam Falcon, is sent to live with his aunt and uncle to clean up his act, Bea finds herself falling for the boy next door. With their hearts so infinitely entwined, Bea turns to Liam as her only escape from her new step-brother’s daily torment at home. Bea thought their love could conquer anything. But she was wrong. Love was for fools, and she was the biggest fool of them all. When Liam left Lakeport, he took her heart with him, shattering the organ to pieces.
Six years later, Liam takes a trip back to Lakeport to visit his family, and to see HER.
His first love.
The girl who holds his heart.
The same girl who shattered it six years ago without looking back.
Liam is hell-bent on seeing Bea again after six years, but what he finds tears his heart in half. Bea Norwood is a shell of the girl he fell in love with. Underneath the baggy clothes, and pale skin, he knows she’s still in there somewhere, he just needs to find her.
Liam will stop at nothing to win his girl back, but sometimes, ignorance is bliss, and Liam isn’t prepared for Bea’s truth.
Warning: Contains themes of abuse. May cause triggers.
I think about the boy I fell in love with. The boy that promised me he’d love me forever. The same boy that ripped my heart in half, leaving me for dead at the hands of him.
MY REVIEW
This book is HANDS DOWN one of my FAVORITE books of 2019! Yes, it isn’t a book for everyone, but it is heartbreakingly beautiful.
Bea, oh how I loved her and wanted to give her the biggest hug in the world. She isn’t a victim, she is a survivor. The things she had to endure, the pain, the threats, the heartache. I found myself crying when it came to her, my heart broke for her. Bea is strong and she is a fighter. She had a hard road to happiness, but it is happiness that she truly deserves.
Liam, he was a sweet boy who turned into an even sweater man. From the moment he meant Bea he was there for her, he was her protector. When he finds out she is the shell of the girl he once knew he does everything he can to help her, even though he didn’t know the truth behind what had happened. He is always the one to keep her safe. I loved Liam so much. Even though he was a bigshot, he didn’t act that way. He is so down to earth.
S.M. Soto wrote a beautiful story that is full of hope, full of love, full of pain and loss. It will rip your heart into a million little pieces but it will also mend your heart. It will give you hope. It will show you that despite being broken you can find your happily ever after in life.
This isn’t a sweet story, but it is a love story. This is a story that I know I will read again in the future and I know no matter how many times I read it my heart will break and I will ugly cry. Have some tissues ready when you read this book because you WILL need them.
