This is a heartbreaking story, the turmoil that Xander is going through is almost too much to bear. He is in so much pain that it's almost unbearable to read. I feel so bad for him. The only way he knows how to cope is to push everyone away.
Willow is missing Xander so much that she will do whatever it takes to get him back, even put up with his vitriol.
Xander and Willow have been best friends for as long as they can remember, they always had each others back until Xander went off to enlist and never spoke to Willow again.
Xander and Willow grew up together and were friends since they were about 8 years old. They both were in love with each other but never spoke up and said anything. They were both too afraid of rejection.
Willow has been aching for any type of contact from Xander its been three years and she has no clue where her best friend is or if he's even alive at this point.
Xander is dealing with so much and keeps pushing everyone away, he even tries to push Willow away and she goes but she comes back and realizes that she wants to help. No one knows what Xander's been through. And Willow is a crisis counselor so she has some experience dealing with trauma.
But being so close to the situation is a little harder for her but she manages to reach Xander and help pull him out of the worst of his trauma. He's not healed but he's trying where as before he just gave up on himself.
I loved seeing them finally open up to each other and say how they felt. I also love how sweet Xander ending up being with Willow after his initial shock and anger.
They had to work hard to communicate with each other without misunderstanding one another. They had to fight for every inch of ground.
And I love how even though Willow was mad at Xander for not communicating with her she didn’t leave him in his world of torment. She pushed through because she knew he needed her to be a friend more than anything else.
I love how they fit together and I love and angsty story, but this one was a bit hard to take at certain points. I had to come back to it when I could.
WOULD I RECOMMEND:
I would definitely recommend this book. If your looking for a tortured soul that is trying to find his way to the light for the woman he loves then this is the one for you.
This is some what in the grump/sunshine trope but that is because of everything that Xander went through.
This was such a heart wrenching story, even though I had to put it down I still finished this book pretty quickly because it was so engaging. Oh and I loved the tidbits from their past together, where we could see their friendship.
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About the author
Pretty Good Debut Novel
This is the debut novel for author Harloe Rae, and it was well written and fun to read as far as debut novels go. The cover is marvelous and the pages are beautiful I am so glad that I was able to procure a paperback copy of this newly released novel. When we first meet Xander his is living in a little shack in the woods, back from overseas but away from everyone that he knows. He has bad PTSD from events that occurred overseas and can’t stand to be around anyone or be touched. That is until Willow, his friend from high school, shows up and he doesn’t hate being around her. Now that they are able to spend some time together they are able to see that they are very in love, even with all the tense moments that the PTSD provides in the narrative of the book. Willow and Xander were friends since they were 13, and actually in love with each other, but neither one of them knew it because they never had the nerve to tell the other one. The book is told from alternating points of view, bouncing back and fourth between Willow and Xander every chapter, I always enjoy stories like this so that you can get a wider perspective on the circumstances of the story. In this instance though the circumstances don’t really matter much, because the back story is just the framework for what the actual story is-a sexy reunion between two people that were meant to be together but haven’t been able to yet but they are about to don’t worry. Xander and Willow are cute together, and the complexities that Xander faces makes him the more developed character of the two. Still, it was hard for me to feel the deep emotional connection that I like to feel with my characters when I read a book. Let’s face it though, we’re not exactly focused on their personalities here: Of course this is an erotica novel so there are many explicit sex scenes in this book. For the most part they are pretty sexy and racy. Other than a just a couple cringe-worthy lines or verbiages that are fairly common in books such as these I think that this was an entertaining book, well worth the .99 cents that it costs on Amazon (or it’s free on KU!!). I’m not altogether sure how I feel about the ex-soldier PTSD thing being a plot device for a book like this, but I also remember that these books are for fun and fantasy, so don’t begrudge anyone who enjoys it either. I was just a storyline and this is just like any other romance novel and if you think that you won’t like it than you should just steer clear. I know these types of books aren’t about complex medical conditions but his one left me thinking about that part a little more. If you do like this kind of (EXsoldier) plot I would recommend it, and I will even say that it has a decent ending that didn’t have me rolling my eyes.
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- Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2022
Top reviews from other countries
- Linda VermuytenReviewed in Australia on May 28, 2017
A story of love amidst the trauma of PTSD
