New Adult Romance released 11/5/13
Forever Romance Publishing
Author's website | Goodreads | Buy the Book on Amazon
Synopsis from Goodreads:
He was taking the long road. She was taking the road to nowhere. It just so happened that they led to the same place…
When everything falls apart, love remains . . .
THE EDGE OF ALWAYS
Camryn Bennett has never been happier. Five months after meeting on a Greyhound bus, she and her soul mate Andrew Parrish are engaged—and a wedding isn’t the only special event in their future. Nervous but excited, Camryn can’t wait to begin the rest of her life with Andrew – a man she knows in her heart will love her always. They have so much to look forward to—until tragedy blindsides them.
Andrew doesn’t understand how this could happen to them. He’s trying to move on, and thought Camryn was doing the same. But when Andrew discovers Camryn is secretly harboring a mountain of pain and attempting to numb it in damaging ways, there is nothing he won’t do to bring her back to life. Determined to prove that their love can survive anything, Andrew decides to take Camryn on a new journey filled with hope and passion. If only he can convince her to come along for the ride…
My Thoughts...
So apparently this week on the blog, at least so far, I have a theme. This theme is 2nd books that don't quite live up to the 1st book in the series. If you have been reading this blog long then you probably remember that both Heather and I reviewed the first book, The Edge of Never and we both loved it. This book just didn't have that same magic that the first one did.
This one picks up pretty much right where the last one left off. Now I will say that I thought that the first book had a pretty fine ending. I was happy with where Andrew and Camryn were at the end, and as much as I loved them I was fine knowing that that particular place was where their story ended. The problem with adding on to their story is the inevitable tragedy that must take place to keep the story moving, otherwise it's just more happy, happy, happy. (NO, that way not a Duck Dynasty reference! I do NOT watch that show, but unfortunately their merchandising throws it in my face in literally every store I enter.) Sorry...I got off track! So, when you add more story on to what is a perfectly happy ending, you have to keep it interesting by adding in some tragedy, heartbreak and what not.
I think that there is a fine line between needing to continue a story and continuing a story because readers loved the first one so much. This, in my opinion, was not a story that needed to be continued. I didn't dislike it, I just don't think it was all together necessary. Will that prevent me from buying a print copy to put on the shelf next to the first one? Absolutely not! I love Jessica's writing style and I love the characters and I was totally engaged for the first 2/3 of the book. Then it hit a point where the rest of the story read more like an epilogue than the end of the story. There were huge time lapses not accounted for and things like that where she skips forward in an effort to really make sure that their story is finished. I am one of those people that likes to remember the main characters as they are in the story. I don't necessarily want to see those characters as older people. That's just one of my quirky reading things and it's one of the things that bothered me about the ending of this book. I don't want to see a 45 year old Andrew, I like the 24 year old Andrew just fine!
OK, so....I don't know if there is much else I can say about this book. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. I think that the Camryn that I didn't like so much in the first book came back in this one a bit as well. I always loved Andrew though, and he stays true to his character throughout the book. If you LOVED the first book and you think that you need to know more of what happens to them then go pick this book up. If you are happy with how their story ended then you may not need to read this one.
*Disclaimer: I was provided with an ARC Galley copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
My SIL just told me this one was coming out yesterday and I was excited to read it. Not so sure now. It does seem that sequels/series are the thing now for books. Thanks for the review.
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