This book was okay. It suffered from some amateurish writing problems. Characters don't always have scream or bellow or whimper their words. The heroine over emoted all the time. She literally never said anything in a normal tone of voice. If someone spoke in real life as she was written, everyone would think she was a crazy person. And if you have to tell me something was said sarcastically instead of letting me infer it from the actual writing, then the writing isn't all that great and it probably wasn't all that sarcastic.

The dialog was pretty stilted. I kept thinking 'people don't really talk like that.'

There was quite a bit of angst to the story but some of it seemed forced and unnecessary. Brett was a bit of a wuss. He found out that his wife had a mental problem caused by her accident. I looked it up Post Concussion Syndrome does really exist and can cause a changes in personality. Although Sarah's change did seem overly dramatic but it's fiction. Still I think that after 4 years he should have got her some professional help and let her divorce him. He was really in denial.

And so I had a bit of a problem with a., him committing adultery which it was no matter what he said, and b., I had a bit of trouble buying that he really loved the heroine since he had stayed with his wife for years hoping she would change back into the woman he married.

And a further example of not so great writing. He tells the Jesse, when she asks if he is married after Caleb let the cat out of the bag. He says I lost my wife in a car accident 4 years ago. There is absolutely no way that a rational human being would assume from that that his wife had dramatically changed her personality and was a harridan that he only stayed with so she could use his insurance. NOPE anyone would assume as Jesse did that she had died. And yet the author tries to make us believe that Brett thought he had not told Jesse a lie. Poor, execrable writing. Find some other way to get your characters to continue their relationship. And these are just a few examples.

There were however moments that I enjoyed and I did finish the entire book. ( )

Let me start off by saying that when I first read the blurb I was pretty sure I wouldn't like this book and had no intention of reading it as I am generally not a fan of either second chance romances nor love-triangles. Also, it looked like it would have the gut-wrenching angst that I prefer to stay away from. However, reading the raving reviews convinced me to give it a chance. Still, didn't expect much.
However, I soon realized, that while the angst WAS there, there was also light-hearted humor and swoony romance to balance out the angst and make it just enough. Moreover, there was just something about this book making it near-impossible for me to put it down. Seems like Aly Martinez is a really captivating writer.
As for the characters, I love the fact that the author made it possible to somewhat empathize with Sarah as well. Jesse came off as somewhat of a doormat to me, but not so much that it'd become intolerable. Brett was slightly frustrating, especially in the second half, and sometimes, I feel, got off too easy. Yet the circumstances made me understand him as well, so I'm not too hung-up about that. The secondary characters were great!
Overall, a great read that made me feel so much. The writing style of this author was a perfect hit for me. ( )

Let me start off by saying that when I first read the blurb I was pretty sure I wouldn't like this book and had no intention of reading it as I am generally not a fan of either second chance romances nor love-triangles. Also, it looked like it would have the gut-wrenching angst that I prefer to stay away from. However, reading the raving reviews convinced me to give it a chance. Still, didn't expect much.
However, I soon realized, that while the angst WAS there, there was also light-hearted humor and swoony romance to balance out the angst and make it just enough. Moreover, there was just something about this book making it near-impossible for me to put it down. Seems like Aly Martinez is a really captivating writer.
As for the characters, I love the fact that the author made it possible to somewhat empathize with Sarah as well. Jesse came off as somewhat of a doormat to me, but not so much that it'd become intolerable. Brett was slightly frustrating, especially in the second half, and sometimes, I feel, got off too easy. Yet the circumstances made me understand him as well, so I'm not too hung-up about that. The secondary characters were great!
Overall, a great read that made me feel so much. The writing style of this author was a perfect hit for me. ( )

This book was pretty emotional: the flashbacks of Brett holding his bloody wife; the enduring friendship between Caleb and Brett; the pain and loss these two endured. You could have knocked me over with a feather when the whole Brett and his wife mystery came out. I felt for him-the life he had, the life he has. Overall, I really liked it. I'm going to read the next book as soon as I can. ( )

One tragic accident 4 years ago changes the course of so many lives. This is a very emotional story of the grief of the 3 people left alive and shows how each of them have not dealt with their grief and the how that has impacted their lives and in turn starts to impact the lives of those around them.

This was not a typical romance story. Two people meet and fall in love and have 7 years of wedded bliss. They also have best friends who are also in the forever kind of love. When the two men who are police detectives are called away while they are all out to dinner the women then are left to drive home on their own and this is where tragedy struck. One died and the other lived but was not the same person afterwards.

Brett practically fell in love with Sarah the moment he laid on eyes on her. He knew this was the woman for him and before long they are married. Seven years later she and her best friend were driving home and got in an accident. Sarah survived but she came back a totally different person. She had violent mood swings, many suicide attempts and wanted nothing to do with Brett. Out of sense of loyalty to his wife he never divorced her and took care of her financially along with all of her medical expenses but the woman he fell in love with no longer existed. For the next 4 years Brett just did his job and lived in a fog. His only highlight was seeing the barista at a local coffeehouse every morning. Due to his circumstances he would never do more than just flirt and admire her from afar. Little did he know that she also was admiring him and decided to make the first move which opens up a huge can of worms but yet also starts the process of the changes he and his wife Sarah and his best friend Caleb (the one whose fiancé died in the crash) have needed for 4 years but it’s a long emotional rollercoaster journey and at the end of this book only Brett has dealt with and moved on. The next two books in the series are Caleb’s and the off her freggin rocker ex wife Sarah.

The woman that finally puts sunshine is Brett’s life was a wonderful character that is thrown in the middle of basically 3 people’s living nightmares and has to hang on for dear life and decide if this wonderful man she’s fallen in love with is worth the amount of sacrifices she continually has to make.
( )