Eight years ago, Garrett Finnegan’s world shattered the day Mia
vanished from his life. He’s been struggling to pick up the pieces ever
since. Haunted by memories and ghosts of the past, he chooses a solitary
existence rather than risk his heart again.
Mia Emerson has made one wrong decision after another but none worse
than walking away from the boy who stole her heart so long ago. When
her new life is turned upside down, she finds herself returning to her
roots and the hometown she left behind. Maybe now she can find a way to
heal from the devastating mistakes of her past.
When a chance encounter brings these former lovers together, passion
reignites in a way neither is prepared for. Can Garrett move beyond his
anger and find a way to forgive? Will Mia’s insecurities and fears
cause her to once again flee the life she’s destined to live?
Garrett and Mia will soon discover that they must journey into the past to find their way home.
Berg is the USA Today bestselling author of the Ready Series. She is a
California native living in the beautiful state of historic Virginia.
Married to her high school sweetheart, they have two beautiful girls
that drive them batty on a daily basis. When she’s not writing, you will
find her with her nose stuck in a romance novel, in a yoga studio or
devouring anything chocolate. J.L. Berg is represented by Jill Marsal of
Marsal Lyon Literary Agency, LLC.
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/
our bags loaded, we started to make our way back to the car, weaving
through the crowd and enjoying the sounds of people talking and soft
music playing. I smiled when I heard a child laughing. I turned to see a
child being thrown over his father’s shoulder.
“Garrett! Stop it! I’m too old to be carried!” The child laughed.
“You’re never too old to be tackled, Connor! We’ve got to get you ready for football!”
That
voice—even after eight years, I would recognize it anywhere. My stomach
fell to the concrete, and my feet cemented to the ground. I was frozen,
completely frozen. Everything slowed. The street noise melted away, and
each and every shopper disappeared until I saw him. He had the boy
slung over his shoulder. They were both laughing and breathless from
their horseplay. He looked older, but it was still him. He still had the
same jet-black hair, emerald eyes, and dazzling smile. A beautiful
blonde woman was smiling at the two of them as they joked around.
My heart finally caught up to my brain, and it felt like a jackhammer
was beating hard and fast in my chest. My hands shook, and my knees
suddenly felt weak and wobbly. I had no idea how much time had passed
since I saw him.
Minutes? Hours?
I didn’t know, but it couldn’t have been long since Liv was just now noticing my crazy behavior.
“Amelia, are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost,” she said.
When I didn’t respond, she must have glanced up because I heard her gasp. She’d seen him, too.
“I-I need to get out of here—now,” I gritted through my teeth.
“Are you sure?”
I just nodded and started to turn. I couldn’t face him. He probably hated me.
He had a kid. That
hurt. My hand went to my chest, trying to rub out the pain settling
there. He had a child. That meant the blonde standing next to him was
probably his wife. Garrett was married. It had been eight years.
Of course he would be married. I didn’t know why I was surprised, but he
wasn’t supposed to be here. He had moved away. He was supposed to stay
away. I couldn’t be here if he was still here. I couldn’t breathe if he
was still here.
“Come on, sweetheart, let’s get to the car,” Liv said gently, grabbing my arm and guiding me toward the car.
I just gave a brief nod as I let her lead me.
We hadn’t made it three steps before I heard the words that made my heart come to a screeching halt.
“Mia? Mia, is that you?”
Sarah’s Review:
Thank you to J.L Berg for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this great story. I need to start with an apology for the review being late, but I was dealing with a death in my family during the week that I was planning on writing the review and the funeral was on the day it should have gone live. Thank you for understanding J.L. because I was a complete wreck emotionally and wouldn’t have been able to write the review.
Like many others that have read this series, I have been waiting for Garrett’s story and boy, did J.L Berg nailed it out of the park! We had glimpses of Garrett missing someone, but we didn’t know just how much that person meant to Garrett. Then we meet Mia in this amazing story and we see a different side of Garrett and I was rooting for them!
Right from the beginning, I knew I was going to cry, but I wasn’t expecting to cry as much as I did. Reading about what each one went through when Mia left with no explanation, what happened while she was gone and why she left the way she did really made me root for them even more. Mia’s parents, well, I am not too fond of them. However one of them makes a change and causes things to become okay with that parent.
It was great seeing a glimpse into Claire and Logan’s life as well as Leah and Declan’s. I can’t wait to see what happens next for these three couples.
