Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most.
Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up
— she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.
Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.
As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan — her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.
TW: domestic violence
REVIEW: This book was heavy. As a survivor of an abusive relationship, this book was extremely hard to read. However, I’m glad I read it and I hope others will too considering the subject matter. I think it’s important that people understand it’s not always black and white. There was so much trauma in the pasts of all of these characters. Lily’s past with Atlas and all the difficult things they had to bear so young was just heartbreaking. Hearing that this topic was personal for the author was heartbreaking, but hearing about how her mother broke the cycle as did I, gives me hope that others will find the strength to do the same. This was an incredible 5 star read for me that I feel everyone should read and I’m excited to read more from this author.
Publication Date: August 2, 2016