Affected by her parents’ highly publicized divorce, Isabel grows up isolated and alone, with a resolve to never fall in love and repeat their mistakes.
When Jesse Cain enters her life, she falls hopelessly in love with him, and every sadness she’s ever felt is washed away by his intensity and passion. But people change as they grow up. Things can never stay the same forever.
Jesse and Isabel fight to stay together, determined to hold on to what they once had. Isabel wonders if a second love can ever be enough to make her forget her first.
Wow. That’s all I could say when I finished this debut novel from author Christine Brae. Wow. I honestly don’t want to talk too much about the story in this review, because I feel like this is a story that a reader needs to experience for themselves.
Suffice it to say that this book is emotional, intense, and sometimes infuriating! We’re taken on Isabel’s journey following her from tumultuous childhood to her equally turbulent adulthood. She meets Jesse in high school, and their love is intense and all-consuming. Isabel slowly loses herself to Jesse, so subtly, that she doesn’t even realize it at first. But she loves Jesse so deeply, she looks past his faults in order to stay with him.
Oh, Jesse. What’s to say about Jesse?
Jesse is a driven, ambitious guy. He’s determined to make a success out of himself and make a good life for himself and Isabel. He makes some bad choices in his quest for success, but you can almost (ALMOST) overlook this because you can feel the intensity of his love for Isabel. Sometimes I really got pissed at him, but he still wormed his way into my heart!
I loved Alex as well, though! He stood by the sidelines and loved Isabel all those years, without her really even knowing. I can’t imagine what he was feeling all those times he saw Isabel and Jesse together.
Like I said, I’m not going to go into the story too much, because you really need to read and experience this story without any preconceived notions in your head.
Christine’s writing was unlike anything I’ve read before. She paints a picture of a privileged world, something I couldn’t relate to, but her writing makes it easy to envision. Her writing has an almost ethereal quality to it, and it’s so easy to get lost in her words.
This is a powerful story of first love, and whether a second love can make you whole, and heal old wounds.
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