Reviewer: Tracy Blurred by Kim Karr
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: August 5th 2014
Genres: New Adult
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The story before the love story….
When he lost the only woman he’d ever loved, it seemed there was nothing left to live for.
Even as a boy, all Ben Covington ever wanted was to spend forever with Dahlia London, the beautiful girl next door...then one life-altering decision tore them apart and he was forced to leave her.
Now, despite having returned to win her back, he’s still alone. She’s with someone else—someone she’s never going to leave.
Resigned to a future without his former girlfriend, Ben numbs his broken heart in a haze of liquor and women. But then the only woman who ever even turned his head while he was with his girl reappears unexpectedly. And he’s never forgotten their one incredible night together. But will Ben’s destructive behavior destroy his future with her before it even begins?
If you’ve read the first two books in the Connections series you’re quite familiar with Ben Covington. He was Dahlia London’s first love until she met River Wilde. Ben went through a really tough time in his life while he was away from his family, (I won’t go into detail because I don’t want to give too many spoilers if you haven’t already read books 1 & 2 in the series) and returned to find his one true love in love with someone else. That really messed with his head.
This book continues months later and Ben is messed up yet again as he deals with the death of his mother. She was an anchor in his life and when she dies he just can’t handle life in general. He starts drinking heavily and screwing around with women which, of course, doesn’t help at all. He makes a decision to get out of the country and heads to Australia for a while for some much needed head-clearing.
Unfortunately all good (and life avoiding) things must come to an end and he is called home to testify in a trial. He heads back to California but is again at a loss. He has no job, no car, no place to live and not many friends. This story takes us on Ben’s journey while he reminisces about his life, his friends, the women in his life and how he’s handled all of it – the good and the bad. It also show Ben dealing with his current life and the positive and negative things that happen to him.
The story is a decent read and gave me some much needed background on Ben. I can’t say I particularly liked him all that well in the first two books and while this novella didn’t have me falling in love with him, I can say that I liked him a hell of a lot better than before. By the end of the book he seemed to have gotten his shit together and started moving into a more positive part of his life which I was quite happy about. I’m actually looking forward to reading his full novel, Frayed, to see where he heads next with Bell Wilde.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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