Reviewer: Tracy These Wounds Run Deep by Ember Leigh
Publisher: Loose Id
Publication Date: November 7th 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance
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It’s been ten years since Zach Carter and his brothers hit it big and moved to L.A. Life in the fast lane was hard to explain to anyone who didn’t live it--so how could his best friend Ellie understand? Now that he’s returned to his hometown to deal with a crisis, the consequences have piled up around him. But what hasn’t changed is how bad he wants Ellie back in his arms.
A decade after high school graduation and Ellie has never been more content--until Zach Carter, her oldest friend, her first love, and the boy she lost her virginity to, walks back into her life after ten years without so much as a postcard. And one thing the tabloids couldn’t prepare her for was how much this man still makes her heart race.
Ellie is determined to prove to Zach that she’s moved on and doesn’t need him. Everyone important in her life has left her, including Zach, so why would this time be different? But there’s no way she can avoid him while he’s back in their hometown, fighting for her attention…and forgiveness. And her body won’t let her forget he’s in town, either.
Ellie and Zach were best friends from the age of 10. The grew up together and their relationship grew into something deeper and they fell in love. When Zach was 19 years old he and his brothers got a recording contract and moved to LA. Ellie was sad that Zach was leaving but was so happy for him. Unfortunately the relationship and communication that Ellie thought she would have with Zach slowly started to dwindle and then stop altogether just months after he left. It took a long time but Ellie got on with her life, started a business of her own and became an independent woman.
Zach and his brothers, Kyle and Carson, made it big but have come home to Portville, OH after 10 years because their parents are not will. Zach wants nothing more than to be with Ellie and get back to what they once had but Ellie’s done with Zach and tells him straight out that she’s not interested in being his friend or anything else. Zach isn’t one to give up, however, and he does everything in his power to be with the woman he never stopped loving.
The Wounds Run Deep was a good book. I really liked Ellie and her independence, strength and perseverance when it came to her life. She had been through really hard times with her mother and father and then after feeling betrayed by Zach she picked herself and moved on. I didn’t blame her for not wanting to open her heart to him again as she really didn’t know him any longer and certainly didn’t know if he was going to stick around.
Zach was a good guy though he hadn’t always been. When he left for LA he was immature and self-centered and let the fame go to his head. He said that he’d never stopped loving Ellie but that didn’t stop him from getting married (and subsequently divorced) while he was gone. If he’d loved her that much why would even contemplate marriage, much less do it? IDK. I saw that he’d become a better man and was pulling for him with Ellie.
The story had some really slow places in it and I honestly didn’t feel connected to the characters enough to get into the sex scenes, which was disappointing. At some points I had to force myself not to skim. The end of the story felt too abrupt to me. I needed a bit more than “ok, I’ve decided to be with you.” “Yay!” The end. Alright, it wasn’t that bad but it kind of felt like it.
Overall a sweet story that I had some issues with.
Rating: 3 out of 5