What do you do when your soul mate marries your best friend?
If you're Kate Evans, you keep your friend Rachel, bond with her kids, and bury your feelings for her husband. The fact that Shane's in the military and away for long periods helps-but when tragedy strikes, everything changes.
After Rachel, pregnant with her fourth child, dies in a car accident and the baby miraculously survives, Kate upends her entire life to share parenting duties. Then on the first anniversary of Rachel's death, Kate and Shane take comfort in each other in a night that they both soon regret.
Shane's been angry for a year, and now he feels guilty too - for sleeping with his wife's best friend and liking it . . . liking her. Kate's ability to read him like a book may have once sent Shane running, but their lives are forever entwined and they are growing closer.
Now with Shane deployed for seven months, Kate is on her own and struggling with being a single parent. Shane is loving and supportive from thousands of miles away, but his homecoming brings a betrayal Kate never saw coming. So Kate's only choice is to fight for the future she deserves - with or without Shane. .
4 HEARTBREAKING STARS
When I first saw this, being the angst whore that I am, I HAD to read this. I kept telling myself that this story was going to be one for the books and at the end of the prologue I was already tearing up. So I did something that I've never done before. I went back and read the prologue again because I thought to myself: I don't get emotional while reading and if a freaking prologue can bring that kind of emotional feeling out of me, I'm scared sh*tless of what the rest of the story is going to do to me.
"I don't need you to save me. I never needed you to fucking save me"
As teenagers Kate and Shane were best friends that did everything together. They knew each other secrets and what made the other person mad. Shane being the Foster Child of Kate's Aunt and Uncle, their family life was very much entwined and everything was perfect. That is until Kate introduces her Best friend Rachel to Shane. All it took was one look at Rachel and Shane knew he had to have her. Ten years later, they're happily married with three kids and another one on the way and Shane's friendship with Kate is now a thing of the past.
You would think that being around Rachel and the family that she's created with Shane would make Kate somewhat bitter and angry, but that's the complete opposite. She loves Rachel like a sister and would do amything for her so for the past ten years, everytime Shane leaves to go on Deployment, Kate is there doing everything to help Rachel with the kids. But with one phone call, that's all about to change and that easy dynamic that they've perfected will be completely obliterated.
It"s been a year since the death of her friend, and kate has been a constant companion in her kid's life. She loves those kids as if they were her own and even though Shane hasn't been a nice person to be around, that hasn't stopped her in being there for them. Shane knows he's being an a**hole when it comes to being around Kate but he has a tendacy of speaking first and consequences later be dammed. Has it made his relationship with her any better? Hell no, but for the sake of his kids he wants to try. If only it was that simple.
Kate and Shane truly put me through the ringer with their story and quite frankly I'm exhausted. I loved their dynamic when they were together and knowing that their relationship wasn't rushed in any way. They had so much history that made them come back to each other and I was praying so hard that we would've gotten to see more of their past together but sadly that didn't happen. I adored seeing how the kids played such an important part in the story and knowing that they loved her just as much as she did.
"I cared for children that I loved more than myself, gave up the small semblence of a life I'd had before, and became a stand-in. And I didn't regret. Not for a second".
What I didn't like was Shane portrayal in the begining and he gave the term douche noozle a whole new meaning. I didn't hate him but I wasn't a fan of him either and for that, my rating had to drop. I wanted to punch him in a certain scene while simultaneously slap him. Yes he definetely redeemed himself after but some things were just better left unsaid and he should've done exactly that. Those that have already read the story know exactly what I'm talking about and I'll leave it at that. If you can overlook that part, then this will be one of your favorites reads of all time.
The writing was absolute perfection and I admired how the author managed to not make Rachel feel like a road block and have Shane comparing the two very completely different women. His conflictions were justified and seeing how he felt made me forgive him alot quicker than what I normally do. He wanted to be a better person and knowing that he made the effort had me rooting for him.
"I didn't know how to be with someone like Kate. She'd demand more from me than anyone ever had before, and that was terrifying. Because even though the history between us had proven that she wasn't going anywhere,I'd learned over the course of my life that people left".
If you're second guessing this book or you're scared to try it, don't be. I think you will truly enjoy this story. Kate and Shane took a journey from loss and grief to the rebuilding of a long time friendship and turned into something more, and for my angst lovers, this one is for YOU.
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