Published: May 15, 2018
This is the second book in the Rosewood Bay series. The first book was Fearless and I liked it so much that I knew I had to read the second book about the older sister. Like the previous novel this is a shorter book and is a very quick read. I’m pretty sure I finished it in a day and a half and that’s only because I started it on a work day. Otherwise I know I would have finished it in a day. It was that fast paced. And not a fast pace that makes you wonder what happened but a good fast pace.
In this novel we are privy to the life of Phoebe Ward. Phoebe is the oldest of the Ward siblings and she is the one with the broken heart that refuses to heal. When she can to live with her aunt she found out that she was pregnant at 16. But rather than abort the baby or give it up for adoption she kept her son because she loved his father. Fast forward 12 years and Phoebe is a kickass realestate agent and a single mom to an almost teenage boy. When she is doing a routine check-in on a place for a friend she finds the unexpected. Her son’s father.
Jake can’t believe his eyes when he sees Phoebe. She is the one that got away. The one that all relationships have paled in comparison including his marriage. He didn’t know what to expect when he took a construction job in Rosewood Bay but she was not it. Now that they have found each other again he will do whatever it takes to keep her. But when he find out he has a son he never knew about his past and present collide leave him struggling for what he wants most. A life with Phoebe and his children.
This book was all about reconnecting to the past and seeing that actions have consequences. Phoebe went the entirety of her son’s life not know where his father was and Jake didn’t even consider that he could have fathered a child as a teenager. All of the decisions that they made when they were young shaped them into the people that they are. Which is really what I got out of the book. Even though the past informs your future it should never control it. Jake wanted a life with Phoebe like he always had and even though he has a slightly crazy ex-wife in the picture he will do whatever it takes to break through the walls that she has built around her life. I like all of the different insights that the book offered while still keeping it entertaining to the reader. I’m looking forward to finally getting to read Juliette’s story which will be so different from Phoebe’s and Hailley’s.
—“She [Phoebe] knew any chance of them having a family-like day was shot now that a puppy was involved.”—
bookishlyromantic.com 