The Life We Almost Had by Amelia Henley ~ My Thoughts #TheLifeWeAlmostHad @booksforwardpr @readforeverpub

Congratulations Amelia

on the release of

The Life We Almost Had!

The Life We Almost Had by Amelia Henley
Psychological Thrillers, 416 pages
Published June 14, 2022 by Forever

From the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author comes an emotional romance that is "beautifully written and plotted" (Candis).

This is not a typical love story, but it's our love story.

Anna wasn't looking for love when Adam swept her off her feet, but there was no denying their connection, and she believed they would be together forever.

Years later, cracks have appeared in their relationship. Anna is questioning whether their love can really be eternal when a cruel twist of fate delivers a crushing blow, and Anna and Adam are completely lost to one another. Now, Anna needs Adam more than ever, but the way back to him has life-changing consequences.

Is a second chance at first love really worth the sacrifice? Anna needs to decide, and time is running out.

My thoughts about The Life We Almost Had ~~

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first line.)

First line—"Seven years. It's been seven years since that night on the beach."

This was such an amazing story, unlike any I have read in a long time. It's full of love, betrayal, worry, hope, magic, forgiveness, secrets and lies. But always so much love. And hope. 

The Life We Almost Had is a beautifully written book that grabbed my attention from the very first line and then cemented my love for it with the line 'This is not a typical love story, but it's our love story.' Yep, I'm a sucker for a good love story. And this one is definitely not like any other one I've read. I was rooting for Anna and Adam all the way as they go through some really tough times. Is their love going to be strong enough to see them through it all? 

Amelia Henley is a new-to-me author and I didn't know a whole lot about this book going in, but she now has a fan who loves this book of hers. I will definitely be reading more of her stories, that's for sure!

Thank you to Books Forward and the publisher for a copy of The Life We Almost Had. This is my honest opinion of the book. 

About the author

Amelia Henley is a hopeless romantic who has a penchant for exploring the intricacies of relationships through writing heart-breaking, high-concept love stories.

Amelia also writes psychological thrillers under her real name, Louise Jensen. As Louise Jensen she has sold over a million copies of her global number one bestsellers. Her stories have been translated into twenty-five languages and optioned for TV as well as featuring on the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestsellers list. Louise’s books have been nominated for multiple awards.

The Life We Almost Had was an international best seller. Her second love story, The Art of Loving You is newly published and available in ebook, paperback and audio. ~ Amazon

Connect with Amelia

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter

*********************

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

On Tour! Keep Forever by Alexa Kingaard ~ An Excerpt and a #Giveaway!

Keep Forever

Keep Forever by Alexa Kingaard
Published by: Acorn Publishing
Publication date: March 28th 2020
Genres: Historical Romance, Women’s Fiction

“Unlike some war stories that focus on intense, harsh and graphic depictions of post-combat trauma, this tale unfolds gently, like an Edna Ferber novel, spread across many decades, detailing the impact this soldier’s illness has on an entire family, including children and grandchildren. Keep Forever is a wonderful, emotionally satisfying read that I highly recommend. ”—Gary Seigel, author of Haskell Himself

Paul O’Brien’s idyllic childhood in Southern California comes to a halt when his mother dies in the summer before his senior year of high school and a very different persona of his father emerges – isolating himself inside the house, turning to alcohol for comfort, and barely noticing his only child. Simultaneously, the war in Vietnam is sending shock waves around the world and young men from one coast to the other are being called upon to serve. Paul enlists in the Marines before receiving his draft notice. 

Elizabeth Sutton is eager to gain some independence from her father’s old fashioned notions and looking forward to her first year in high school. At fifteen years old, tragedy strikes with the loss of both parents in an auto accident, turning her childhood into one of responsibility and worry overnight. The four siblings are scattered when her nine-year-old twin sisters are sent to live with their Aunt and Uncle on Nantucket Island, and Elizabeth is left behind in Boston with their grandmother. Her older brother, Sam, enlists in the Marines, eager to join the conflict a world away as opposed to dealing with the one unfolding at home. 

A bond develops between Paul and Sam in Vietnam, and both are injured in a bloody battle that costs Sam his right hand and sets the stage for a lifetime of nightmares and sleepless nights for Paul. Matched by similar tragedies at a young age, Elizabeth and Paul’s first introduction by Sam upon their return from Vietnam is the beginning of friendship and love that survives five decades. 

After marrying, welcoming their first child, and inheriting a small beach house, the couple adapts to their new surroundings, but distant memories of Vietnam continue to haunt Paul. In an era when veterans refuse to speak of their pain and the government denies that thousands of soldiers are coming home irreparably damaged, he is left to deal with the challenge of caring for his loved ones amidst his his erratic flashback episodes and moods. As their lives unravel from the lingering effects of PTSD, Elizabeth learns to accept the burden that Paul brought home, and together they make their own memories to keep forever.

Inspired By A True Story

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

iBooks | Kobo

********************

Excerpt

Paul gently put his hand on the small of Elizabeth’s back and guided her through the still-crowded room, down the stairs, and out to the sidewalk that was packed with people in no hurry for the night to end. Elizabeth felt something, not sure what, but mostly safe, warm, and happy.

When Paul walked Elizabeth to her apartment door, he glanced at his watch and couldn’t believe it was already two a.m. Sam and Linda waited behind at the curb, car in neutral, waiting for Paul to say good night. With a charming smile, Paul said, “Thanks for a great evening, Elizabeth. I think that’s the most fun I’ve had since I came home from Nam.”

Still feeling a bit light-headed, she didn’t let on to Paul that her heart had fluttered all evening and she hoped the date would end with more than a handshake. Accepting the fact that she was probably alone in her fantasy, she simply nodded as she turned the key in her door. “Me too, Paul. That was fun. Thanks for a perfect evening.”

Paul, aware of the watchful gaze of Sam and Linda, threw aside caution and leaned in for a kiss, eager to taste the sweetness of Elizabeth’s lips, a moment he’d been thinking of since he first laid eyes on her when she was just sixteen years old. Then it had seemed impossible to him that they could ever share this moment. As his body felt the physical pain of restraint, his mind cautioned. Take is slow. Don’t hurt this girl. Don’t start something you can’t finish.

Elizabeth smiled and leaned in closer, savoring the sensation of his gentle mouth pressed against hers, careful not to linger. Her body tingled with a rush of pleasure, something she had never felt or dared to think she would ever experience. They stepped back, nervous and uncertain of what to do next. Elizabeth finally spoke first, “Well, ’night Paul.”

“’Night Elizabeth. Thanks again,” was all Paul could think to say as he turned and walked back to climb into the back seat of Sam’s car. What did I start that I might never be able to finish? I will never be good enough, rich enough, confident enough to share my life with this angel. The timing was not right, and he knew it. “Maybe one day,” Paul thought to himself.

********************

About the author

Alexa Kingaard, a California native, currently resides in Carlsbad and is the mother of a son and daughter who continue to be her biggest fans and cheerleaders.

October 13, 2011, was the day that changed her life forever when her ex-husband, a Vietnam veteran, took his life during a PTSD flashback episode. Inspired to share this tragedy that continues to rob husbands and wives of their spouses, children of their parents, mothers of their children, brothers and sisters of their siblings, and comrades of their friends, Kingaard relied on her own experiences to shed light on this crisis. The burden brought home is not partial to Vietnam, but is an insidious aftershock endured by combat veterans of all conflicts.

Kingaard continues to pursue her literary career, writing about nostalgia and the human condition, the common denominator of our lives. 

Connect with Alexa

Website | Goodreads | Facebook 

 Twitter | Instagram

*******************

Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways!

Release Day! Forever by Monica Murphy

Happy Release Day!

Forever 

by Monica Murphy

Release Date: April 4th, 2017

Series: Friends

Genre: Young Adult

Forever, an all new Friends story 

from Monica Murphy, is now live!!

She’s all I could ever want…

I have a reputation around school. Cold. Untouchable. Unfeeling. Only one girl could ever make me want to change and that’s Amanda Winters. Too bad I broke her heart and drove her away.

So to get through the rest of my days in high school, I tell myself I need to focus on more important things. Like taking our football team to championships. Get accepted to the college of my choice. And finish my senior year without wanting to run away from my problems.

But your problems chase after you no matter where you go. And it’s a lot harder when you fight them alone. The longer I go without Amanda, the more I miss her. Her smile. Her laughter. The things she said. How she looked at me like I was the only person who mattered. The way she made me feel…

Why can’t I have everything, including the girl? I’m determined to make things right. And make Amanda mine…

Forever.

Read Forever today!

Amazon US | Amazon UK | iBooks | Nook | Kobo

About the author

Monica Murphy is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 international bestselling author of the One Week Girlfriend series, the Billionaire Bachelors and The Rules series. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and has sold over one million copies worldwide. She is both self-published and published by Random House/Bantam and Harper Collins/Avon. She writes new adult, young adult and contemporary romance.

She is a wife and a mother of three who lives in central California on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere along with their one dog and too many cats. A self-confessed workaholic, when she's not writing, she's reading or hanging out with her husband and kids. She's a firm believer in happy endings, though she will admit to putting her characters through angst-filled moments before they finally get that hard won HEA.

Connect with Monica

Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Website | Newsletter

***********************

Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways!

Cover Reveal: Forever by Monica Murphy

Forever by Monica Murphy

Cover & Blurb Reveal Date: March 2nd, 2017

Series: Friends

Genre: Contemporary Romance

She’s all I could ever want…

I have a reputation around school. Cold. Untouchable. Unfeeling. Only one girl could ever make me want to change and that’s Amanda Winters. Too bad I broke her heart and drove her away.

So to get through the rest of my days in high school, I tell myself I need to focus on more important things. Like taking our football team to championships. Get accepted to the college of my choice. And finish my senior year without wanting to run away from my problems.

But your problems chase after you no matter where you go. And it’s a lot harder when you fight them alone. The longer I go without Amanda, the more I miss her. Her smile. Her laughter. The things she said. How she looked at me like I was the only person who mattered. The way she made me feel…

Why can’t I have everything, including the girl? I’m determined to make things right. And make Amanda mine…

Forever.

About the author

Monica Murphy is the New York Times, USA Today and #1 international bestselling author of the One Week Girlfriend series, the Billionaire Bachelors and The Rules series. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and has sold over one million copies worldwide. She is both self-published and published by Random House/Bantam and Harper Collins/Avon. She writes new adult, young adult and contemporary romance.

She is a wife and a mother of three who lives in central California on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere along with their one dog and too many cats. A self-confessed workaholic, when she's not writing, she's reading or hanging out with her husband and kids. She's a firm believer in happy endings, though she will admit to putting her characters through angst-filled moments before they finally get that hard won HEA.

Connect with Monica

Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Website | Newsletter

***********************

Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways! 

Book Spotlight and a Giveaway! Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #3)

then.

When Sam met Grace, he was a wolf and she was a girl. Eventually he found a way to become a boy, and their loved moved from curious distance to the intense closeness of shared lives.

now.

That should have been the end of their story. But Grace was not meant to stay human. Now she is the wolf. And the wolves of Mercy Falls are about to be kill in one final, spectacular hunt.

forever.

Sam would do anything for Grace. But can one boy and one love really change a hostile, predatory world? The past, the present, and the future are about to collide in one pure moment - a moment of death or life, farewell or forever. ~~ synopsis from Goodreads 

About the author

All of Maggie Stiefvater's life decisions have been based around her inability to be gainfully employed. Talking to yourself, staring into space, and coming to work in your pajamas are frowned upon when you're a waitress, calligraphy instructor, or technical editor (all of which she's tried), but are highly prized traits in novelists and artists. She's made her living as one or the other since she was 22. She now lives an eccentric life in the middle of nowhere, Virginia with her charmingly straight-laced husband, two kids, two neurotic dogs, and a 1973 Camaro named Loki.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!