Publisher: Samhain
Publish Date: April 29th
How I got this book: eARC from author
You can always come home. Second chances come a little harder.
Chase and Zoe were the high school golden couple. Football captain, cheerleader, prom royalty. After graduation, though, Chase couldn’t resist the urge to experience life outside their small town. He didn’t exactly expect Zoe to wait twelve years for him, but now that he’s back, he finds some small part of him hoping she did.
It’s no big surprise she’s married. The kick in the face is she married his best friend.
Zoe was devastated when Chase left, but she’s filed those bittersweet memories under “Moved On”. She loves her life, and loves her husband. She has all she needs. And Chase keeps an honorable distance.
One cold, wet, miserable day, tragedy turns Zoe’s world upside down. Chase never expected her to simply fall into his arms, but a man can dream. Except his dream doesn’t include the fact that this time, she’s the one hitting the road…and he’s the one left behind.
Product Warnings: This story contains heartbreak, heartache and one last chance for two lovers to find each other.
*Blurb from Goodreads*
Shiloh Walker long ago cemented herself as one of my favorite authors, and with her newest release, A Forever Kind of Love, she proved yet again that she can branch out and do so many different things.
Chase is back in his hometown after years of being away. The one thing he wants more than anything is a second chance with his high school sweetheart Zoe, but she has since gone and married his best friend.
Zoe wanted nothing more than to go with Chase when he left after high school, but she stayed and eventually fell in love with his best friend Roger. But now her seemingly perfect life is falling apart, and she finds that Chase is the one who is helping to pick up the pieces as her heart breaks once again.
This is not the typical Walker kind of book. Although her main characters are all a little tortured and wounded like always, this story strays away from her standard sexual heavy plot and focuses on the emotions. A Forever Kind of Love is chalked full of heartbreak and self discovery. Without giving away too much, Zoe is going through one of the most difficult parts of her life, and the last person she wants to have to learn on is Chase, but she inevitable finds herself having to do just that.
For the most part I really enjoyed both Zoe and Chase. They were both a little selfish at times, but overall were fabulous characters. My heart bled at times for Zoe, especially once the details of her past were revealed. Walker doesn’t pull the punches with this one, and there were times I found myself tearing up a little at just how deep the emotional turmoil went. The book was powerful in that aspect. While I wasn’t a huge Chase fan at first, he did end up growing on me quickly. He was quick to realize that when he left he left behind more than just the town, and accepted that things had moved on without him. He was also very selfless in the end, letting Zoe go out and heal before coming back to him.
I wished we would have had a little more time and insight into the new relationship between these two. They do not end up together until the last few pages, and I would have liked to see a little more of how their relationship changed from when they were younger, how the events of the story as a whole impacted them on a bit deeper level than we were shown.
Those Walker fans who are looking for a steamy and sensual read might be disappointed, however those who are looking for an emotional read with lots of heart and a few tears, this novella is right up your alley.
All in all, I give A Forever Kind of Love a C.