Eight Years Gone

by Cate Beauman

A steamy second chance…

Jagger Tennyson never had it easy, but that all changes when Dr. Steven Evans knocks on his front door. Leaving poverty and hopelessness behind, Jagger creates a life he’s been too afraid to dream of. But tragedy strikes late one night, and everything falls apart. Jagger is forced to walk away, leaving the woman he loves.

Grace Evans grew up with wealth and privilege, but she’s no stranger to loss and pain. When she meets the gorgeous boy from the wrong side of the tracks, everything changes for the better. Grace has never loved anyone the way she loves Jagger. But he vanishes on the night that nearly destroys her.

Eight years later, Jagger comes home, and nothing is how it was supposed to be. Dreams were shattered, and trust was broken, but he wants to make things right. He’ll do whatever it takes to fight for Grace, but proving he still loves her won’t be easy.

When tragedy befalls Grace again, Jagger can help her pick up the pieces. But can Grace forgive the past?

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Second Chance, Contemporary Romance, Ebooks, Second Chance Romance, Military Fiction

464 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 18, 2023

About the author

Cate Beauman is the multi-award-winning, international bestselling author of The Bodyguards of L.A. County series and the Carter Island Novels. She is known for her full-length, action-packed romantic suspense and contemporary stories.

Cate's novels have been named Readers' Favorite Five Star books and have won the Booksellers' Best Award, Maggie Award for Excellence, the Holt Medallion Award, two-time Aspen Gold Medal, two-time Readers' Favorite International Gold Medal, three-time Readers' Favorite International Silver Medal, and the Readers' Crown Award.

Cate makes her home in New Hampshire with her family and their St. Bernards, Bear and Jack.

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Cate can be reached at www.catebeauman.com and www.facebook.com/CateBeaumanAuthor.

You can follow Cate on Instagram at www.instagram.com/realcatebeauman

Reviews

[Jonetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

the setup…
Jagger Tennyson had a miserable childhood until he was plucked out of it by Dr. Steven Evans, a wealthy orthopedic surgeon. His son Logan was Jagger’s best friend and the two made a formidable team on the football field. Steven took him in, gave him a home and an education but never figured on Jagger and his daughter Grace falling in love. But the night before they were to return to college, tragedy struck and everything fell apart. Jagger left without a word, thinking he was doing what was best for Grace, returning eight years later only to find her living a much different life.

the heart of the story…
When Jagger left town, he not only broke Grace’s heart but her spirit. Even though their love never wavered, Jagger and Grace were different people after eight years. It was easy to reconnect those feelings but it was difficult for Grace to trust him after what he’d done, no matter how good his intentions. Jagger had to work hard to prove himself and that journey felt authentic. I enjoyed the man Jagger turned out to be and how Grace picked herself up and made the best of her life. They encountered lots of obstacles, some seeming insurmountable, making the path pretty treacherous. But the heart of the story definitely centers around their deep love for each other and how they fought to rebuild trust.

the bottom line…
This was a wonderful love story and I liked Jagger and Grace individually and as a couple. There are lots of steamy moments, more than I was comfortable with but that didn’t interfere much. Grace’s rush to jumping to wrong conclusions about Jagger’s commitment to sticking got tiresome at times but that’s the cost of breaking someone’s trust so it felt necessary. This has the author’s signature style where she immerses you in the everyday routines of the characters, which is critical to experiencing that growth of their new relationship. It’s a lovely story.

Posted on Blue Mood Café

(Thanks to the author for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)

[Raffaella · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF
I stopped when the heroine tells the hero there hasn’t been anyone but him after eight years.
He of course had plenty.
FY this book and I finished with this author.

[Debbie DiFiore · Rating 1 out of 5]

When he said sex is just sex sometimes because he couldn't keep it.in his pants while they were apart . he even told her about his friends with benefits relationship that lasted a while. It just ruined the book.for.me..he supposedly loved her so much but he still had sex.with other people I am so sick of this type of story. One true love but hey sex is just sex....😡

[Luna's Mom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me preface this review by saying that I am not a romance reader!! I typically find it to be corny/cheesy and unrealistic. If you like romance, then you're opinion will probably be the exact opposite of mine. Anywho, I gave this book one star simply because I was actually able to finish it (although I really only pushed through because it was a gift from my husband, lol). And then I gave it another star because it had a couple quotable moments and passages that felt relatable.

Sitting at over 500 pages, it was way longer than it needed to be and wouldn't have lost any value if it was told in half the page count. Grace and Logan's dad took Logan's best friend (Grace's boyfriend), Jagger, in as a teen so he could go to a good school and play football. (Don't get me started on the name "Jagger" either, lol.) When Logan dies and his dad blames Jagger, their dad threatens to cut Grace off if Jagger doesn't stay away from her. Jagger leaves for an 8 year stint in the military and private security contracting (the aspect that attracted me to the book, but you don't get to learn much about it at all...). Then Jagger comes back and wants to make things right with Grace while helping her deal with other obstacles in life.

What irritated me was Grace forgiving and getting mad at Jagger over and over and over...and over. It was so annoyingly repetitive. And then every time something started to get interesting, it stopped so anticlimacticly. Which brings me to the ending: so much potential!! But ultimately anticlimactic. The second half of the book could've been a whole other story in and of itself, and it probably would've been a lot better that way. As a series, I mean. And it would've been one of those stories where the second book is better than the first, lol. Just a more interesting storyline in my opinion. But like I said, if you like romance, read it for yourself and find out!

[Tjasa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had so much potential, it started so good but it was way longer than it should be. Everything just started to repeat in second half of the book ; a million 'I love you', Grace reminding Jagger that he left her, her being upset about so many things he did,...

[Gail Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad second chance romance. The only issue I have is with the (h), Grace. She was the most annoying whiny, clingy drama queen. The (H) is putting himself at risk to gather evidence to help her brother put she is upset because he was late getting home to help decorate the Christmas tree. She was constantly reminding him that he had left 8 years ago and kept expecting him to leave again even though there was more to his leaving. That got old real quick.
That being said, the actual story was good.

[The Book Junkie Reads . . . · Rating 4 out of 5]

i want more like this please & thank you
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2023
I felt honored to pick up a new read from Cate Beauman. This was a little new for her I hear. This was more romance and less action. This was a second chance romance that span some years. Childhood to adults these two had something more between them than lost opportunities. Grace and Jagger were going to begin a journey that was left incomplete. I want to give nothing away. I do want to say that it was well worth the two days it took for me to complete this story. It also has me wanting more stories like this from Cate.

I found the characters engaging and responsive. I found that both primary and secondary characters had been full and rich. There was many words in the silence and in the sidelines. Each event lead me closer to that something. If you know nothing more than this, wealth cannot stop grief, violence, tragedy, loss, or pain. We all have to experience life as it comes. Its how we handle it that will tell who we are and what we are made of.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for choosing me! :)

Jagger and Grace's story is one that starts out in tragedy and heartbreak and ends with love and hope. From the very beginning of the story, Grace is quite literally put through hell. Her mother has passed away, and her father basically abandons her and her brother in a mansion. Then her brother, Logan, is killed, and on the same night, her father makes her boyfriend disappear from her life by threatening to cut her off. Fast forward 8 years, and we find out that Jagger never forgot about her and has never stopped loving her, and neither has Grace. What follows is a beautiful manifestation of love. Aunt Maggie is a great character and will always have a piece of my heart. My heart broke for Grace when her father died, but somehow, I found peace in it, too. Of course, I wished she would've been able to have one last conversation with him, but I just don't see how it could fit with the story. Colton coming into the story when he did was perfect timing. I love that in all that darkness, he became the light she was looking for.

At times, it is painful, yet mostly sweet and filled with love and tenderness. This book deserves to be read.

Jagger and Grace are surely living out their HEA in a fictional land as we speak.

[StephieG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gracie ❤️ Jagger…

What a great love story.. Love, laughter, longing, hate.. all wrapped up in to one story about Jagger & Grace and what life can throw at you, but not break you.

It was a longer story than most books l read, but well worth the read 💕

[kimone georgeaú · Rating 2 out of 5]

All i can say is finalmente. The way this book dragged on and on and on. Honestly, it should’ve been finished about the mark at 10-20% of the book. My gosh man.

[Judy Churchill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gave up after 60%.. Too much unnecessary stuff and ending seemed predictable. The story stated out good, but I found myself having to skip numerous pages to get past explicit sex scenes. I love a good story, but don't need that.

[Suzanne Mack · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ve read a good sampling of Cate Beauman’s books and I’ve never been bored. I forced myself to continue because I just knew that the suspense was coming. Nope. Very strange that this a Cate Beauman story.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Flipped through the last 50% of the book. I’m surprised this has to many positive ratings, there was so much unnecessary dialogue that didn’t move the story along in any way. I found it to be extremely repetitive after reading 1/3rd. It was entirely too long and deeply unimaginative.

[Abbie Riddle · Rating 4 out of 5]

So...this is a book that grabs you from the very beginning and is heart wrenching from the second page. I cried so many times during this book that I lost count.

A second chance story about highschool and college love that endures tragedy, transcends time and space and reconciles in such a beautiful way that the reader is left breathless.

Grace and her brother Logan are the children of a rich and famous Orthopedic Surgeon. And their lives are one of neglect and privilege. Logan's best friend is a "white trash" kid from the wrong side of the tracks, but one day Logan's father sees Jagger and Logan tossing the football and he immediately sees potential in Jagger. Yes - think Blindside vibes here; rich family takes in poor kid for football. And suddenly Jagger's life is changed.

But as quickly as Jagger is brought up from the slums and gains everything - a nice house, a "family", living with his best friend and falling in love with his friend's sister, attending college at a great university, and life set to go the right way - It all falls apart in one night of tragedy.

Forced to leave the one girl he has always loved and the life he's wanted, Jagger joins an elite Delta Force team and tries to put it all behind him. Now, he's retired. Tired of the danger, tired of the world he lives in. Jagger makes his way back to check on the girl he left behind - the one who has haunted his life since that night. Just to make sure she's okay.

Grace has spent 8 years trying to get over the tragic death of her brother and the sudden loss of the only boy she ever loved. On the cusp of finally making a new start she is shocked when she looks through her camera lens to see a ghost from the past. No longer the soft boy who looked at her with undying love, Jagger is all jagged edges and walls. And she is also great at putting up the walls. But - his reappearance is like a hurricane that threatens to tear down the tenuously built life she has become accustomed to.

Can Grace trust Jagger again with her heart? Can she walk back into the arms of the one man who loved her with such hope? Can old wounds be healed, the past forgotten, and new paths be forged with love? Can the two fight their demons, and face the past together in order to build a new future? Or is the pain of the past too much to overcome - have they both changed too much?

Warning: This book does contain a few scenes - though not explicit they are there. They are easily skippable in print or kindle and skipping them does not take away from the wonderful story of love, healing, and forgiveness.

[Linda Beliveau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young love. Loss due to parental manipulation. Substance abuse. Death of loved one due to shooting.

Jarred and Logan are high school friends. Once it is seen how talented Jarred is in sports Logan's father convinces him to come live with them. The three are close in age. Once it is seen how talented Jarred is in sports Logan's father decides to benefit from him. Logan's sister falls in love with Jarred. Jarred receives call from Logan. He rushes to him to find he has been shot. He tries to get his friend to help but it's too late. Logan's father blames Jarred forces him to leave by threatening Grace's dream. He leaves without speaking to her.

Eight years later Jarred retires from a very dangerous job and returns to the country. The two come across each other while she is taking photos in a park. This leads him to return to their home town where they begin the relationship again. Grace has been estranged from her father since her brother's death. When her father dies she finds her mother's journals. Grace reads them through. The last entry written the day before she died in an auto accident leads to questions. While searching for answers Grace and Jarred find themselves pulled apart but now they are older, more mature and able to work things out.

It was a long book, 500+ pages but can't see any part could be left out. A bit of spicy (🌶🌶) scenes.

[Shelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a romance reader, I often feel like I read in “seasons”. I don’t mean summer, fall, winter, spring, but more along the lines of a certain trope gets me hooked and that’s all I want to read. Second chance has never been at the top of my list, but Cate Beauman has given us the gift of her words in such a wonderful book that I can now say I’m in my second chance season!

Jagger and Grace fulfill the opposites attract/different worlds with deep character arcs that has an underlying lesson of redemption. Seeing these two be ripped apart, only to return right back to each other, I loved how it gives us hope that all that has happened is for good reason. We get to see trust built on a deeper, more mature level, all the while knowing that if it falters or fails, the pain it causes may be too much to come back from again.

If you’re in your second chance season or happen to have the trope as a favorite, give this book a read. It’s full of emotion (I cried quite a few times!) and felt a heaviness in my chest as these two struggled to lay the past to rest and live in the present together. Sometimes I felt frustrated with both Jagger and Grace that I wished I could give them a hard shake.

[NICUnurse Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long before I was a book reviewer and blogger, I was an avid reader. I found Cate Beauman’s Bodyguards of LA County series ten years ago, and I devoured each one as soon as they released. Something about her writing resonated with me, and I haven’t looked back. Eight Years Gone is a standalone title and is quite the epic journey for the hero and heroine. It’s a second chance, small-town romance with some suspenseful elements, and it focuses on the theme of picking up the pieces when life shatters you…and continuing to fight for each other when the hits just keep coming. Watching Jagger and Grace navigate the many challenges they face was, at times, heartwarming, but many times, it was so incredibly heartwrenching. Grace is easy to love, but even though Jagger can be a bit of a jerk sometimes, he’s not afraid to own up to his mistakes. And who doesn’t love a guy who can find the courage to admit when he’s wrong and do what he can to fix it? With an incredibly intricate plot, believable and lovable (most of the time, anyway) characters, and a HEA that will make you quite glad you went on this winding journey with Grace and Jagger, Eight Years Gone was more than worth the wait!

NICUnurse’s Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Things I liked about this book:
-The main characters didn't have a laundry list of sexual partners.
-The writing (minus a few quirks).
-The character development
-The way Jagger and Grace took Colton in and the relationship they built between them.

Things I didn't like about this book:
-Too much sex.
-The expectation that Jagger was to blame for Grace's mental health issues. She had a buttload of abandonment issues that began long before her father scared Jagger off that should have been worked through in therapy. That she dumped all of that on Jagger as if he were to blame for her inability to cope after he left is wrong. And don't even get me started on the way she kept jumping to conclusions every time she eavesdropped on one of his calls with his former boss. He's not responsible for her mental health. She is.
-I am NOT okay with Jagger using the info he collected about Ray's illegal chop shop to scare him into leaving Colton alone and not going to the cops about it.

Heat index: Scorching due to the sheer number of sex scenes. The language isn't particularly explicit but if you skip sex scenes, prepare to skip a lot.

Profanity meter: fairly frequent harsh profanity.

[Kayla Hicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning of this book instantly pulled me in where we find Jagger receiving a call that his best friend Logan has been shot. But after racing to save him, it just wasn't enough.

In the face of such a tragedy, Logan and Grace's father demands Jagger to leave and never return, which dashes his relationship with his girlfriend Grace and causes Jagger to leave for 8 years.

Now, the story had great build-up and tension between Grace and Jagger as they desperately tried to get back what they'd lost. However, near the middle of the book, the main plot felt solved to me and I didn't have much interest to continue.

But, then the author threw an unexpected story element which made me want to find out how it ended. Sadly though, the ending felt too easily resolved and very anti-climatic for all the stakes, characters involved, and the stress it placed on the characters.

Overall, I think the story was good but the story could have been shortened by a lot.

I would give this book a three-star rating.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story had so much potential, the original premise was interesting, but that was squandered by having too much going on.

We meet Grace and Jagger when they are 20 on what could easily be the worse night of anyone’s life. Tragedy and an overbearing father push the high school sweethearts apart. We see them again at 28 when Jagger leaves the military/private contracting and comes looking for Grace.

The author could have had a solid story by diving into who these characters are, how they’ve changed, and having them resolve the issues that drove them apart. Instead, we get a very surface character development and fairly quick romantic reconciliation followed by multiple traumatic events.

As much as I liked both Jagger and Grace, I found myself bored with the book. Even though they are near 30, they still handle relationship conflict as if they are still in high school. Add in the lack of character development and repetitive nature of the events, I struggled a little to stay invested.

[Christi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly it felt longer than it really needed to be, but I enjoyed it. Grace annoyed me at times, but overall the story was good and kept me mostly interested. I think I had the most fun with the slight action bits towards the end, but I often lean more towards that style of book. This was a nice change of pace for me.

Basics: Rich girl and a boy from the wrong side of the tracks - after a tragic incident, dad threatens to cut Grace off if Jagger doesn't leave, so he disappears for 8 years doing black ops and then private contracting. Neither ever got over it and here's there second chance.

I know it was for the plot, but I'm a little torn on no one having contacted him about Grace and him not following up on her sooner. He was also gone overnight fully contracted into Delta Force which seems fast. However, if he wasn't gone that fast, there would be no book because he never would have left.

[Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is everything you could want in a second chance romance!! Gracie and Jagger are reunited at 8 long years of being apart. After the death of her brother, her father blamed Jagger and told him today stay away, and that is what he did, he went overseas the next days and didn’t see Grace again until in ran into her in New York.
He had to fight like hell to prove that he wouldn’t run this time, that he would stay and that she could trust him. Gracie’s life is a roller coaster, she lost her mom to a drunk driver, then her brother was shot and killer and then her father was hit by a car trying to help a bicyclist and on top of all of that she finds out she has a secret brother she didn’t know about from an affair her father had with her babysitter 🤯
This book was long, but worth the read!!

[Anne Opel · Rating 2 out of 5]

2025 Reading Challenge: Has the number eight in the title

I hit about 30% when Grace and Jagger started on their second chance romance. it was all going so smoothly, and I thought what is the rest of the book going to be about? Apparently just the mundane niceties of a relationship. Any issue that did come up had a calm, rational, and obvious solution.

Honestly, its probably a good thing they spent 8 years apart.  It allowed them to grow into adults without using the other in an unhealthy way to cope, which could have led to resentment, bordem, and possible relationship issues.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cate Beauman is back with a new romance and I was so excited to read it! In "Eight Years Gone", Jagger and Grace immediately drew me into their individual stories and got me rooting for them each from the start! I loved the narration and the flashbacks. I also loved watching their second chance at romance unfold but will it last, no spoilers here! I could not put this book down after I started it. Thank you Cate Beauman for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

[Katie Madden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Believe in a 2nd Chance
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2023
Loved, Loved, Loved this book. I was hooked right away and did not want to put this amazing book down. I laughed, I cried and was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next. Anyone who is a fan of Cate Beauman's other books, I promise you will not be disappointed by this AMAZING story. This story of Grace and Jagger was so beautifully written it's a true story of 2nd chances.

[Cindy Bolen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book!

Jagger was the boy from the wrong side of the tracks taken in by Grace's father for his football skills until one night her brother was tragically shot. Her father blamed him and threatened to cut her off if he didn't get out of her life. He left for the military. He bumps into her on the street but he can't stop thinking about her. Will she forgive him for shattering her? I recommend this book.

[Penny Perovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is about a couple that experienced a tragedy that separated them and reunite after eight years. Not everything is easy or all hearts and flowers, it was a good story with relatable characters. It is about learning how to love and trust again. To let go of the past and so that it doesn’t define the future.

[jazmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

i think this might be my favorite book of the year so far
this was so cute, so stressful, super hot, and so exciting
i loved seeing their lives play out
i know it was already 500 pages, but i want more
i loved that there were conflicts with the relationship, it made it feel real
literally so so good

[Barbara R. Cady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Families are always confusing...

Some families are frustrating one minute and full of giggles the next. A fact of life is, you never know what's coming. It can be good, or it can shake your world with devastation. How you deal with it, and keeping families together is the important thing.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eight Years Gone

An awesome story, with so much heartache, emotions, drugs, violence and addiction. This story is about so many aspects of lives, that it will grab you from the start. The strength and resilience of the people are what makes this . Loved it❤️