soooo this was good and i really loved it, worth reading. spoilers below so please read at your own risk.
byron (34) met odette/madeline (22) when he went to her dad's clinic to relieve the pain on his back caused by sunburn. they did start in a wrong foot cuz he was a snappy jerk to her that time and she wasn't having it. despite odette's annoyance with byron's attitude she remained professional and perform her job as doctor (technically not yet she was still a student). and while they were in that room some sort of connection or sparks went up between them, but they ignored it.
that same night he went to this bar just to see her again. odette doesn't have a clue he would be there. and when their eyes met, the same spark ignited between them.
then odette also saw her ex was there with a new woman, and this pissed her off reminding her of his cheating and how he went sleeping around so much after they broke up (she wasn't brokenhearted, just annoyed). then she came up with the idea of having a freaking menage a trois (not a fan of this) which byron not so happily agreed but made somehow happened with the help of his friend whom he has shared women before.
again not fan of the sharing, definitely not! but the other guy only did kissing and some groping but eventually left both of them. then the night continued with just byron and odette. the next morning when odette woke up, he was gone but byron's father was in their room and threatened her to stay away from him or else he'll make her family suffer and blah blah blah. he also told her that he has a fiancee (which is a freaking lie!)
believing he lied to her, odette pushed him away and then three months have passed. she went to his office building to let him know that she was pregnant but byron's father and the OW was there. and they shooed her away. she got into an accident after exiting the building and luckily (or not) byron saw her and drove her to the hospital. then they were told she lost the baby (a freaking lie again!). since there was no need or something that connecting them anymore, odette asked byron to leave her and he did (i wish he didn't)
anyway, 6 years later, she's a struggling surgeon that works in WHO. and her sister stole a freaking diamond and now they were in contact with bad kind of people. she was supposed to meet this smuggler in a restaurant to give back the diamonds, but this guy suddenly required her to pay an interest of 1M and have it within 2 weeks. they were broke and it's impossible for her to pay that amount. and then call it fate or destiny, byron's monthly family dinner was also at the same restaurant. he saw her first and when he approached her, she was still mad at him and he still has no clue why.
with nowhere to go and 2 weeks almost closing in, odette swallowed her pride went to byron and ask for a 1M loan, promising him that she'll do anything. so byron, the ever loving obsessed guy even after 6 years took this opportunity to finally claim his girl and make sure she'll never get away from him, by giving his condition that she has to marry him before he give her that amount. and that's where the real fun starts.
i try to avoid books with second chance tropes as much as i can. i'm just not a fan of reading about wasted time or what they did during their separation. usually the guy slept around a lot with this kind of books while the gal remained celibate or was still pining for the guy (or maybe it's a me thing, that i ended up finding and reading books like this) thus making me banned books with second chance tropes in my tbr.
but i have to say this one isn't like that. they were separated for 6 years but both remained pining and celibate. they can't get over each other and imagining them with other people didn't do it for them. i loved their connection, and that the love they have for one another didn't fade even after years gone by. it was sweet seeing their family finally come together and how they slowly fixed and healed the pain caused by the circumstances or people around them. i also loved the epilogue and glimpse of their lives years after.
Safety warnings:
- No cheating (between MCs)
- OW drama (mild, H's father wants him to marry this OW. H has a casual relationship with this OW but ended it before he met the h.)
- OM1 drama (mild, h's childhood friend is in love with her but it was purely platonic on h side)
- OM2 drama (h's ex tried to grab her in the bar to "talk" to her, who also called her names)
- OM3 (not really drama, but H&h had almost a threesome with this OM3 and he was H's friend)
- Separation (1st - 3 months, 2nd - 6 years)
- Violence, suicide, drinks spiking (?)