4.5 ⭐ (Long review)
The angst, my gaaawd, I wasn't ready for any of that, but I'm not complaining, and I'm here for all of it. 🥹
Despite all the personal issues that I'm going to list below, this story was really, really enjoyable for me. It made me laugh, giggle, swoon, and cry, but most of all, it warmed my heart when Kolten and Vanessa found their way back to each other. ❤️
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Summary (of the first 60% 😂):
Kolten (37) and Vanessa/Ness (26) met five years ago when Kolt visited the small town where his brother, Torin, was living (H of Book 1). His brother had lost his wife and son, and Ness was a friend of the late wife. It was an instant attraction for the both of them, and they continued to meet secretly for the next two weeks (???) It was purely platonic at first, then some kissing was added.
She's heading off to college, and he's leaving, so they both knew that what they had was only temporary. But I suppose, it was inevitable since they fell in love despite knowing their circumstances.
However, before they knew it, reality came crashing in. See, Kolt and his two brothers were part of an organization; I think the three of them were assassins. Torin left after his family died, with no plans to return. It turns out that the only way to get out of this organization is through death. The messengers of that reminder came to town, and Kolt saw them and knew right then they were coming for his brother.
Being the eldest, he offered to take Torin's place in order to protect his family and Vanessa, and this is the first time he left her. He told her he was going to leave, and on the actual day, he went away without saying goodbye. But Ness saw him leave as she was waiting on their dock. 😩
Eighteen months passed, and Kolt resorted to occasionally stalking Ness. 😂 She's at the university at this point. One night she was almost sexually assaulted, but Kolt came to her rescue and beat up the jerk. He drove her home but left right away, as he knew it wasn't safe for her to be seen with him. But that same night, Ness texted him and told him how much she missed him, and that there had been no one since him. He drove back to her apartment, and they slept together for the first time (gave her V-card to him)
But after this, Kolt realized that Ness is the drug he needs to quit, and he can't keep putting her in danger. So for the second time, he left her without a word, and he officially cut ties with her and his brothers.
Then, after a month, Ness found out she's pregnant, and she called and texted Kolt's number to inform him, but it's no longer in use.
Three years have passed; it has been a year since she moved back in their small town. She dropped out of college because she couldn't raise her kid alone and study at the same time. Tbf, she tried, but she just can't do it anymore on her own.
Around this time, Kolt has successfully paid his obligations to the organization, and he's now finally free and out of it. He vowed to come back to Ness and try to pick up where they left off.
When he was finally back into the town, she saw him first and decided to run back to her house, as she wasn't ready to face him and was confused about why he was there in the first place.
Kolt came to Ness' house, and he heard her son's cry. He thought she had finally moved on and was hurt by that idea. Because he never did, and he knew she's it for him the first time he saw her. Thankfully, Ness didn't hide the fact that Ethan is their son. She encouraged Kolt to form a relationship with him, and as for them she said that nothing would ever happen again between them. She was hellbent on setting boundaries because she was still hurt by his leaving and wasn't sure if he would stay.
It was at this point that Kolt began to make an effort to gain Ness's forgiveness and trust.
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Thoughts:
While I did truly enjoy this, I didn't like the fact that they met again at the 62% mark and that they only agreed to give their relationship another chance at the 70% mark. Idk, but I feel like the remaining 30% of the story is quite short to fix and pick up the pieces that were broken when Kolt left Ness.
Which kind of somewhat happened here. After a week of creating a new routine with their son, they just fall back into bed without even discussing the past, present, and possible future for the three of them.
Ness doesn't fully trust Kolt at this point, but since she's led by her hormones, she doesn't care about their situation or what this means for their son. Kolt, on the other hand, wanted to take things slow and talk about what happened to them, but he's too weak to say no to Ness, hence giving her what she wants all the time.
Then, when they finally had the "talk", it was freaking off page. I would've wanted to read and see their conversation and to know what was involved in this heart-to-heart talk. 🥲
You think that with all the missed chances that they had and the things they never got to say in the past, Ness would grow to learn how to communicate like an adult. But nope, she still couldn't, for the life of her, know how to express her worries and hesitation with their current setup.
Even at the 85% mark, she still doesn't believe Kolt would stay, and honestly, I couldn't blame her, but it doesn't mean she can be impulsive with her decisions because there's a kid involved in the situation.
Everything has been going so well, and she kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. Since nothing bad is coming along, she overthinks and, just like that, asks for space. Maybe she really needed that time, idk, 🤷♀️ but she could've communicated her concerns with Kolt and talked about it like a real couple. I think five years is more than enough to be separated, no? Why does she need more space? 😩
Then we had the conflict. Kolt knew about Ness' issues about abandonment, but this guy still left without a word again, for the third time, mind you, because "he was giving her space". And I was like, dude, you can still give her the space, but holy freaking cow, at least tell her that you're going into town and will be back within a few hours. It's not that hard to do, just saying. Kinda annoying that it really became second nature for him to simply leave without saying anything. 🤦♀️
Anyhoo, at least something positive came out of this, and they both realized how much they love one another and that losing each other is something they can't imagine in their lives. I'm glad they finally worked things out and found their HEA. 😭❤️🥹
Overall, please don't let my personal issues derail you from reading this, because I think it was actually good. Second-chance romances aren't usually my thing, but I'm happy that I gave this a shot. I hope this works for other readers as well. 🤞
Book info:
- Second chance
- Surprise baby
- Age gap (11)
- Attempted sexual assault
- Violence (a bit)
- Boat accident
- No cheating, opd
- V h, No info on H (but not getting any hoe vibe)
- Celibate (see note)
- HEA (1 yr later, married and pregnant again)
Note:
- There were two separations here, 18 months after they met, and then 3 years again. Kolt said there has been no one since they slept together, this is for the three year separation. But there was no confirmation if there had been anyone in the first separation. Still, reading between the lines, I got the impression that he's celibate too, and this is what he said: “I never found anyone who could compare. I never even looked” Sooo, I guess, do what you want with that. 🫣