Only Ever You

by Wendy Smith

Pippa’s been in love with her brother’s best friend, Deacon, her whole life. When her brother, Lucas, hurts Deacon so deeply that he leaves town for good, Pippa’s heart shatters.

Twelve years later, Pippa and Deacon reunite, and this time it’s Deacon who falls hard.

But when Lucas’s betrayal comes back to haunt them, Pippa becomes collateral damage again.

When Deacon comes to his senses, he knows he’ll have to work hard to get back into her life.

Will Pippa risk her heart a third time?

234 pages, Hardcover

Published May 27, 2024

About the author

Wendy Smith published as Ariadne Wayne for three years before deciding she didn’t want to be someone else all the time. She’s an Apple Books and Nook bestselling author, whose book In the End, written as Ariadne Wayne, was named one of Apple’s best books of 2017. All her stories come with a quirky sense of humour, and she cries over everything.

Reviews

[Izzie d · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favourite troupe best friend's sister, so grow up together. But the author didn't fall into the usual cliche, in fact it was a bit different.
7 year age gap.
No details of relationships or women the Hero may have been involved with while they were kids.
Due to an event, spoilers below, the Hero and heroine are out of contact for some time.
Second chance romance.
A fellow worker says of the Hero
'Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. He’s not one for girlfriends or sticking with one woman for very long. I’m just trying to protect you.”'
The Hero says its because none of the women were her. There are no details of previous relationships.
Hero says 'While I haven’t had any serious relationships—not since before college—I’m also not big on anything casual. Hook-ups have been few and far between.'

*CW References to grooming, suicide

Hero is a bit of a mess and definitely has unresolved issues. Quite an angsty read.


Spoilers
They loose contact because the Hero's father catches the heroine's brother with his wife. The Hero thought the heroine knew and was covering for them as lookout but she was so young she didn't realise or know anything about it.
This causes the breakup of the Hero's parents marriage and them to move away from the heroine's family.

Despite offers neither are with anyone else during a breakup.

ARC.

[Grisette · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4 stars

This is my first book by WS and I have to say that it was a decent try (yay for a kiwi author and setting!). I loved the overall story idea and the writing was of a good standard, but I had a harder time to fully enjoy the execution of the plot.

The first 3 chapters were really well done and set the scene for an exciting read. However, that excitement dimmed a bit in the following chapters, namely because of the way their adult attraction was delved into. For me, that part's writing lacked some finesse. Their convos esp. sometimes felt juvenile, wooden and unrealistic. And kind of cringe worthy at the edges, with all sorts of inappropriate work place moves on the H's part. The psychologies of the leads also felt lacking (e.g. she has not one single thought about how her boss making overt moves for her from the get go could possibly, or not, impact on her new job/ career). I think the first person narrative also did not help in that regard. I kept reading though because I wanted to see when the other shoe would drop. Thankfully, the writing felt better once trouble brew between them (or at least the cringe became less noticeable).

Concerning the said trouble, the H was indeed very foolish. Both in his on-spot reaction and subsequent actions. It showed how emotionally immature he was and had unresolved trauma from his past. Someone like him had no business rushing into marriage imho. His moronic behaviour lasted a few chapters and was only uncovered by the intervention of the h's brother (btw, his little parts in the story were well developped). The grovel had some very good points but for my taste, it resolved too easily compared to how his foolish actions unveiled how weak his love for the h was. But I have to concede that the middling easy forgiveness works with the kind of woman the h was portrayed to be.

Also, I really think that the pregnancy trope and the let's-get-married-immediately-in-Vegas-to-show-you-I- won't-bail-again tropes were not necessary in that story. The first trope felt extraneous while I detested the second one, the moreso that it no way guarantees that the H will not let the h down again in the face of the next trouble. I know he was sincere but I needed to see (a) more amends for the humiliation he caused (because whatever his reasons, what he did left a deep taint on so many things that are bound to trigger her in the future) and, (b) more time of him building back her trust (i.e. actions backing his words) and deserving it again (his mention of therapy was a good move but I would have appreciated him actually doing it first and well before rushing into Vegas).

As I said, I loved the story outline, it was original enough (foregoing the two tropes mentioned above). Better editing would have help the book loads but WS is a decent author and I might be tempted to check her other works.

[VoraciousReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

1. The conflict in this book just felt so manufactured and phony. Deacon blamed Pippa when he caught his mother and Lucas having an affair; he accused her of knowing about the affair and covering for her brother. She was TWELVE, FFS!
2. Deacon and his father left town and Deacon refused to forgive or speak to Pippa for TWELVE years. When she came for a job interview, he was super friendly and SO happy to see her; he called her by her pet name and told her how much he’d missed her. He never apologized for the way he had treated her and she was just grateful that he forgave her.
3. I hate it when the H knows he was wrong and instead of trying to earn the h’s forgiveness, just sits around feeling sorry for himself. Deacon said, “There’s no point going after Pippa – she’ll never forgive me for the way I’ve treated her. It’s better she move on and find someone who isn’t so messed up.” Boo fricking hoo.

[Bel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This second chance brother's best friend romance had me hooked from the get go. Pippa has crushed on her brother's best friend Deacon since she was too young to know what love really was. Then just as she was just entering her teens, a tragic set of circumstances rips Deacon from her life and its over a decade before she sees him again.

Now she is back in his life and he sees her for the beautiful woman she has grown into. However, past hurts and mis-communication threaten to derail their second chance at a happily ever after before they have even begun. Deacon must deal with his past hurts and mistrust and hope that it's not too late to get a final chance with the woman who always captured his heart without him even realising it.

I thoroughly enjoyed Pippa and Deacon's story.

[V · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay

SPOILER INCOMING

X
X
X

She forgave him a little too quickly.

If I got left at the altar, there ain’t no way I’m remarrying the guy so soon after reconciliation. She went from, ‘I forgive you but I don’t trust you yet so let’s take this slow,’ to ‘let’s fly away to Vegas and get married’ on the same day and within a few paragraphs.

The damage he did to her heart was huuuuge. He obviously needed some major therapy since he has a habit of jumping to conclusions and avoidance.

[Smiler The Avid Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt very rushed.

There were some great moments to the story that were heartfelt, but overall the story felt rushed. I feel like the author struggled with the inbetween moments and how to move the story through their timeline. They met, they were suddenly in the relationship and then the timeline jumped a little and it was go go go.
I did feel like they barely got to know each other as adults before jumping in.
The reconciliation was rushed as well. A quick story that could’ve had a deeper grounding if the time had been taken.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Pippa and Deacon’s story, The brother’s best friend trope was so good I couldn’t put it down. Wendy has always, in my opinion, written amazing books and this one doesn’t disappoint. I absolutely love this book, and I highly recommend you read it.

[Vanessa Lawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not get enough of Declan and Pippa's story and I couldn't put it down.

It is not very often I read a book that makes me sob while reading it but Only Ever You is one that I will definitely read again.

Thank you Wendy Smith for writing an amazing story.

[artsandgrace *ೃ༄ · Rating 1 out of 5]

SPOILER ‼️

seriously? she forgave him for leaving her at the altar FOR NO GOOD REASON WHATSOFUCKING EVER???????? THIS IS BULLFUCKINGSHIT everything from start to finish is just a train wreck. RUBBISH!!!!

[Dee Haddrill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and angsty, but she forgave him too easily. He was a gullible moron who needed to grow up and she deserved better.

In my humble opinion, of course 💙

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another phenomenal unputdownable book by Wendy!
Pippa has loved Deacon since she was a child but dramatic circumstances made them lose touch....until by chance they're reunited when Pippa applies for a new job and it's at Deacons company!
This book gave me all the feels, from laughing to shock to sadness to happiness. It's so well written, like all of Wendy's books, that I just couldn't put the book down as I needed to know what happens next and it was such an easy page turner! Highly recommended!

[Heidi Budd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

I was fortunate to receive and ARC of this wonderful story and all I can say is WOW. Fantastic read