Pov: female
Main characters: Lily & Grayson
Minor characters: Garrett (her friend), Sam (her ex), Stone (her friend), Megan (his girlfriend), Aidan (his brother)
My thoughts:
This one was like the previous one in terms of depth and development. Not enough time was spent digging into the issues. It sort of reads as an outline, with all the major plots points shown but all the supporting events and feelings missing. For example, when Megan comes back pregnant. All that is resolved within one chapter. There was no real angst.
There's also a weird storytelling technique used in both books. Something will happen but it won't be explicitly explained. It'll be left vague, but a few chapters later it'll be explained. Like Lily's tattoo. They go to a shop and she looks at the designs while he dares her to get a piercing. The next chapter Grayson asks if she's sore. Then in the epilogue its revealed she got a tattoo.
It was a good story but it could have been so much more.
Synopsis:
Takes place 2 years after book 1.
Lily goes to school and works as a dental assistant, even though she wanted to be a counselor. She misses Grayson every day.
Grayson is in a successful up and coming band. Everyone brings him up anytime a song comes out or he gets interviewed. No one understands how difficult it is for her to talk about him.
The town has a celebration and Grayson's band is the surprise guest. She's shocked to see him. She watches 1 song and is happy for him and what he's accomplished, but she misses him and has to go.
She walks to the park near their homes and he shows up. He asks how she's doing and it bothers her. He jokes around as if they've been friends the whole time. It makes her feel like they weren't important to him if he's over it so soon.
A few days later she goes to her parents house. She sees him pull up on a motorcycle and she notices how much more grown up and beautiful he is. A car pulls up and a girl gets out. She sees him hug the girl and it hurts.
Her mom invites her over for a barbecue and when she gets there she realizes his family is there. She tries to leave but bumps into Grayson. It's awkward between them and they're interrupted by the girl from earlier. She introduces herself as Megan and Lily feels replaced. She can't help but notice how pretty Megan is and how she's a better match for Grayson.
Lily walks home and Grayson follows her. They joke around and she remembers they aren't really friends anymore. She asks where his girlfriend is, to remind them they aren't friends. He tells her at their hotel and Lily is devastated. She tells him he should be at the hotel with her and leaves.
The next day she goes to the park for lunch and Grayson shows up. She asks if he gave her number to their friend Ben, because Ben has been calling recently. He says yes and she asks how he got it. He tells her her mom gave it to him but he's very vague.
She tells him she doesn't like the new person he is. He tells her he had to change to survive and he doesn't like the new her either. She asks why he left their cork board full of messages behind like it was nothing. He tells her he couldn't look at it everyday without dying inside. They argue and he tells her he left to get over her. She asks if he did and he asks if she really wants to know. She doesn't answer and he leaves.
The next day her mom calls her over to garden. Grayson shows up and tells her her mom requested him. They finish the yard and take a break. They can tell her mom is trying to matchmake. He tells Lily Aidan has been keeping tabs on her. And that Aidan and her mom want them to get back together.
Garrett comes to visit her and asks how she's doing since Grayson is back. She tells him it's hard and he tells her she needs to let him go. She decides to try and date someone since Grayson moved on. She calls her ex Sam but he's dating someone. He suggests she be a blind date to his girlfriends brother Stone. She says yes.
She goes running with Garrett and they bump into Grayson and Megan as they're leaving. Garrett and Megan are friendly and Grayson is angry. Megan tells them she works with Grayson's band and they've been dating for 6 months.
She goes on the date with Stone and knows instantly there's no spark. When they drop her off she takes a walk to her parents house. She sees Grayson sitting alone on his porch and immediately goes to him.
He tells her Megan left and he's sort of relieved, which makes him feel bad. She realizes he needs a friend and sits with him. He tells her his mom is doing better and wonders if it's because he's gone, that he caused all her problems. He tells her he hasn't slept with Megan since coming home. That it felt wrong.
Lily can't stop picturing them together and it upsets her. She tells him he shouldn't tell her things like that. He gets close to her and talks about how sad her eyes look and she thinks he might kiss her. He steps back and she tries to leave. They're interrupted by Aidan's garage band.
She stays to listen to them rehearse and the band starts fighting. The singer is jealous of the guitarist, who writes all the songs. And the guitarist likes Aidan's girlfriend. Everyone storms out angry and she suggests they make cookies, like old times.
They go to her house and Grayson looks at everything, which makes her nervous. They reminisce and he tells her he realizes she sacrificed her happiness so he could follow his dreams, even though he didn't like it. She apologizes for all the hurt she caused him and he tells her he wants to kiss her. She pulls away because she knows they can't be together.
They bump into each other at the market and he invites her over for a pancake dinner. He asks why she isn't a counselor. He tells her she has a talent for seeing people and she's wasting it working for a dentist.
The next day she visits her parents and her mom confesses that Grayson has called once a month since he moved away. She thinks it's because he wanted to feel close to Lily.
Everyone goes to her brothers rehearsal dinner and she brings Garrett along. He notices Grayson looks like he wants to hurt him. Garrett leaves early and Grayson approaches her.
He jokes around with the food and she gets angry. He gets mad and tells her he'll leave and she can go back to her life with Garrett.
She storms out and he follows. He asks why she picked Garrett out of everyone, because he hates him. She tells him it isn't his business and he tells her he can't understand how the girl he loved doesn't love him anymore.
He asks who she's been with and she tells him just Sam. He tells her he hates every guy she's ever been interested in. He tells her he's still jealous of them.
He asks why she came to his show. She tells him it was supposed to be a goodbye but it was agony. He tells her she's moved on now and replaced him.
She gets mad and tells him he never tried to contact her for the entire time he was gone, but now that she's finally found some normalcy he's come along to destroy it. He tells her she pushed him away and she tells him she wanted him to come back for her.
He tells her he did come back for her, but she was with Sam so he left. She tells him he should have tried harder. That she would have given up everything for him. He tells her she moved on so quickly it made him realizes she didn't love him like he did her.
He tells her he's leaving after the wedding and isn't coming back again.
She talks to her friend Mia, who is heartbroken over their friend Ben, and Mia tells her they need to confess to the boys how they feel. That it's better to lay it all out and have them say no then to always wonder. Lily agrees.
A week after their fight he goes to her to apologize. He confesses that he slept with someone right after they broke up and she's devastated. He tells her every girl he's been with since, even Megan, has felt wrong. Like he's cheating on Lily.
He asks if they can just be together like when they see best friends, just for one night and she says yes. She asks about his tattoos and piercings. He tells her they were memories of her he wanted to remember. She decides she's done keeping away from him
She leans close and tells him if he wants her then take her. That she didn't give him a choice before but she is now. He kisses her and tells her there's no going back after this. She says ok and they have sex.
They spend all their time together and everyone asks her if he's staying in town. She doesn't know, she's trying to live in the moment.
One day she asks about Megan. He tells her he broke up with Megan once she left for California. That he knew he wanted Lily.
They go camping together and on the way back he decides he wants another piercing to remember it. He suggests she do it too but she gets a tattoo instead.
They go to the wedding together and when they get to the reception Megan is there. She tells him it's important and they need to talk. Lily decides to give them privacy, even though he doesn't want her to.
Lily goes to the bathroom to calm herself down and Megan shows up. Megan tells her she came back for Grayson because she's pregnant. That Grayson is going to do the right thing and they're going to be together. Lily is devastated.
She goes back to the reception and Grayson is with Megan. She doesn't understand why and gets drunk. She decides to dance with Garrett and his fiancé when Stone shows up. She lets him dance with her and put his hands on her.
Grayson comes and pulls her away from Stone and punches him in the face. The guys are pulled apart and she decides to leave.
She bumps into Grayson in the parking lot. She gets mad at him for punching Stone. She tells him he has no right because they're nothing to each other. He gets mad because they're everything to each other.
She asks what he's doing with Megan. She tells him she's done with him. He asks why and she tells him he ignored her for his ex and he's having a baby. He explains he was trying to figure out what to do and he's scared.
She asks if he's going try and make things work for the baby and he doesn't say anything so she leaves. He follows her and tells her if the baby is his he can't leave it. But he doesn't want to be with Megan. That he knows what it's like for parents to be together and not love each other, and he doesn't want that for his kid.
He tells her he was scared because he just got her back and they haven't talked about their future. And now there might be a baby. He tells her he doesn't want to lose her again. That she's keeping him sane when everything is falling apart.
She tells him she can't be with him if the baby is his. He begs her not to push him away again. She tells him it's over. He tells her it won't ever be over unless she admits she doesn't love him anymore. She can't and tells him she'll always love him.
Megan finds them and he gets angry. He asks why she purposely misled Lily about them getting back together. She tells him she loves him and he said he would do the right thing. He tells her hell do the right thing for the baby but he's done with her.
She tells him Lily had her chance and let him go, that she would never do that. He tells her Lily sacrificed for him and he knows Megan would hold onto him even if it's not what's best for him.
Lily can see Megan breaking and tells Grayson to leave them alone to talk. He doesn't want to but leaves. Lily tells her she understands how it feels to lose Grayson. Megan confesses that the baby isn't Grayson's. She cheated but thought Grayson would learn to love her overtime. Lily gets mad and punches her.
She goes to see him the next day and tells him she would have stayed with him even if the baby was his. He takes her for a ride and shows her a house being built outside of town. He tells her he bought it for them. That he wants to be with her forever.
She asks about California and he tells her he'll have to go back to settle stuff with his record label. She realizes that could take years and tells him no. That she won't move into a house alone.
He asks her to come with him and she says no. That she has a life here and can't leave it all behind. She asks him not to leave. He tells her he doesn't want to. He tells her they'll figure it out, but they're not breaking up.
He goes back to California and she misses him. She quits her job at the dentist office and enrolls in school to get a degree in counseling.
After 2 weeks she can't take it anymore and decides to go to California. She buys him an engagement ring and starts looking into flights. He calls her and tells her to go to their park immediately.
She's scared but goes and sees everyone there. Grayson gets on stage and tells everyone he's in love with her. That he's always been in love with her and he wrote her a song. He pulls her onstage and at the end of the song proposes.
She says no and proposes instead. He says yes and they get engaged.
They get married in the epilogue. He stops performing but continues to write. He becomes the manager for Aidan's band. He and Lily have a baby girl named Olive. Lily works as a counselor for a nursing home.