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It's Always You
Saylor Mendoza had finally moved on. Even with her best friend’s wedding looming on the horizon, life was finally looking up for the 21-year-old single mother.
Then, Jake Clark returned home.
Jake joined the Army a few years ago and never turned back. He made a pretty good life
for himself, until it all fell apart.
Now he’s back to figure out his next steps, help his sister with her wedding, and to make amends with Saylor, his sister’s best friend - the girl he’s been in love with for years.
Saylor didn’t expect Serena’s twin brother to come home so soon, and turn her world upside down once more.
Can these broken souls find a way to forgive and forget their rocky past, and let themselves finally have their happy ending?
Then, Jake Clark returned home.
Jake joined the Army a few years ago and never turned back. He made a pretty good life
for himself, until it all fell apart.
Now he’s back to figure out his next steps, help his sister with her wedding, and to make amends with Saylor, his sister’s best friend - the girl he’s been in love with for years.
Saylor didn’t expect Serena’s twin brother to come home so soon, and turn her world upside down once more.
Can these broken souls find a way to forgive and forget their rocky past, and let themselves finally have their happy ending?
222 pages, Paperback
Published September 13, 2025
12 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 12, 2025
It's Always You follows the story of Jake and Saylor. This story has so much promise but there are sections which felt a bit slow and others that felt a bit rushed. There was no in between.
Jake is dealing with being discharged from the military after having a hard time dealing with mental health issues. & Saylor is dealing with her own past which is spoken about throughout the book. Both of these broken individuals end up leaning on one another in the best way once Saylor opens up to Jake.
Throughout It's Always You it felt a bit disjointed or rather the flow of the sentences and dialogue felt very stiff. There wasn't a flow to the banter. It could have done with another pass on the narrative. This book does have promise. It just lacked the bits to make the rating higher.
Thank you to the author for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
Jake is dealing with being discharged from the military after having a hard time dealing with mental health issues. & Saylor is dealing with her own past which is spoken about throughout the book. Both of these broken individuals end up leaning on one another in the best way once Saylor opens up to Jake.
Throughout It's Always You it felt a bit disjointed or rather the flow of the sentences and dialogue felt very stiff. There wasn't a flow to the banter. It could have done with another pass on the narrative. This book does have promise. It just lacked the bits to make the rating higher.
Thank you to the author for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
September 10, 2025
It’s Always You is Sammantha Selwood’s debut novel. It’s a promising story for the author’s growing career, but I think it could have benefited from a little more polishing to make it a little gem.
The greatest asset of the book is its characters. Saylor and Jake are two truly endearing protagonists, and the secondary characters are no less likable.
Saylor Mendoza is a 21-year-old single mother. Having grown up in a dysfunctional household, she finds refuge with her best friend Serena’s family, the Clarks, after becoming pregnant at 16.
Jake Clark is Serena’s twin brother. After Saylor moved in with his family during her pregnancy, he became close with the young woman and formed a strong bond with her. One day, however, Jake suddenly decided to join the military without telling anyone but his parents and without saying goodbye to Saylor.
A few years later, Jake is discharged from the army. Few people know about it, least of all Saylor, who thinks he is only there for a few days to attend his twin sister, Serena’s, wedding. As the days pass and wedding preparations continue, Saylor opens her heart once again to the young man who broke it by leaving without a word.
As I mentioned at the beginning of my review, this debut novel is promising. There were moments when I lost myself in the story and didn’t realize the chapters were passing by. However, there were also times when reading a chapter felt much longer than usual.
One of the things that disturbed me the most was the mixture of present and past tense conjugations within the narrative. Perhaps it’s because English is not my native language, but I found it disconcerting.
I also felt that some questions remained unresolved, and at times, things that deserved more development were ‘rushed through’ in a few sentences.
If you’re interested in reading It’s Always You, I highly recommend reading the author’s notes. Your mental health comes before everything else.
Many thanks to Sammantha Selwood for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of It’s Always You. This review is my own. All opinions expressed are mine.
The greatest asset of the book is its characters. Saylor and Jake are two truly endearing protagonists, and the secondary characters are no less likable.
Saylor Mendoza is a 21-year-old single mother. Having grown up in a dysfunctional household, she finds refuge with her best friend Serena’s family, the Clarks, after becoming pregnant at 16.
Jake Clark is Serena’s twin brother. After Saylor moved in with his family during her pregnancy, he became close with the young woman and formed a strong bond with her. One day, however, Jake suddenly decided to join the military without telling anyone but his parents and without saying goodbye to Saylor.
A few years later, Jake is discharged from the army. Few people know about it, least of all Saylor, who thinks he is only there for a few days to attend his twin sister, Serena’s, wedding. As the days pass and wedding preparations continue, Saylor opens her heart once again to the young man who broke it by leaving without a word.
As I mentioned at the beginning of my review, this debut novel is promising. There were moments when I lost myself in the story and didn’t realize the chapters were passing by. However, there were also times when reading a chapter felt much longer than usual.
One of the things that disturbed me the most was the mixture of present and past tense conjugations within the narrative. Perhaps it’s because English is not my native language, but I found it disconcerting.
I also felt that some questions remained unresolved, and at times, things that deserved more development were ‘rushed through’ in a few sentences.
If you’re interested in reading It’s Always You, I highly recommend reading the author’s notes. Your mental health comes before everything else.
Many thanks to Sammantha Selwood for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of It’s Always You. This review is my own. All opinions expressed are mine.
September 15, 2025
This book follows two best friends (Jake and Saylor) who have secretly harbored feelings for each other since she moved into his family’s home after a major event. Though their relationship never went beyond friendship, things shift when Jake becomes the best man at his twin sister’s wedding while Saylor serves as maid of honor.
Overall, the story is promising, but the execution fell short for me. The pacing felt uneven… some parts were rushed with info-dumping while others dragged and could have been tightened. The banter and dynamics lacked flow, making the romance feel more like a recount of events than an emotional second-chance story. I missed the sense of yearning, which made both the romantic tension and spicy scenes feel underdeveloped.
The writing also needed more polish. Repeated phrases within a few paragraphs became distracting, and certain scenes could have been rearranged for better flow. Beta readers might have caught inconsistencies too (e.g., how Jake ended up as Alice’s best man with no prior mention of their friendship, or the lack of realistic detail after his first night over—like showering or brushing his teeth). Or after her first called out she just never seemed to be at work anymore because it’s just implied since it’s the wedding week lol
That said, I appreciate the attempt to weave in mental health angles. With stronger editing and more focus on showing rather than telling, this story could really shine.
I appreciate the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Overall, the story is promising, but the execution fell short for me. The pacing felt uneven… some parts were rushed with info-dumping while others dragged and could have been tightened. The banter and dynamics lacked flow, making the romance feel more like a recount of events than an emotional second-chance story. I missed the sense of yearning, which made both the romantic tension and spicy scenes feel underdeveloped.
The writing also needed more polish. Repeated phrases within a few paragraphs became distracting, and certain scenes could have been rearranged for better flow. Beta readers might have caught inconsistencies too (e.g., how Jake ended up as Alice’s best man with no prior mention of their friendship, or the lack of realistic detail after his first night over—like showering or brushing his teeth). Or after her first called out she just never seemed to be at work anymore because it’s just implied since it’s the wedding week lol
That said, I appreciate the attempt to weave in mental health angles. With stronger editing and more focus on showing rather than telling, this story could really shine.
I appreciate the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
October 3, 2025
Author Sammantha Selwood is from Maine and I'm obviously biased towards her, I want every Maine writer to win.
Selwood has a distinct voice with Saylor, however, I suspect its actually the author's voice as it doesn't change much when we are in Jake's perspective. I do love a book that changes perspective between characters, but I hope for them to have very different thought/speech patterns.
This was an independent book and this is nitpicking but the spacing and formatting was jarring enough that it pulled me out of the story several times. I hope that is less of an issue with the e book, but I read the hard copy. However, the use of songs, lyrics and a spotify playlist was fun and well done. I'm a sucker for an index, appendix, map or any other "supporting documents" in my novels.
Speaking of the story, it was a cute romance, but my opinion is almost always that the romances are far too rushed. Maybe I'm the only one who likes tension and build up better than a happy ever after. But that is more of my complaint with romance as a whole and not this particular story. If you like a happy ending, this one has it in spades, even if I did think it was rushed.
All in all its a totally fine romance, made more fun for me by knowing the locations the author was referencing.
Selwood has a distinct voice with Saylor, however, I suspect its actually the author's voice as it doesn't change much when we are in Jake's perspective. I do love a book that changes perspective between characters, but I hope for them to have very different thought/speech patterns.
This was an independent book and this is nitpicking but the spacing and formatting was jarring enough that it pulled me out of the story several times. I hope that is less of an issue with the e book, but I read the hard copy. However, the use of songs, lyrics and a spotify playlist was fun and well done. I'm a sucker for an index, appendix, map or any other "supporting documents" in my novels.
Speaking of the story, it was a cute romance, but my opinion is almost always that the romances are far too rushed. Maybe I'm the only one who likes tension and build up better than a happy ever after. But that is more of my complaint with romance as a whole and not this particular story. If you like a happy ending, this one has it in spades, even if I did think it was rushed.
All in all its a totally fine romance, made more fun for me by knowing the locations the author was referencing.
September 10, 2025
ARC review
There was too much telling, not enough showing. The reasons for their actions were overexplained.
Info dumping on the first chapter was not the right way to go with this because the story has just started.
For Saylor's child to be the most important person in her life, he wasn't all there in the story. His lines were minimal in this book.
The dialogue in this story was not enough.
Then the smut, it just felt unnecessary cause why are they horny out of nowhere?
There was too much telling, not enough showing. The reasons for their actions were overexplained.
Info dumping on the first chapter was not the right way to go with this because the story has just started.
For Saylor's child to be the most important person in her life, he wasn't all there in the story. His lines were minimal in this book.
The dialogue in this story was not enough.
Then the smut, it just felt unnecessary cause why are they horny out of nowhere?
August 19, 2025
I am so glad I was lucky enough to be able to read this book... a debut for the author!
I found it to be fast-paced, but I loved that it had mental health representation. This also didn't pawn off SA as an easy thing to get over... it can be the biggest struggle, and that is shown in this read. Best friend to lovers, single mom, best friends brother... I loved it all and can't wait for more!
I found it to be fast-paced, but I loved that it had mental health representation. This also didn't pawn off SA as an easy thing to get over... it can be the biggest struggle, and that is shown in this read. Best friend to lovers, single mom, best friends brother... I loved it all and can't wait for more!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 12, 2025
I was thoroughly engrossed in the progression of Saylor and jake's relationship. From Teen hood to adulthood. The emotional trauma each went through, apart. It's Always You. The perfection description for two souls who found each other when they weren't ready for forever. Experienced emotional trauma, apart. Then years later reunite and their hearts knew. They're stronger together.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews