Cayla never pictured this life. She had vet-school dreams and a mama who believed in her—until grief, bad choices, and toxic love with Orion rerouted everything. Most women put on weight after having a baby, and no matter how she tried to portray herself in the mirror and in her head, she’d gotten fat. Now this single mom is fighting to remember she deserves more than apologies.
Orion was raised on survival, not tenderness. What started as fun became forever when their daughter arrived—but old habits don’t quit. When child support and consequences hit, the chaos he carries lands at Cayla’s door—again.
Then there’s Kassidy—the boy who always saw her. Back in school he loved her mind, her spirit, her curves. Years later, fate puts them in the same room. He’s steady, patient, and ready to show up for Cayla—and for the little girl who calls her home.
Now Cayla has a stay bound to what breaks her, or risk everything for second-chance love that holds all of her—softness, scars, and dreams included. Heart or history. Pattern or promise.
For readers who love African American romance, BBW romance, single mom romance, hood love, a toxic ex vs. the right man, and second-chance love that feels real.
— Girl, We Go A Second-Chance BBW Romance by C. Wilson
This one did not go how I thought it would go at all, so let me explain. Cayla is our BBW FMC, and she carries a lot of insecurity from past relationships tied to her weight. That part rang painfully true for me and probably a lot of other BBW women too. Men really will project their own mess onto the women they say they love.
So when Orion showed up, I thought, okay… this is the man who’s going to love her loudly and put those insecurities to rest. Wrong. He ended up being worse than her exes, criticizing her weight while she was literally carrying his child. It wasn’t just disappointing, it was hurtful. He became an all-around butthole in that relationship, and honestly, the switch was so jarring that the insults felt real enough to pull me out of the story.
Now, the light in all of this darkness was Kassidy. Childhood friend, grown into himself beautifully, and eyes only for Cayla. He was gentle, affirming, and exactly what she deserved. Truly a special treat.
So why 3 stars, Erica? Because we spent way too much time in Cayla being broken down by Orion and not enough time building her back up. For this to be a romance, I needed to get to her happy place faster.
It was okay, but it was heavy, and I wish the balance had been better.
This book irritated me. Fat is not a character trait. Every other sentence in this book had to do with the MFC's weight. I get it. She's fat. Can we move on to another trait please? Also, the MMC moved real dumb and sloppy to say he was from the hood. The writing was meh.
Imagine this… Your college boyfriend destroyed your self-esteem. When you started putting on weight, you were no longer attractive to him. Y’all break up and you move on fast-forward you and your friends go to a club. You’re having a good time. You meet the owner by accident, after drunk guy tries to get you to come home with him. The owner steps in and handles him, egos are bruised and when you and the owner go back to where you and your friends are. Shots rang out. You don’t know it yet, but were hit and rushed to the hospital. Orion feels bad that she got shot at his club. So out of guilt and concern, he offers to take care of her while she recovers, and that’s where the emotional lines start to blur. On paper Orion is protective, charming, and seemingly different from the men who hurt her before.
At first, their relationship feels soft. Safe. Promising. But tragedy changes everything.
After his mother is murdered in retaliation, the death of his mother turns him distant, cold, and emotionally unavailable. And instead of healing, he reverts. He starts cheating and the affection disappears. Cayla begins gaining weight and doesn’t understand why—until she learns she’s pregnant. He is happy but he doesn’t want her to gain anymore weight. Because her current weight gain has him already not attracted to her. His rude comments about her weight or her appearance is chipping away at her self-esteem. The man once made her feel seen. Turned out to just like her ex but worse, because now she was pregnant with his baby.
The start of breaking point Catching him with woman in their home, leading her into premature labor.
She survives. The baby survives. He panics and promises change—but his actions never fully align. Instead, he seeks comfort in his baby mama… who ends up pregnant too.
That betrayal was the final straw.
Cayla finally chooses peace for herself and her daughter. She leaves, prepares for single motherhood, and accepts what feels like the stereotype she never wanted—but refuses to stay broken.
Then life surprises her.
A chance encounter with a high school friend—someone who always saw her, always valued her—slowly blooms into friendship, then love. A love rooted in patience, respect, and genuine care.
Meanwhile, Orion is still on his nonsense—and thinking he can still treat Cayla any kind of way. And to add insult to injury, her so-called friend starts sleeping with and even gets pregnant by him. The audacity. The mess. The secondhand embarrassment.
But Karma has a way of humbling people and when he founds out that Brandi’s baby ain’t his. He is pissed, kicks her out and I believe that is when he was forced to confront the reality of his choices. Too late. He lost a good woman. And this time, there’s no rewriting the ending.
What hit hardest for me was the realism.
Orion reminds me of men who claim to love big women—until those women grow beyond the version they found “acceptable.” I don’t believe grief created his cruelty; it simply exposed it. He knew her self-esteem was fragile, and he exploited it.
This book had me crashing out—mad at the MMC, mad at the FMC for staying too long—but ultimately proud of her for leaving and finding her happiness.
Her happily ever after felt earned. And while I hated the MMC for most of the book, I appreciated that he finally acknowledged his loss and took accountability—even if redemption didn’t mean reconciliation.
⭐ Final Thoughts: This was emotional, infuriating, painfully relatable, and deeply satisfying in the end. A story about choosing yourself—even when it hurts—and trusting that better love exists on the other side.
If you like messy, real, second-chance-adjacent romances with strong emotional arcs and growth, We Go Together will absolutely put you through it. 💔➡️❤️
Listen, this took waaaaay too long to get to where it was supposed to go! Cayla and Orion's story dragged and dragged and DRAGGED!! i got to 52% and had to look at the synopsis again to see if I was missing something because I was convinced Kassidy was not in this book!! Then once Kassidy was introduced, it was like a horse in the Kentucky Derby making a mad dash to the finish line! I would have preferred less of the toxicity that was Orion and more of the healing that was Kassidy.
I grew tired of Cayla kind of fast because sis was WEAK!! Orion needed to be humbled but it just took too long to happen. I feel that some parts of the story could have been left out, like Omari and ol' girl after his mom was killed because they really weren't necessary to the plot.
Cayla Carmichael had been through a lot esp losing her mother and having a nothing behind ninja who was looking everywhere but at her. As she gained weight it just made it easier for the guy to step out on her. During a girls night out she meets Orion and at first everything is going for the two of them even tho he has a baby mama and a five year old. After having their daughter she gains some weight but that’s expected Orion didn’t see it that way and finds a way to stay out late and do him. Her ex coming back into the picture pissed me off but what was he really doing? Orion continued to do him while Cayla was at home with their daughter then one day Orion does the unthinkable and Cayla decides her and her daughter deserve better. They say when you pray for better it comes along in the most unexpected way and through the most unexpected ppl. One she runs into an old classmate named Kassidy and he shows her that he wants her for her flaws and all. I love them together bc it was just that good. Cayla’s best friend Zynea was definitely the best supporting her through it all. I really didn’t care for Brandy at all and as the story progressed that feeling only got stronger. Orion’s karma sure came back to bite him and in the form of someone he thought was true. Wanna know all the juicy drama in between make sure run not walk and pick this up on Amazon. You did your thang with this one here. Don’t judge me but this is the first book I read by you even tho I have a few. Let’s just say I will be reading more and that’s a promise.
This marks my initial experience with this author's work, and I thoroughly enjoyed this particular book. The narrative unfolded seamlessly, the characters were thoughtfully developed, and the storyline was compelling. Cayla, a beautiful soul, is navigating healing from a loss and yearns to just move on with her life and her career. Orion enters her life, and their relationship blossoms. However, a significant change in Orion's life alters his perspective, which unfortunately impacts his relationship with Cayla. It is often true that what one person may not provide, another will, and I am grateful for this sentiment. Kass provided Cayla with everything she desired and needed. I am confident that you will not be disappointed with this book. I eagerly anticipate reading more books by this author. It was truly my pleasure reading this book 🥰.
Cayla dealt with so much!! I just knew Orion was gonna do my girl right after all she’s been through in the past & the way he treated her in the beginning! But he turned out to be trashhhhh to day the least! He was so bogus for how he did her!
Orion had his ways about himself! A textbook narcissist! He played the role of the good guy but he had a whole other side to him that was the complete opposite of who he presented himself to be! He got everything he deserved in Al honestly!
Kassidy was really that guy! I like him from the time he was introduced in the book! He accepted Cayla flaws & all no judgement no trying to change her. He didn’t care about any of the baggage she came with! He treated her exactly how she should be treated & I loved that for her! She got her happily ever after 🥰
First, I am super happy that Cayla received her happily ever after. She finally found her missing piece. She truly deserved it. Orion, what can I say…. Karma did what she always does… She made her round trip voyage. Orion treated Cayla like crap and then tried to use the death of his mother as a crutch for what was always in him. He didn’t know what love was. Then when the blessings started manifesting in Cayla’s life he wanted to start thinking about what he had. He never addressed his son and the cause of Cayla’s dog death. Then that no good friend of her crossed all kinds of friend code and got with her ex only for him not to be her child’s father! HA!!!! Enjoy the story!!!
A lot of women go through what Cay went through. Men tear women down because they have their own issues. I was glad that Cay was able to find true love and love herself. It wasn't easy, but she learned how to be a strong woman. Cay had to heal for herself and her daughter . Orion learned how to treat women from his father. He didn't realize what he had until it was too late. He needs to take time to heal himself. Brandi was a jealous woman. Many women do this to people they call friends. It is sad. I went through so many emotions reading this book. I have experience with what Cay went through. I am still going through my healing process.
When you look in the dictionary for toxic, there should be a picture of Orion. I couldn't believe that the relationship between Orion and Cayla would turn out like it did. The cheating, the verbal, mental and physical abuse, and the disrespect was too much. Even after she finally left he took the disrespect to another level by sleeping with her trifling friend Brandy. I wish that Brandy and Orion would have gotten done a little bit more dirty by karma. But this was a really good read. I'm happy the Cayla got her happy ending with Kassidy in the end because my girl was going through bad.
This was a beautiful yet turbulent story. Cayla was a strong individual, that handled her storms with love, understanding in the midst of betrayal and hurt. When I tell you people are really selfish and disrespectful I meant it. Orion was a darn mess, and I didnt like who he became when grief hit him hard. He definitely lost a good thing because of his horrible actions. Cayla had to learn to love herself in more ways than one. Lamont n Kassidy gave her the push and shove she needed . I thoroughly enjoyed this book. You did it again,C.
A MAZ ING honestly that is what I would use to review this book. It was a rollercoaster that captivated me from the start and I could not put the book down until I finished it WOW. So many twist and turns and betrayal but the one improvement I would make is on the erotica the scenes were definitely not spicy I wouldn’t even say mild. They were far, few, and short. I’d honestly love to read a second book on everybody’s stories afterwards and see them live out some more!
This book was nothing like I expected. I went in blind so I had no clue what the book was about. I thought it was going to be about a girl meeting her guy or already has her guy and some unforeseen circumstances happen they split up, get back together, and live happilyever after. NOPE!!! Fooled the hell out of me. The book had me stressed all the way out. Both the FMC & MMC pissed me off a lot. I found myself putting the book down to get my mind right and then coming back to finish it. Overall it was a great read and I enjoyed it.
The way that Kasey showed up for Cayla was beautiful. I think he’s gonna be one of my most memorable MMC because he worked a regular job. He showed that the book Bae qualities aren’t a reach. You can have a book bae, it’s more than what’s in their wallet. I’m happy that Cayla eventually got tired and left Orion. Orion deserved worse in my opinion, but I guess he lost out on a good thing and that’s his punishment.
I like how tne author took a story and made it relatable to how some men has something good and mess it up only to have to watch from the outside when she's happy. And from a woman perspective its spot on how she relates how a woman can be all a man needs but he'll let it go for someone that's not only no good for them but a life at that. Well done .
Didn't finish. The second chance romance as the title is misleading. Most times that means main characters meet back up and rekindled their love. This book spent over half the time focused on a manipulative relationship til the point where I couldn't read any longer to see how the FMC received her happiness. Maybe next time less pages about the bad and more on the good.
This was an ok story. However, I wish I could’ve seen the growth of kass and Cayla’s relationship. Kass didn’t enter the group chat until 67% of the book and their relationship moved fast. I felt like their love story was rushed. This book was mainly about O and Cay…I felt like there was a lot of unnecessary stuff in the story. But overall it was ok
Cayla really deserved the happiness she found with Kassey. I was really disappointed in Orion and how he had started to treat Cayla when she stood ten toes for him. Brandi would have to had run me my fade. Them type of friends are the ones that will get you locked up. I really enjoyed this book.💚💚
It’s always a man who wants his cake and to eat it to who In the end realizes that the grass isn’t greener on the other side. Great read. I’m so happy Cayla got the happy ending she deserved it.
I loved this book. Had me crying and laughing. So glad Cayla got her happily ever after. This maybe an urban fiction book but it gives me hope for my future. Thank you for your creative writing skills! Can’t wait for your next book
Orion blew that up bad, his ego made him turn into a booger! He had a gem and failed her badly. Oh well Kassidy cleaned up all that mess and brought peace and safety to Cayla.
This is my first book by this offer but I will read more. I be disturbed when reading about a plus size woman in a book. Why do they have to always put up with the most disrespect silently before getting their happily ever after
Orion was a piece of work, and I’m glad that Cayla finally found her happily ever after. Orion was the definition of toxic and a serial cheater. Orion played in Cayla’s face until she got tired and moved on. This was a good book, mind blowing, but a good book.
This book was so relatable shoot this OUR story our girlfriends story our mamas story. Cayla has been beat down and struggling on her own. Her self esteem is minimal. She meets Orion who is dope boys good guy! Things soon fall apart and we gotta watch them rebuild
A night out party for Cayla ended up creating a relationship that was toxic & chaos. Orion started out as Cayla dream man ended up making her feel self worth.