Hold On to Me

by Faye West

When Layla's husband dies just two months after their wedding, she is completely consumed by her grief. Struggling to hold everything together, she returns to her small coastal hometown, where complicated family relationships and an unresolved past with her first love, Jacob, wait.

But Jacob isn't the same boy he was five years ago, this time he carries a past that Layla is only starting to understand. Yet each time their paths cross, she can't deny the way he still makes her heart race, even when she was certain it had stopped for good.

As buried feelings begin to resurface, Layla finds herself caught between honoring the love she lost and confronting the one she never truly let go of. The closer she and Jacob grow, the harder it becomes to deny the truth—some connections don't fade, no matter how much time or heartbreak stands in the way.

Moving on might mean letting Jacob back in.
And risking her heart again may be the only way it can ever truly heal.

Genres: Romance

398 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 19, 2026

About the author

Faye West is an Irish Romance Author. A lover of all things sweet, Faye enjoys writing stories that will captivate her readers, with plenty of swoon-worthy moments, alongside those that will keep you eager to turn the page. Her debut novel Hold On To Me released on April 20 2026. When Faye isn’t writing stories, she’s usually spending quality time with her family, watching a show on Netflix, or more likely, with her head stuck in a book.

Reviews

[_goldenchapter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 ⭐️

This story follows Layla, who returns to her small hometown after the devastating loss of her husband, Ben, only to come face to face with Jacob, the boy she loved first and was forced to leave behind. As old memories and feelings resurface, Layla finds herself caught between honoring the life she lost and confronting the one she wants to be apart of.

I enjoyed the different timelines showing pieces of Layla’s past with Jacob and glimpses of her life with Ben. They were easy to follow and helped build a deeper understanding of Layla’s journey and the emotions tied to each relationship.

That said, I really loved the moments we got with Jacob. He’s been through a lot and yet when it comes to Layla, all he shows is love. His character carried so much emotion, and I found myself really invested in his story and rooting for him.

For me, the ending felt a little rushed. The rest of the book builds slowly and thoughtfully, but the final moments seemed to deliver a lot all at once.

Overall, I truly enjoyed the story. It was an easy and engaging read that pulled me in emotionally. I felt invested in Layla and Jacob’s journey. Thank you to the author for reaching out and providing me the opportunity to read this advance copy. Don’t forget to check it out when it releases on April 20th!

[Brittani · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC Review:
This book was amazing!
When the book starts, you are thrown right into the deep end with such raw and real emotions that you can feel as you read.
Layla moves back home, and that is where her healing and growing start. It isn't easy for her, but when she runs into her first love and he is the first one, she tells the truth to about why she is really back home. He gives her the strength to keep going and helps her grow.

[VeroniCanRead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emotional romance full of grief, heart, and hope

4.5 ⭐ ARC Review - Rounded Up - This emotional romance was full of heart and had me crying alongside the characters, hopeful for her future.

💐 For Fans of:
- emotional romance
- second chance romance
- working through grief
- difficult childhood
- recent widow
- dual POV
- dual timeline
- slow burn
- return to hometown
- small town romance
- Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Colleen Hoover

⚠️ Check your triggers!
This book includes serious topics such as spousal death, domestic violence, and more. Please do your research and stay safe 💕

✏️ Spoiler-Free ARC Review
This story is of a woman’s journey through her newlywed husband’s death, which forces her to move back home. There, she must confront the equally painful past to find if and how she can move forward.

Reminiscent of the emotional romances and personal journeys found in One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid and It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, Hold on to Me has a similar intensity and realism that breaks your heart and propels you forward.

There were so many lines that I highlighted because they hit me emotionally and had my heart breaking for Layla.

Not only do we watch her struggle with and work through the grief from the most recent loss of her husband but also from all the fractured relationships of everything that happened in high school. The loss of a brother who cared about her, the loss of a father who believed her, the loss of friends she was taken from, loss of a love she believed in, and the loss of who she was.

I’m so happily astonished that this is Faye West’s debut novel. You can clearly tell how much heart was poured into this novel because of how it leaks out of the pages, coloring every word of grief, fear, and joy. Well done and I can’t wait to read more by West in the future.


🖤 Thank you to author Fayetteville West for the advanced reader copy (ARC). As always, my reviews are honest, my own, and voluntary!

📚 Book: Hold on to Me by Faye West
📅 Release Date: April 20, 2016
⭐ Rating: 4.5 out of 5

[Isabella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book so much! It was an emotional ride, and I felt so sad for Layla. The book opens right into one of the worst moments of her life, after her husband has passed away, and for a while you are very immersed in her grief. The main character is young and struggles with her grief in a way that felt very believable and made me feel for her. We have the MMC's point of view as flashbacks into what happened when they were younger and in high school. Jacob's story is a different type of tragedy, but seeing where his life ends up makes it feel more hopeful to see his struggles. The pacing of the book was good, I kept wanting to read more all the time! The will they, wont they-aspect is cute and not overplayed. Contains some on page violence, but it is not very graphic or a big part of the plot. I really liked the book and if you need a good cry, but also want to finish it feeling uplifted and hopeful, this is the read for you.

Thank you to the author for the review copy. I have chosen to leave an honest review.

[Leila Heikkinen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book single-handedly ended my reading slump. WHAT A STORY! I was sobbing immediately from the first page, and I didn't stop crying until after I turned the final page. This book is beautiful and heartbreaking and just precious. I will be raving about and thinking about this novel for a very long time. I just want to give Layla the biggest hug. The side characters--Clark, Amie, Keith, Mabel--were so phenomenal. I loved every second reading about them, and I am so happy with how much they supported and loved sweet Layla! And Jacob, ugh, Jacob. The greenest green flag. The way he loved every part of Layla even in her brokenness?! He is the sweetest and a girl can only dream about being loved that deeply and purely. This story was up and down and all over the place, and I found it impossible to tear my eyes away from the page! It was sweet and lovely, intense and scary. But above all it was a beautiful love story, showing how a second chance is always possible even after the greatest heartbreaks. I love this book so dearly and will love it forever!

[Takealookinsideabook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg i can not stop crying!😭😭😭

An absolutely beautiful and bold story that made me ugly cry on several occasions!

I absolutely loved this authors writing, I was consumed by this story straight away and felt all the emotions while reading this.

The only thing I struggled with was the fact the past and present weren't clearly noted and it took me a few sentences sometimes to realise the timeline had shifted. But apart from that, I couldnt get enough of Layla & Jacob!

If you're in the mood for an emotional and tearjerker read then grab this book now (and heaps of tissues).

I cant wait to read more from this author!

[Steffs.Chapter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huge thank you to the lovely Faye for reaching out to me for an honest review.

From the book description alone, I knew I was in for a read that would take you on a journey, and it absolutely did. Faye pulls you in from the very first few pages, with an immediate pang of heartache and empathy for Layla.

I HATTTTEDD Alex and Rhett… which is exactly the point. They made my blood boilllll. And the dads? Irritating. Understandably so, but UGH.

I'm also torn.
Really torn.
Part of me adores the Ben chapters: the romance, the exploration of grief, moving on, and that lingering guilt. But another part of me would have happily swapped some of them for more development of the Alex/Rhett/family chaos, just to really connect the ending and elevate the impact.

I’d also love to see times added to each chapter heading to help support the timelines a bit more.

---💐
Hold On To Me is a very gentle, real take on love, loss, and grief. Wonderful characters, strong romantic development, and a story that moves back and forth through time with ease. I loved it. What a debut!

I’m excited to see what’s to come!

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't been reading a ton of contemporary romance lately—mostly because our contemporary world is what it is—but I was intrigued by the premise of Hold On to Me and decided to take a chance on it. This book ended up being a really interesting mix of romance, family drama, women's fiction, and a dash of romantic suspense.

Thanks to Faye West for the complimentary ARC of Hold On to Me.

Layla Matthews has lost everything. At only 22 years old and just two months into her marriage, she is a widow. Her husband, Ben, was a professional football player who died of an undiagnosed heart condition, leaving her adrift in grief and with nowhere to go. With things up in the air, Layla feels like she has no option but to return to her small hometown. When she arrives, things are tense. Layla hasn't had a relationship with her father or older brother since she was sent away from home just before her senior year of high school—they don't even know she was married, much less widowed. And to make things more complicated, she runs into Jacob Evans, her first love and the root of many of her troubles with her family, on her first trip into town.

Jacob has always been an outsider in his small town. With a father in prison and an alcoholic mother, the deck is stacked against him—both his classmates and their parents don't want him around and make it known. But when he and Layla are paired up on a group project their junior year of high school, he begins to see that not everyone believes the worst in him. Layla sees him for who he is, not what his father did, and they fall fast and hard for each other. But forces pull them apart, and now she's back years later and widowed. Jacob barely survived the first time she left, and no one is sure he'll make it out of Layla's orbit unscathed this time.

There were a lot of places this book could have started, and each one would have given the novel a different vibe. When you're working with a widow as the heroine, you need to select the one that will give the reader the clearest picture of her journey up until she encounters the other main character of the novel. In this case, Faye chose to start the book at Ben's funeral. Layla is devastated, truly unable to understand what happened to bring her to this place where she's a widow at only 22, and she observes everything around her with a kind of detachment that paints a clear picture of where she is mentally and emotionally at the beginning of her story. I would have personally started the story later—probably when Layla was being forced to move home—just to speed up the first act of the novel, but I understand why Faye wanted the reader to see her at her lowest.

The architecture of Hold On to Me was also interesting. We're operating in a dual timeline with dual POV, but each narrator is tied to their specific timeline. So we see the present entirely through Layla's eyes and the past from Jacob's. I thought this was a bold choice, but one that made sense in the grand scheme of the stakes for these characters. Jacob is the one with everything to lose in the past because of his social standing relative to Layla. She is the one with it all on the line in the present timeline. Sometimes dual timeline, dual POV novels can get messy because the author is juggling four streams, so this choice also eliminated that possible challenge.

I ended up really liking the romance plot itself. Both the present and past timelines are substantial—the past is a whole school year, while the present spans more than a calendar year—giving the story a lot of room to breathe. We see both of these characters processing a lot in that time as they try to deal with their individual struggles and grow. I do think the pacing in both timelines got a little frantic toward the end. There were so many major plot points crammed into the last 15% of the book that it felt like a bit of a sprint to the finish. I think things would have been smoother had some of that been seeded earlier, especially in the past timeline. I also think that timeline could have wrapped a little earlier to provide the room the present needed to breathe.

All that being said, I was pretty impressed by this debut contemporary romance. I will definitely keep an eye on what Faye does next as an author. 4 stars.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story had me swirling in a mix of emotions. Grief is a hard subject to talk, write, and read about, but it was handled with such sensitivity and honesty in this story.

This is a slow burn, second chance romance, with an added will-they-won’t-they vibe. Our FMC, Layla, has lost her husband at the age of 23 and has had no choice but to return to her hometown. She’d separated herself from her life there and her troubled relationships with her dad and brother, relationships which then continue to trouble her upon her return. She has a lot of old wounds that she tries to heal throughout this story. This book has a lot of layers, it’s not just your average romance read. You follow Layla as she travels through the motions of grieving, reminding us all that there is not one right way to grieve and that we all process it differently.

You can’t help but feel for Layla. She has suffered immense loss through her life in different forms. Becoming a widow at 23 changed the trajectory of her life, but growing up and even in the present she is handling the loss of a brother who cared for her and a dad who had any faith in her, and she had to deal with a loss of control over her life when she was taken from all she knew and sent away all because she wasn’t allowed to make her own decisions.

The story is told from first person perspective, and it switches between the past, which is from Jacob’s perspective, and the present, which is from Layla’s perspective. To begin with, I hoped we’d get their perspectives in both the past and present, but I think it worked to have them control separate narratives. Jacob got to tell their love story from the past, and Layla got to tell us about her love story with Ben and take us on her journey of working through her grief and allowing herself to fall in love again.

The reason this isn’t a 5 ⭐️ read for me is that the revealing of their past and the incident that occurred is too slow. We find out about what happened to Jacob and what potentially caused them to be pulled apart way too late. I also think we should have seen more about her being sent away and his reaction to that, and him being sent to juvie. If it had been structured a little better, and the past explained to the fullest, this would have been a 5⭐️ read without a doubt.

I love small town romances, even more so when it’s a small coastal town. These kind of settings give off a peaceful, tranquil vibe that, in this case, was the perfect backdrop to Layla’s grief journey.

There are some great side characters in this that help Layla through her journey from her old best friend to her late husband’s best friend/teammate. They are the ones that keep her grounded, and remind her that despite her grief and loss, despite feeling wrong about moving on, she should still follow her dreams, and her heart. They remind her that it’s okay to fall in love again.

Jacob is a wonderful male lead. He’s patient, understanding, encouraging, and forgiving. Despite how hurt he was in the past, despite how his life was thrown into disarray by Layla’s family, his love for Layla never wavered, and it was so sweet to see.

Overall, this is a beautiful yet tragic story of lost love and returning back to your first love. West has crafted two wonderful main characters with rough pasts, but promising futures. Grief is a hard thing to describe as it comes in all forms, but the difficulties we may face whilst we grieve are highlighted with sensitivity and honesty.

[Hannah Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I say this book destroyed me… I’m not at all being dramatic. And please don’t think that this is a criticism, this is a GOOD thing. Hold On To Me by Faye West is every part heart breaking, warming and beautiful. It faces young love, difficult family dynamics and the rawness of grief.

Layla becomes a young widow and doesn’t know how to navigate life after unexpectedly losing her love. Without anywhere to go, she goes back to the place she never wanted to. Here, she faces her past, where her family are unsupportive, where she doesn’t know what to do next, and where she comes back face to face with her first love, Jacob.

The two rekindle and realise that their love never went; but Layla feels she is going against her love for her lost husband. She realises that she can love them both and, despite there being continued turmoil and the past rearing its head, she knows she is lucky to find true love twice.

West skillfully jumps across time within the story - Layla’s viewpoint is always from the current but Jacob shows the past, and through the two, she manages to show their joint and individual growth, the why of where they found themselves and how their love never died. Jacob is nothing but perfect and we can’t help but swoon at his juxtaposition between his deep love, how he shows it but also his need to protect Layla at all costs. He understands her and especially her grief, not begrudging her for this and we can only dream of meeting a man so well rounded.

But through not only the elements of grief, that West describes so raw and painfully, she also describes love so deeply. She somehow makes us feel like Layla: we want her and Jacob to be together and happily ever after, but we also feel the pain and the confusion over this feeling while she grieves for her passed husband. Adding another layer, West shows Laya’s past with her husband through letters, giving this story several emotional elements but really clever literary effects.

I absolutely adored this book. While I didn’t stop crying (and continue to cry as I relive it through this review) - and I mean, I reached a point when I was gulping for air and felt genuine pain in my chest, this is completely a compliment and shows a really skilled author. Hold On To Me is a perfect, emotional roller coaster of a romantic novel and will take you a few days to really process the narrative, the deep feelings it evokes and try somehow to move on without thinking of it through tears every five minutes.

[Randi Sampson · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I see a book featuring a widow, I admit I get a little nervous because I don't like seeing stories where it feels like that relationship is either being replaced or downplayed. And when that book is a second chance romance with a first love? I can't help but think that could be even trickier to pull off. And yet, Faye West has done so brilliantly with Jacob and Layla's story. I was completely blown away by all the emotion that this book delivered... and the fact that this is the author's debut!? Absolutely incredible. Their story was told in a dual timeline in a really unique way: we get her POV in the present and through some journal entries during her relationship with Ben, and then we get Jacob's in the past as they were falling in love for the first time in high school. This was such the perfect way to tell this story. We know early on that something has happened between them and we're given just enough to intrigue, but it's revealed slowly in those past moments throughout the story. The journal entries about Ben allow us to get to know him a little bit better and to see the love she had for him, making that grief feel all the more real. In a way, we kind of get two love stories (though the focus is definitely on that with Jacob), without taking away from either one of them. It was truly beautiful and had me in tears... in the best way possible! With a debut like this, I absolutely cannot wait to see what Faye West does next. If you love romance that brings all the emotion and angst, this is a must read.

Hold On To Me is a closed-door romance with fade to black moments between an unmarried couple. While nothing explicit is shown on the page, clothes do start coming off and it is clear what is happening off pages. There is also some minor language throughout.

**ARC received for consideration. All opinions are my own.

[TotallyShelfObsessed · Rating 4 out of 5]

A funeral, a journal, a storm, a broken nose, a wedding, and a ribbon 🎀
.
When Layla's husband dies, and she gets evicted from their apartment, she is forced to return to her hometown and confront complicated family dynamics that she has ignored for years. While stuck in the claws of grief, Layla encounters her first love and becomes torn between her loyalty to her husband and her heart. Is Jacob the key to healing, or is she destined to suffer heartbreak all over again..? 💗
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Hold On To Me is a small town, dual pov, second chance romance with short chapters and different timelines. I really enjoyed this book and finished it in 2 sittings. I absolutely ADORED Jacobs' character! The addition of letters throughout the book was a stroke of genius! 💌
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I do wish that the dual timelines/pov's were clearly labelled, as it had me briefly confused - however, it was easy enough to figure out and I was able to read on without being pulled out of the book. The ending definitely left me wanting more and questioning what would happen next with specific characters..
I'd absolutely snatch up a sequel with zero hesitation! 👀
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Faye West is definitely an author I will be keeping an eye on! The writing was both devastating and beautiful at the same time, and it felt so wonderfully authentic. Layla's journey feels so incredibly raw and believable. I really liked Clark's character as well! I'd definitely recommend this book! 🌸

[RollTide.Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨(4.25 stars) a touching story of lost love and grief
Pages: 398
HAPPY PUB WEEK! Released: April 19th, 2026
NOW ON KINDLE UNLIMITED

This story began with a beautifully vulnerable widow Layla, our FMC. Without any spoilers as I received this gorgeous gifted ARC from Faye ahead of release, I can share Faye handles the grief with elegance and you want to root for love in this beautiful story. This is my honest, voluntary review.

Old wounds, complex familial relationships and memories that are constantly present are some of my favorite aspects to contemporary romance and I lived in the reality that was Layla's story. Faye makes it easy to understand her and have empathy for her journey. It stays a very real story tied to Layla as our main character which I loved. The ending BROKE ME.

The action packed back half had me on the edge of my seat and I binged this in a day before release and had to process before sitting down to write this.

Congratulations Faye on this release - you shared a beautiful, touching story that I won't ever forget. I appreciate you connecting with me on IG.

Find me on my BOOKSTA: @RollTide.Reads

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an emotional read, especially for myself as I'm still navigating grief. Everyone deals with grief, & this book portrayed it in a way that makes you feel less alone, and more seen. Many tears were shed.

The writing is fantastic, from the start, it grabbed me, pulled me in & it flows easily. The story does have dual POV's which can be confusing at first but once you get into the story you figure it out.

I personally related a lot to Layla and her rocky relationship with her dad. Her trying to navigate her grief along with the relationship with her dad not totally being on her side, is a journey that can be tearful to read about, but is so relatable.

So many emotions that come with losing a loved one, in Layla's case her husband, and moving back home, being in contact with the first love of her life-the questions, shame, embarrassment, that come along with it.

If you have lost a loved one, please read this book with care-for yourself and the experience it provides.

[Reinita · Rating 4 out of 5]

✨ Hold On to Me by Hold On to Me ✨
by Faye West

This story feels like a quiet kind of love. It is sweet and loving and the kind that grows in the spaces grief leaves behind.

This book is about learning how to open your heart again after it’s been shattered by loss and life. It captures that fragile, in-between place where you’re still carrying loss, but slowly and gently moving forward despite the pain.

The connection between the characters is soft and patient. There’s no rushing, no forcing and no expectations. This is childhood sweethearts finding their way back to one another and finding comfort in each other. The way they show up for one another, even when they’re still healing themselves, felt incredibly tender and real. I loved the tenderness in which the MMC cared for the FMC. He was patient, loving and showed up for her in the small moments. This story was written beautifully and is so very special. I cried several times!!! I loved the dual timelines because we got to see into the MCs past and learn more about their connection.
Loved. Loved. Loved this story. ❤️

[Lisa Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

“If there’s one thing I’m certain of, it’s that there’s no kind of love that doesn’t end with a broken heart.”

“Hold On To Me” really comes at you quick with the intense emotions surrounding grief. I was genuinely blown away by the author’s ability to make me feel sad for a character I had only just met. Layla’s anger and despair had my heart shattering.

I loved the dual POVs and watching the story unfold from both the past and the present. I appreciated the slow burn of finding out what happened in the past and I never felt like it detracted from the present.

I think everyone can relate to the emotions of grief and loss in some capacity. I think Faye West did a fabulous job of finding the balance between losing someone you love and finding a way to move forward in your life despite the pain. I loved the ways that Ben was always woven into the story. Gone but never forgotten.

This was my first second chance romance and it didn’t disappoint!

[Kirsty B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly I wanted to say thank you for the ARC - I really appreciate it! This was such an interesting book. I have never read a book that starts in the depths of the despair of a previous relationship. To see the amount of grief and growth in one book is profound. It was a different take on a second chance romance which I really enjoyed as sometimes they can become quite repetitive.

I loved seeing the journey of Layla and Jacob across both timelines. Although initially the timelines did get a little hard to follow as each chapter just tells you who's POV and not about the time jump, until I figured out that you only see Jacobs POV in the past and Laylas POV is the present.

I especially enjoyed reading Jacobs POV and seeing how much he changed over the two time periods (even if it wasn't from his POV in the present).

For a debut novel this is some excellent work and I cannot wait to see what you do next 🩷

[Rune Pages · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 🌶️

Thank you for the ARC copy!

This was such an emotional read..but in the best way! Grief is always a tricky topic to handle, but it was written so beautifully here.

The writing itself was amazing. Some moments really tug at your heartstrings, others make you laugh, and plenty leave you smiling.

I especially loved the dual timeline with past and present chapters. It was so easy to follow and added real depth to the story.

I’m always a sucker for a small town romance, and this one delivered. A main character returning after years away, a small tight knit and warm community (Mable, I adore you), and that second chance element I love so much.

If you enjoy:

A strong, determined FMC
A caring and forgiving MMC
Small town, second chance romance
Found family vibes
A touch of mystery about the past

…then you’re going to eat this up!

[Minty Margins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hold On to Me explores the complex story of Emily & Jacob who grew up together in a small town. We get to view this story through a dual POV and dual timelines. You get to see the experiences that both Emily & Jacob experienced as teens as well as present day which is where we see Emily picking up the pieces of her life after the abrupt loss of her husband, Ben. The present day exploration of grief is DEEP and very raw. I found this to be extremely humanizing because grief and loss are not easy to process. This eventually ends with Emily moving back to her hometown and reconnecting with people from her past. Through the flashbacks we learn about what happened when they were teenagers, what Jacob went through and how he defied all the odds against him, as well as how Emily ended up with Ben. Emily & Jacob do get their happy ending- but there are lots of twists and turns along the way, so be prepared!

Happy Release Week, Faye! Thanks so much for reaching out about an ARC for your debut Hold On to Me!

[Tashareadsfiction · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC REVIEW
I don’t even know where to start—this book was devastatingly beautiful.

This story is about love and loss, exploring the notion of second chances that come with their own sacrifices.

Faye West is truly one hell of a writer - her words are remarkable and captivating, effortlessly bringing the narrative to life & all the emotions that come with it. There were moments when I found myself *literally sobbing*. Layla's journey is authentic, raw, and profoundly emotional.

Now, there were incredibly joyful moments as well! The narrative touches on themes of renewed happiness, chosen family, second chances, grace, and the pursuit of dreams.

It takes a unique story to resonate so profoundly on an emotional level, and I was not disappointed.

[Katie Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC READ


This is a must read but you’re definitely going to need tissues! Lots of tears were shed reading this.

Layla and Jacob were thrown together at school when they were made to work together on a project. Unfortunately, Jacob’s dad wasn’t a good guy and the town hold a grudge against him, including Layla’s big brother. Fast forward several years and Layla is struggling with the loss of her new husband when she bumps into childhood sweetheart Jacob again after going back home.
We see the turmoil Layla is dealing with, desperately missing her husband yet falling for Jacob all over again.

Faye West writes this with such emotion and authenticity. I wanted the story to carry on, to carry on the love story of Layla and Jacob.

Absolutely amazing.

[Dawn Smit · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful emotional second chance romance. This one will have you shedding many tears.

The relationship between Layla and Ben was obviously very special, even tho we never actually meet him it is obvious they loved each other deeply

Then we have the relationship between Layla and Jacob which was first love torn apart, looking back at their young love and different time lines was very interesting although I wish they had been 'labeled' in the chapter heading

The writing was beautiful and heartbreaking and the characters were well developed. The ending felt a little rushed and I wish there had been a little more there but overall I highly recommend this book

Thank you to the author for the ARC opportunity 💕

[Maisi Geis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hold on to Me was such an emotional read and there was so much care taken with both Layla and Jacob. I love second chance romance, and I think Jacob and Layla were the sweetest together.
Even though we never meet Ben except through small glimpses from Layla, I feel like their relationship was really captured and felt so authentic. You could feel the love Layla has for her husband, and I loved that we got to see more of their relationship.
I also enjoyed getting to see Layla and Jacob at a younger age. It reminded me of a Nicolas Sparks novel. Getting to see them meet, create their friendship/relationship, and then fall apart. I think it’s super important that we get to see that to fully understand their connection.
I would say this reads more as a YA. It reminds me a lot of like the Fault in Our Stars era of YA which I absolutely loved.
Things I loved: younger Layla and Jacob’s relationship and its innocence, Jacob’s protectiveness
Tropes: second chance, small town, widow

[_teeny.reads_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you so much to the Author Faye West for the opportunity to read this wonderful ARC.

Hold on to me is so beautifully written, it tells the story of grief, loss and love so well. The characters have such complex feelings but manage to figure it all out together.

It's the "popular girl" and "misfit boy" love story everyone wants to see and despite the trauma and hurt both main characters face they manage to work it all out.

The story line, writing style and overall journey this book takes you on is just so well done, I really enjoyed reading this one and cannot wait for it to come out so I can tell everyone else to get it and read it too!

[Tiffani Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel emotionally exhausted, but if I could read this for the first time again I would in a heartbeat. This isn't a Hallmark vibe, far from it, but in the best of ways. It's real, it's heartbreaking, but it's absolutely beautiful.

Layla...poor, sweet Layla. I cried so much for her. And Jacob...he had just as much trauma if his own. I rooted for these two the minute the flashback chapters started and I loved them together.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book. Their story, along with the flashbacks each progressing alongside each other were so engaging I just couldn't put this one down.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an emotional gut punch from the start. Layla’s husband just died two months after their wedding she is forced to move back home broken hearted. Her dad and brother treat her terribly and are the reason why she left and broke her first love Jacob’s heart. With beautiful second chance vibes he supports her through her grief and they fall back in love much to the dismay of many in her hometown, including her dad and brother. This one is a tear jerker, full of drama, but with a happy ending.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most perfect romance story ever, I loved the timeline switches and different POV’s, showing Layla & Jacob’s difficulties in life. I loved that I could see and understand how amazing Ben was without hearing his POV. The different timelines and stories didn’t dim each other which made this book more special.

The slow burn build up of the blossoming relationship was perfect and didn’t feel rushed. There were scenes that had me gasping & others making my heart full. I couldn’t wait to keep reading this book! I loved Jacob and Layla so much🥹 I feel sad that the book has ended because of how much I adore the characters & plot.

There are literally zero faults.

[E.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC from the author

Holy moley make sure you have tissues on hand when you read this book! It gets all up in your feels and rings you out but in a good way. I love books that can make me cry and this one certainly did just that. Right outta the gate too.

I'm hoping we get a book two, or extended ending to...wrap up what happens in the end fully.

#indieauthor #arcreader #contemperaryromance #fayewest #holdontome

[Caroline Reads Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my. Definitely cried a few times on this one.
The emotions of grief, joy, happiness, loneliness are so well expressed in this story, and the second chance at love was also well done. Very much enjoyed this book and look forward to more by this author!

[Shannon Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an emotional book that had me in tears more than once. This was a beautifully written book about second chances and learning to cope with grief. It’s a good small town setting. The way this author made this feel so authentic was amazing. I definitely recommend reading this.