Till Death Do Us Part

First Comes Love #4

by Jennifer Baker

Hard times . . . When they married nearly a year ago, almost nobody thought Matt and Julie would make it. But despite angry parents, skeptical friends, money trouble, and terrible illness, Julie and Matt have kept love alive. Great times . . . Now Julie is pregnant, and Matt and Julie are happier than ever. A baby will make their lives complete; at last they’ll be a real family. Out of time? Then Julie is in a tragic accident, and Matt is forced to make a life-or-death decision that shatters their love into so many pieces, it seems only a miracle could bring them back together . . .

Genres: Fiction

173 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 1993

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Kasi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am going to hide this review because I am going to say some things that are definitely spoilers here. I am also giving this book 4 stars because it touched my heart in a very different way than it did when I first read this as a little tween. Finally, I also gave this final part of Matt and Julie's little love story a few separate tags because of my personal connection to the story... the loss of a baby, the robbery of motherhood, and intense grief that is unlike anything you have ever experienced before.

Even when I started to read this final step in their lives, I hated reading about Julie's pregnancy. I hated reading about how she had this expanding belly and how she put her hands on it. I hated how Matt told everyone to never say in front of Julie that she is "big." I hated all of this because I have had two pregnancy losses and I have never had that expanding belly, I have never had the chance to get "big." I would do anything to be able to get "big" like that. These were little triggers for my own grief and my own trauma of my pregnancy losses, but there was something comforting about reading about it as well.

All of this aside, Julie and Matt experience the loss of their baby. I can't tell you how meaningful it is for me to read stories that I can identify with, stories where my reality is out there, stories that don't show the easy pregnancy that leads to a baby every single time - especially after maybe only trying for one or two months. It's annoying when there are stories that reflect this "easy" and predictable story of pregnancy equals baby. Not everything always works out perfectly, and this book is a reminder of that.

I will say that Julie's grief was very accurately described - at least, from my experience. Her anger, her numbness, her realization that Matt was doing everything he could to try to be upbeat and positive around her but all she wants to do is crawl into a hole and disappear. She runs away. Pain pushes us to places that we may never think possible. I could feel Julie's pain and I could connect with Matt's pain - the partner who wasn't pregnant obviously feels the loss and goes through all of the stages of grief that the pregnant one went through, but it's still so different. The pregnant one - me, and Julie - have felt the nausea, the sensitivity, the awe in how our bodies change and grow a life that was made with the love between two people.

This story was so appreciated. Yes, it's another horrible thing to add to their love saga, but this one... this one just felt so different than the other obstacles.

Also, I hated Nick in this book. Why did Dahlia love him so much, he's such a dick. I seriously could not stand him, I felt like he was such a jerk, so selfish, so immature, and just an annoyance. I thought Marion was fantastic and I loved how dynamic her character became. Marion became a little symbol of how we might not know what we want in our lives, but we do know what we do NOT want, and I thought her story concluded really nicely.

All in all, I was happy to have reread this series of books, especially as an adult with a new perspective on love, loss, and grief. These aren't the best role models for little girls to read, but they are a LOT better than Twilight... :)

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored this series as a kid. As an adult just yikes. So much happened to one couple in one year. Wow. From almost cheating to cancer to pregnancy and now this book. In the fourth and final book in this mini series Julie is expecting their first child. Matt's cancer is in remission, Dahlia and Nick are planning to attend art school in Rome, while secretly sharing a dorm room and Marion is getting bored with Fred and setting her eyes on the bad boy named Bailey, who comes from her hometown. Things fall apart for everyone pretty soon. Dahlia gets into the school, Nick doesn't. Their secret is virtually blown when Dahlia's parents arrive to find Nick and not her at home and Nick becomes resentful over the school issue. Marion soon dumps Fred for Bailey but soon realizes she's made a mistake but also learns that she can be happy without a boyfriend. But the biggest part of the story involves Matt and Julie as it always does. Julie is in a car crash, the baby Danielle is born early and placed in an incubator. Matt blames himself for nor selling his motorcycle to buy a car, Julie blames herself for driving too fast and Dahlia blames herself for not getting the brakes fixed and for not going shopping with Julie on that fateful day. Sadly Danielle only lasts about three weeks. Julie flees for home and both wonder if they will ever repair their marriage. I liked this one. It was sweet but also fairly realistic in telling what the loss of a child does to a marriage. I saw great maturity in Marion and it was nice to watch her grow from farm girl to slightly more worldly young lady and it was nice to see Dahlia and Nick build on their relationship as well. It was nice to revisit this again but also made me realize this series is far from reality based in many ways, but still a nice fantasy read for young adults.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fourth and final book of this series. I’m so glad I re-read it. I wish the author had come back and done an update to show Matt, Julie, Dahlia, Nick, Marion and all the rest several years down the line. I loved re-visiting them all and I will miss them. This series is such a good one. Still one of my favorites after all this time.

[Ladygodaivareyes reyes]

i learned how to love deeply with out a change....