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Cherish Creek #1
When You Were Mine
High school sweethearts. One night of heartbreak.
Michael and I used to be inseparable, but a summer party after high school graduation brought our relationship to a painful stop. I avoided spending winter break from my freshman year in college back in my small town, but summer is closing in, looming like a dark cloud on the horizon. Returning home means facing Michael and the ruins of our relationship, but my fearful heart still aches over the future I always assumed we would share.
When my younger sister reveals that Michael is rumored to be engaged, I realize that I'm not ready to give him up.
Michael and I used to be inseparable, but a summer party after high school graduation brought our relationship to a painful stop. I avoided spending winter break from my freshman year in college back in my small town, but summer is closing in, looming like a dark cloud on the horizon. Returning home means facing Michael and the ruins of our relationship, but my fearful heart still aches over the future I always assumed we would share.
When my younger sister reveals that Michael is rumored to be engaged, I realize that I'm not ready to give him up.
236 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 23, 2020
69 people are currently reading
150 people want to read
About the author
Alessa Martel
22 books59 followersAlessa Martel is the pen name of a mother-daughter writing team. They live in Northeast Ohio, where homework and a full-time job keep them busy, so they share story ideas late at night and weekends, usually while eating too many potato chips and catering to their cats.
You can read their sweet romances in Kindle Unlimited, and listen to them on Audible.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
April 23, 2020
Oodles and Oodles of heat-felt drama.
by and1515
Wow what a totally delightful story.
You have the quintessential teen couple in love been friends forever and a day
but then bam one moment everything changed.
And now he's moved on.
This book was absolutely charming with oodles and oodles of heat-felt drama.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
by and1515
Wow what a totally delightful story.
You have the quintessential teen couple in love been friends forever and a day
but then bam one moment everything changed.
And now he's moved on.
This book was absolutely charming with oodles and oodles of heat-felt drama.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
November 2, 2020
This was a sweet story about Jenny and Michael. High school sweethearts that due to a misunderstanding broke them apart. Both main characters had some growing up to do. I felt bad for the secondary characters caught up in Jenny and Michael's storm. I’d recommend this story for any young adult readers, clean with a good resolution. This is a new author for me and I’m looking forward to Emily and Jonah’s story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
May 31, 2020
I received a free copy of When You Were Mine by Alessa Martel for my honest review. I was not obligated to write a positive review, and this review is my honest personal opinion of this book.
When You Were Mine is the story of Jenny, who chose to go to a college far from home after her relationship with her boyfriend comes to an abrupt end. She thought if she stayed away, she'd be able to get past it and move on. However, when summer break arrives and she has no choice but to return home to a small town where everyone knows everyone and their business.
Her life becomes very uncomfortable when people make their opinions of the breakup known and try to advise here as to what she needs to do. Things get even more awkward when she continues to run into Michael.
I found the first couple chapters of this book very slow paced and a bit redundant. However, when Emily returns home and has to face quite a few surprises and unexpected problems, the pace of the story picked up enough to hold my attention and keep me turning pages.
This book is written for YA girls and it has a couple good lessons in regard to relationships. It is a clean, sweet romance story about second chances. It is an enjoyable read and fairly well written. I highly recommend it for YA girls, but think Adult women would find it a bit slow, and would have some difficulty relating to the main characters.
When You Were Mine is the story of Jenny, who chose to go to a college far from home after her relationship with her boyfriend comes to an abrupt end. She thought if she stayed away, she'd be able to get past it and move on. However, when summer break arrives and she has no choice but to return home to a small town where everyone knows everyone and their business.
Her life becomes very uncomfortable when people make their opinions of the breakup known and try to advise here as to what she needs to do. Things get even more awkward when she continues to run into Michael.
I found the first couple chapters of this book very slow paced and a bit redundant. However, when Emily returns home and has to face quite a few surprises and unexpected problems, the pace of the story picked up enough to hold my attention and keep me turning pages.
This book is written for YA girls and it has a couple good lessons in regard to relationships. It is a clean, sweet romance story about second chances. It is an enjoyable read and fairly well written. I highly recommend it for YA girls, but think Adult women would find it a bit slow, and would have some difficulty relating to the main characters.
June 18, 2020
This book was a super sweet romance. I really enjoyed reading it. Super awesome chemistry and neat kissing scenes.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
May 5, 2020
2.5 stars
Better than I expected but it was missing emotion and spark, and it was hard to get behind a heroine who had absolutely no goals in life, no dreams or aspirations other than to become the wife of her high school sweetheart. She had no identity outside of Michael and there wasn't enough of him in the story to give any idea if he was worth it.
At this point, I'd say no. The pair broke up during a childish misunderstanding, after which the heroine leaves for university. Less than a year later, her supposed soul-mate and ex-future husband is already engaged to someone else. As I stated, we really don't know much about him at all from the narration, but if you ask me 18 is too young for this pair to be thinking about forever. They need to grow up and learn how to communicate better first. Maybe figure out who they are as individuals? Just a thought.
Although I'm sure this wasn't intentional by the writer, the heroine scored the single biggest point AGAINST them even being together when she indicated she'd 'never had a friendship with Michael.'
Sorry, what?
How can you know you're going to spend the rest of your life with someone who ISN'T your friend? Friendship is vital in a healthy relationship. These two weren't friends and hadn't slept together either, so I wonder how Jenny was so sure they were even compatible let alone going to be together for life.
Way too much growing up needed to take place here, and Jenny didn't evolve enough by the book's end.
The story had potential, but it needed much more depth and character development, and a bit more showing over telling. I wouldn't rule out reading more from the writer(s), however.
Better than I expected but it was missing emotion and spark, and it was hard to get behind a heroine who had absolutely no goals in life, no dreams or aspirations other than to become the wife of her high school sweetheart. She had no identity outside of Michael and there wasn't enough of him in the story to give any idea if he was worth it.
At this point, I'd say no. The pair broke up during a childish misunderstanding, after which the heroine leaves for university. Less than a year later, her supposed soul-mate and ex-future husband is already engaged to someone else. As I stated, we really don't know much about him at all from the narration, but if you ask me 18 is too young for this pair to be thinking about forever. They need to grow up and learn how to communicate better first. Maybe figure out who they are as individuals? Just a thought.
Although I'm sure this wasn't intentional by the writer, the heroine scored the single biggest point AGAINST them even being together when she indicated she'd 'never had a friendship with Michael.'
Sorry, what?
How can you know you're going to spend the rest of your life with someone who ISN'T your friend? Friendship is vital in a healthy relationship. These two weren't friends and hadn't slept together either, so I wonder how Jenny was so sure they were even compatible let alone going to be together for life.
Way too much growing up needed to take place here, and Jenny didn't evolve enough by the book's end.
The story had potential, but it needed much more depth and character development, and a bit more showing over telling. I wouldn't rule out reading more from the writer(s), however.
August 16, 2020
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.When You Were Mine by Alessa Martel is a cute little romantic book about a second chance love that is all clean and wholesome.
Will Jenny be able to make things right with Michael so that they will both feel better?
Jenny Collins
Jenny Collins is our point of view character, and I think this is a great way to do this book. It makes the way that Jenny evolves from being only thinking about herself to thinking about others and wanting to reconcile with Michael that much better. Jenny does do a lot of character growth in this book that we can see in her perspective, and it's excellent to witness. I think that Jenny is a remarkable character and that she is doing a great job of figuring out who she wants to be now.
Michael Lindsay
Michael Lindsay was Jenny's boyfriend since middle school and together throughout high school until Jenny sees something that she should have had talked about with Michael. He is a great guy who wanted someone in his life and thought that with Jenny away that he could move on with Emily. The problem was that the whole reason they broke up wasn't something that ever got resolved between the two of them. It made Michael not want to open up much with Emily. Not until after a bit of time with Jenny being back. I like Michael, and I think that he is a great guy. Michael is into his family and wanting to take over the family business, which is a great thing for any young kid that wants to keep a family business within the family.
Five Stars
When You Were Mine by Alessa Martel is an excellent book by a lovely duo of mom and daughter. All the characters felt so real and that I was right there with them. These two will be on my radar for more books that they will write in the future. I loved Jenny and Michael and Emily as well. Those three and the rest of them were so well written. Valley Vale felt like a beautiful place to live. I am giving this book five stars and recommending it to anyone that loves to read romances.
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of When You Were Mine by Alessa Martel.
Until the next time,
Happy Reading!
This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove
Will Jenny be able to make things right with Michael so that they will both feel better?
Jenny Collins
Jenny Collins is our point of view character, and I think this is a great way to do this book. It makes the way that Jenny evolves from being only thinking about herself to thinking about others and wanting to reconcile with Michael that much better. Jenny does do a lot of character growth in this book that we can see in her perspective, and it's excellent to witness. I think that Jenny is a remarkable character and that she is doing a great job of figuring out who she wants to be now.
Michael Lindsay
Michael Lindsay was Jenny's boyfriend since middle school and together throughout high school until Jenny sees something that she should have had talked about with Michael. He is a great guy who wanted someone in his life and thought that with Jenny away that he could move on with Emily. The problem was that the whole reason they broke up wasn't something that ever got resolved between the two of them. It made Michael not want to open up much with Emily. Not until after a bit of time with Jenny being back. I like Michael, and I think that he is a great guy. Michael is into his family and wanting to take over the family business, which is a great thing for any young kid that wants to keep a family business within the family.Five Stars
When You Were Mine by Alessa Martel is an excellent book by a lovely duo of mom and daughter. All the characters felt so real and that I was right there with them. These two will be on my radar for more books that they will write in the future. I loved Jenny and Michael and Emily as well. Those three and the rest of them were so well written. Valley Vale felt like a beautiful place to live. I am giving this book five stars and recommending it to anyone that loves to read romances.
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of When You Were Mine by Alessa Martel.
Until the next time,
Happy Reading!
This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove
June 18, 2020
Slow Start
This is a story of a college-aged couple who had been sweethearts since forever but broke up after a high school senior party when the girl sees the boy kiss another girl. She grabs another boy and kisses him to make her boyfriend jealous. The heroine then goes off to college two hours away. She avoided coming back for Christmas, but she needs to come home for the summer for a job so she can make some money for her next year. She knows she will see her ex, especially because she's accepted a job at his parents' restaurant—baking in the morning, so she hopes she won't see him too much.
I felt like the entire part of the story that took place at the college, which was about 14% of the book, was far too long. In a romance like this, you don't really feel like it starts until you actually see the couple together and their interaction. The college stuff could have been compacted into a couple of scenes before taking us back to the heroine’s small hometown, which is where the action of this book happens. Perhaps I'm just old and old fashioned, but I didn't like the way the college roommate acted with men. Do young women really act like her these days? She's hoping to become a doctor, so you think she would be better educated about the dangers of sleeping around with a new guy every week.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
My book blog: https://www.readingfanaticreviews.com
This is a story of a college-aged couple who had been sweethearts since forever but broke up after a high school senior party when the girl sees the boy kiss another girl. She grabs another boy and kisses him to make her boyfriend jealous. The heroine then goes off to college two hours away. She avoided coming back for Christmas, but she needs to come home for the summer for a job so she can make some money for her next year. She knows she will see her ex, especially because she's accepted a job at his parents' restaurant—baking in the morning, so she hopes she won't see him too much.
I felt like the entire part of the story that took place at the college, which was about 14% of the book, was far too long. In a romance like this, you don't really feel like it starts until you actually see the couple together and their interaction. The college stuff could have been compacted into a couple of scenes before taking us back to the heroine’s small hometown, which is where the action of this book happens. Perhaps I'm just old and old fashioned, but I didn't like the way the college roommate acted with men. Do young women really act like her these days? She's hoping to become a doctor, so you think she would be better educated about the dangers of sleeping around with a new guy every week.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
My book blog: https://www.readingfanaticreviews.com
December 5, 2020
When You Were Mine by Alessa Martel is a sweet second-chance romance between two high school sweethearts. Jenny and Michael were always the perfect couple. The one everyone expected to marry and have kids. Neither one saw the mix-up that would tear them apart.
Jenny and Michael are forced to face each other when she returns home from college for the summer. The whole town is abuzz with the news that Michael is engaged. And everyone is watching to see how Jenny will react.
I have to admire Jenny's determination to go about her life and ignore all the watchers. She wants to do her job and get back to school. But Michael and his life seem to be everywhere she turns.
As Jenny realizes how much she missed him, she finds out his fiance is an amazing person. And she actually enjoys being her friend. So what is she going to do?
When You Were Mine really felt like a real story to me. Real teenage emotions and decisions that aren't always correct. Wondering if that second-chance is worth grabbing or better passing it up. Jenny and Michael are both characters I only wanted to see happy in the end.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
Jenny and Michael are forced to face each other when she returns home from college for the summer. The whole town is abuzz with the news that Michael is engaged. And everyone is watching to see how Jenny will react.
I have to admire Jenny's determination to go about her life and ignore all the watchers. She wants to do her job and get back to school. But Michael and his life seem to be everywhere she turns.
As Jenny realizes how much she missed him, she finds out his fiance is an amazing person. And she actually enjoys being her friend. So what is she going to do?
When You Were Mine really felt like a real story to me. Real teenage emotions and decisions that aren't always correct. Wondering if that second-chance is worth grabbing or better passing it up. Jenny and Michael are both characters I only wanted to see happy in the end.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
July 27, 2020
I usually don’t go for clean romances with new adult characters but I listened to the sample of this book and loved the narration so I decided to give it a shot. Well I loved it! Alexandra Johnson is an excellent narrator and I will look for more books narrated by her. She makes you feel you are a 19 year old girl going through so many emotions.
Our hero and heroine were high school sweethearts and a miss understanding made them break up with out heroine leaving for college for a year. She comes back to her small town only to find out her ex is now engaged to be married. All characters are nice people. You actually can connect with all of them, even with our hero’s new fiancee. You just want them all to be happy. The author definitely writes good stories about good people.
As I said this is a clean romance but it’s not missing out on the build up, the love and the chemistry. Thoroughly enjoyed this story and highly recommend it!!
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.
Our hero and heroine were high school sweethearts and a miss understanding made them break up with out heroine leaving for college for a year. She comes back to her small town only to find out her ex is now engaged to be married. All characters are nice people. You actually can connect with all of them, even with our hero’s new fiancee. You just want them all to be happy. The author definitely writes good stories about good people.
As I said this is a clean romance but it’s not missing out on the build up, the love and the chemistry. Thoroughly enjoyed this story and highly recommend it!!
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.
May 20, 2020
Jenny and Michael were high school sweethearts and everyone thought they would marry. One night at a party, Jenny sees Michael kissing another girl, so she grabs the closest boy and kisses him. They break up and Jenny chooses a college two hours away because it hurts too much to see Michael. Then Sydney calls and tells her Michael is engaged. When Michael’s mom calls offering her a job over the summer, she accepts. What is going to happen when she runs into Michael and his fiancée, Emily. Will Jenny and Emily become friends? No spoilers, so grab your copy and see what happens.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
May 6, 2020
Well...it wasn’t as wonderful as I wanted it to be, but it was still pretty good. The storyline was actually sort of weak; the characters sort of namby pamby; and the plot twists and turns really sort of weak. All in all, I was really ready for the HEA. Bottom line:Not a great book, but a fairly good one. Young adults would probably like this one more than a mature reader. 💝
June 3, 2020
This is the 1st book I've read written by Alessa Martel; she has done a great job at writing a good book; I can’t wait to read more of her books.
The story line caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.
I loved the characters.
I received a free copy of this book via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.
The story line caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.
I loved the characters.
I received a free copy of this book via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.
June 13, 2020
4 STAR ROMANCE!
The writing draws you in and keeps you involved throughout the whole story, I found myself in love with not only the characters but also the world that was created.
The descriptions of the characters and their feelings are so involved, you can truly picture it in your mind.
I received a copy of this book. This review was posted voluntarily.
The writing draws you in and keeps you involved throughout the whole story, I found myself in love with not only the characters but also the world that was created.
The descriptions of the characters and their feelings are so involved, you can truly picture it in your mind.
I received a copy of this book. This review was posted voluntarily.
May 24, 2021
A clean sweet, YA/NA romance I received in exchange for a review. It is very wholesome, zero on the spice level but cute and after the first few chapters which are extremely slow it picks up and is entertaining. I hate stories with conflict that rebolve around refusing to communicate but in this case it was a necessary plot device
May 24, 2020
The book is a good sweet small town romance read. The story has a good story line. The characters are good, and they have good chemistry. The story is an enjoyable second chance romance read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
May 28, 2020
The story line was good, the character work was great, and the book had a fairly smooth flow to it. This book was an entertaining read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
June 5, 2020
Good story with characters that have issues to work through. Interesting and entertaining characters tell a good story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
May 8, 2020
Sweet
This was a sweet romance. It was heartfelt and I liked the characters and their connection. I hope to read more from this author.
This was a sweet romance. It was heartfelt and I liked the characters and their connection. I hope to read more from this author.
May 31, 2020
I only finished this book because I was given an advanced copy to review. It was hard to get into and I just didn’t enjoy it.
June 4, 2020
This was a sweet second chance read. It did take a while to get to the point where Michael and Jenny clearers up their misunderstanding. There were parts that dragged on a little too long.
November 7, 2020
This is a story of Jenny, a young college student who comes home for the summer to face her former high school sweetheart who is engaged to someone else. The story is sweet, the characters likable.
September 10, 2021
Short, sweet, small town romance
Jenny returns home after a year away and finally has to face her ex.
Quick and easy read. Be great as a poolside read.
Jenny returns home after a year away and finally has to face her ex.
Quick and easy read. Be great as a poolside read.
October 2, 2021
Great book
March 8, 2023
Nice
Thus was a nice story with happy ending. It was pleasant to read and I would recommend it for anyone who likes a clean story. The
Thus was a nice story with happy ending. It was pleasant to read and I would recommend it for anyone who likes a clean story. The
January 30, 2023
3.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews