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Woods Lake #1
It's Always Been You
In book one of the Woods Lake series, we meet Marco and Jenna. Each book within the series can be read as a standalone novel, but you get the most from the series if you read it in order.
10 years ago Jenna's life changed forever when she watched her brother Ricky die in a race accident. No longer the outgoing party girl who spends her weekends racing the quarter mile strip, she spends her days battling anxiety and tries to just get by. The nightmares still come and the only person who has ever been able to save her from the nightmares in her dreams and the nightmares in her reality is Marco. When she was 12 and he was 16, he was her brother's best friend. When Ricky died four-years later, Marco become her protector. Now 14 years later, they have been debating the should we or shouldn't we and have to decide if their friendship can survive the relationship they both crave.
Marco has loved Jenna since he was 16 and she was 12. When Ricky died, his mom had Jenna move into their house because she had nowhere else safe to be. Marco held her every night when the nightmares came for the next year. The friendship has always felt like it was destined to be more than just a friendship, but the timing was never right. Can their 14 year friendship survive the relationship trial he asks her for? Will this week long trial be what they need to finally make things work or will they lose each other in the process?
“I’m scared. Okay! I’m so scared. I’m scared that I won’t live up to the expectation that you have built up in your mind or that I won’t be what you want after a while. Mostly I’m scared that if this blows up, then I lose you and I don’t think I can survive losing you. Nothing good ever lasts in my life. I can’t lose you. I won’t survive it.”
“Babe, you’re not going to lose me. You and me, we are forever. I made that decision the first night I held you through the nightmares. I’m good and I’ve lasted fourteen years. I’ve loved you for all of those fourteen years. I loved you when I shouldn’t have loved you. I loved you through the good times and the bad time. . . . I held you every night while you slept for almost a year after Ricky died. What else do you need from me to show you that I’m not going anywhere? I’ll give it to you right now. I have no expectations built up in my mind. I don’t want anything from you except you. . . . I want you to let me love you the way you deserve to be loved every day. Those are my expectations. Yesterday you told me you were in. Completely in. Now that you know all my expectations, are you still in?” His hands were on each side of my hips. He hadn’t broken eye contact since he started talking. I leaned in and kissed him. I spread my knees apart and wrapped them around his waist drawing him into me. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he said when he pulled away.
.
.
.
.
.
“We’ve talked about what happens if I decide I don’t want this to continue after the week. We go back to what we were before and file it away as now we know if we should or shouldn’t. We haven’t talked about what happens if I decide I’m in and you decide that this isn’t working for you the way you thought it would and you want things back to how they were.”
“Not going to happen, that’s why we haven’t talked about it. There’s nothing to talk about. It’s always been you. I couldn’t act on it because you were too young and by the time you were legal, you lived across the hall from me.”
.
.
.
“I can’t lose you Marco. I don’t know how to not have you in my life. I can’t lose you.”
He softly spoke into my ear. “You’ll never lose me. Let’s just see what happens this weekend and next week and go from there. Pretend to be my girlfriend and get an idea of what it would be like to be my girlfriend and then you can decide. If you decide it won’t work or you don’t want to, you’ll still have me, and we will both have the answer to the question of ‘should we or shouldn’t we’ so we can move on.”
10 years ago Jenna's life changed forever when she watched her brother Ricky die in a race accident. No longer the outgoing party girl who spends her weekends racing the quarter mile strip, she spends her days battling anxiety and tries to just get by. The nightmares still come and the only person who has ever been able to save her from the nightmares in her dreams and the nightmares in her reality is Marco. When she was 12 and he was 16, he was her brother's best friend. When Ricky died four-years later, Marco become her protector. Now 14 years later, they have been debating the should we or shouldn't we and have to decide if their friendship can survive the relationship they both crave.
Marco has loved Jenna since he was 16 and she was 12. When Ricky died, his mom had Jenna move into their house because she had nowhere else safe to be. Marco held her every night when the nightmares came for the next year. The friendship has always felt like it was destined to be more than just a friendship, but the timing was never right. Can their 14 year friendship survive the relationship trial he asks her for? Will this week long trial be what they need to finally make things work or will they lose each other in the process?
“I’m scared. Okay! I’m so scared. I’m scared that I won’t live up to the expectation that you have built up in your mind or that I won’t be what you want after a while. Mostly I’m scared that if this blows up, then I lose you and I don’t think I can survive losing you. Nothing good ever lasts in my life. I can’t lose you. I won’t survive it.”
“Babe, you’re not going to lose me. You and me, we are forever. I made that decision the first night I held you through the nightmares. I’m good and I’ve lasted fourteen years. I’ve loved you for all of those fourteen years. I loved you when I shouldn’t have loved you. I loved you through the good times and the bad time. . . . I held you every night while you slept for almost a year after Ricky died. What else do you need from me to show you that I’m not going anywhere? I’ll give it to you right now. I have no expectations built up in my mind. I don’t want anything from you except you. . . . I want you to let me love you the way you deserve to be loved every day. Those are my expectations. Yesterday you told me you were in. Completely in. Now that you know all my expectations, are you still in?” His hands were on each side of my hips. He hadn’t broken eye contact since he started talking. I leaned in and kissed him. I spread my knees apart and wrapped them around his waist drawing him into me. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he said when he pulled away.
.
.
.
.
.
“We’ve talked about what happens if I decide I don’t want this to continue after the week. We go back to what we were before and file it away as now we know if we should or shouldn’t. We haven’t talked about what happens if I decide I’m in and you decide that this isn’t working for you the way you thought it would and you want things back to how they were.”
“Not going to happen, that’s why we haven’t talked about it. There’s nothing to talk about. It’s always been you. I couldn’t act on it because you were too young and by the time you were legal, you lived across the hall from me.”
.
.
.
“I can’t lose you Marco. I don’t know how to not have you in my life. I can’t lose you.”
He softly spoke into my ear. “You’ll never lose me. Let’s just see what happens this weekend and next week and go from there. Pretend to be my girlfriend and get an idea of what it would be like to be my girlfriend and then you can decide. If you decide it won’t work or you don’t want to, you’ll still have me, and we will both have the answer to the question of ‘should we or shouldn’t we’ so we can move on.”
210 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2020
68 people are currently reading
360 people want to read
About the author
JLynn Autumn
28 books55 followersJLynn Autumn is a part-time writer who dreams of the day she can be a full-time writer. She’s a lifelong bookworm. She’s a reader, a writer, and an advocate. She’s passionate about social justice, education reform, and special education service equity. She is married to her “game changer.” The man who showed her that being made a priority and treated with respect should be the standard not the exception. They have one daughter, who is sassy, bossy, opinionated, and keeps them on their toes. JLynn Autumn thinks coffee is a magic liquid that brings her to life most mornings; pizza and tacos should be their own food group; late nights are always better than early mornings; houseplants are a waste of space and will always be forgotten about and die; and that poodles and poodle mixes are the best pets. She’s a huge fan of snark, sarcasm, and happily ever after in real life and in books.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 8, 2023
DNF this book. Not a fan. Not toxic enough for me to read. Would rate it 0 ⭐️ if I could.
January 2, 2021
New Author Addiction Alert!
Read this. Immediately. The characters are real, and addicting, and I truly couldn’t put it down. You feel every page she writes. You’ll laugh and cry and that’s not a cliche. The best part about this author? EPILOGUES. Real, detailed, awesome, happily ever afters. Do it!
Read this. Immediately. The characters are real, and addicting, and I truly couldn’t put it down. You feel every page she writes. You’ll laugh and cry and that’s not a cliche. The best part about this author? EPILOGUES. Real, detailed, awesome, happily ever afters. Do it!
January 13, 2021
Anyone who knows me knows that sweetheart romances aren't my thing. I'm not a huge romance reader in general (unless it's dirty, LOL!), but JLynn has a gift for creating real, relatable characters and giving voice to the normal world we live in. Full of ups and downs, her books, like It's Always Been You, give the reader humans who are struggling with real-life triumphs and trials. Jenna's characters is one of the best examples of a woman living with anxiety that I have ever read. What, in reality, is the story of 2 people who know each other finally accepting their attraction and love, reads like they are your old friends. You know where it's going and want them to get there! It's impossible not to root for them.
Is the book going to sweet enough that you'll have a tummy ache? Yes, but it's like eating candy- you know that the ending is super sweet and yet you have to keep unwrapping and eating. It's too sweet for me, but at the same time, I can't help but smile when I think back on it. If you are a lover of sweetheart contemporaries, then this book (and the Woods Lake series) is for you!
Is the book going to sweet enough that you'll have a tummy ache? Yes, but it's like eating candy- you know that the ending is super sweet and yet you have to keep unwrapping and eating. It's too sweet for me, but at the same time, I can't help but smile when I think back on it. If you are a lover of sweetheart contemporaries, then this book (and the Woods Lake series) is for you!
November 16, 2020
I LOVE Marco and Jenna. Their story is so beautiful! Jenna has had a rough life and Marco has always been her safe place. I LOVE how he helps her work through her panic attacks. I LOVE that she gives him a chance even though she is scared to lose him. The only thing I would change is that some storyline is repetitive. When she’s explaining giving Marco a chance to different people we read the entire story each time. That’s the reason for 4 stars. However I still really enjoyed this book and loved the characters!
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.
November 18, 2020
The first book in the Woods Lake series a story that grabbed my interest from the start and did not let go until I had finished reading. Marco has loved Jenna since he was sixteen and she was twelve, now after ten years they are getting a second chance. I enjoyed seeing this story come together. I want to read the next two books. This is a new Author to me. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
January 26, 2024
Hurray for anxiety representation. The coping strategies were good to see. Loved all the consent talk. Gabby was cute.
I realize I’m quite in the minority by not liking this book too much. I didn’t think the writing was strong. Too many long expository paragraphs describing every single action, thought and feeling. Then a new character was introduced and they would repeat it all over again. The dialogue was cheesy. I cringed quite a bit.
I’m sorry this wasn’t for me, but it was a quick read and a part of “Stuff Your Kindle” so maybe it can get you out of a reading rut if you like spicy romance.
I realize I’m quite in the minority by not liking this book too much. I didn’t think the writing was strong. Too many long expository paragraphs describing every single action, thought and feeling. Then a new character was introduced and they would repeat it all over again. The dialogue was cheesy. I cringed quite a bit.
I’m sorry this wasn’t for me, but it was a quick read and a part of “Stuff Your Kindle” so maybe it can get you out of a reading rut if you like spicy romance.
April 25, 2024
Liked story more than the writing
I picked this up during a Stuff Your Kindle Day. The writing wasn’t my favorite - it seemed stiff and fairly repetitive. I liked that the story was really about a woman working through her trauma and anxiety with a really supportive partner/love interest and that it was from the FMC point of view. The POV matched the plot. I think switching back and worth would have taken away from her growth. I also really enjoyed the Fast and Furious vibes.
I picked this up during a Stuff Your Kindle Day. The writing wasn’t my favorite - it seemed stiff and fairly repetitive. I liked that the story was really about a woman working through her trauma and anxiety with a really supportive partner/love interest and that it was from the FMC point of view. The POV matched the plot. I think switching back and worth would have taken away from her growth. I also really enjoyed the Fast and Furious vibes.
February 6, 2024
First book I’ve read by the author. Found of SYKD. Emotional and relatable read. Age gap, found family and slightly spicy. I loved how gentle and understanding the main characters were of each other. The growth between both of them as individuals and a couple was nice to see and the added part of constant check ins/“breathe in & breathe out” anxiety rep was nice to see since you rarely have character rep acknowledged in that way nowadays.
August 29, 2024
Sweet but a bit too perfect...
A good story about allowing yourselves to be happy after trauma and love after being lost while dealing with anxiety. My issue is everything went too well. The techniques always worked with never even a minor step back or hiccup which made me feel like I am somehow failing with my anxiety. The dialogue was very robotic in places.
It was a decent read but I don't think I will be reaching to read it again anytime soon.
A good story about allowing yourselves to be happy after trauma and love after being lost while dealing with anxiety. My issue is everything went too well. The techniques always worked with never even a minor step back or hiccup which made me feel like I am somehow failing with my anxiety. The dialogue was very robotic in places.
It was a decent read but I don't think I will be reaching to read it again anytime soon.
February 5, 2021
From page one Jenna and Marco grabbed me and pulled me in. Jenna has always had Marco as her safety net. Marco has always put Jenna's needs first. They will always be best friend. Now there us a chance to be more. Will Marco and Jenna risk their friendship to take the next step or will it shatter them. Grab this book and prepare to settle in for a great, well written story.
April 25, 2024
It was good. I loved everything about it!!! It's such a cozy book read. Everything was perfect. The best part - an epilogue that stretched on to know how their lives kept going for years!!! I love a good epilogue. Will definitely read other books from this author because who doesn't love a good cozy love story.
March 21, 2022
My first book by JLynn Autumn and it was amazing! I found the characters to be realistic and the relationships to be how I want mine to be. I will definitely be reading more from this author.
October 28, 2023
The book wasn't horrible. The off and on 3rd person narrative kept throwing me off. BUT the book did make me cry. Many times. Parts of it did bug me but oh well.
February 17, 2024
My first JLynn Autumn book and I have to say I loved it. The characters were very easy to relate to and fall in love with.
July 6, 2024
I had a hard time deciding what to rate this one. There were definitely parts of it I liked but it felt a little too much at some points but also not enough. Free on SYKD.
Read
July 31, 2024Dnf
June 14, 2025
The writing style was so repetitive. And the conversation was not realistic at all. But my red flag is I never not love a brother’s best friend story. That’s the only reason I did not DNF.
Read
March 1, 2022In book one of the Woods Lake series, we meet Marco and Jenna. Each book within the series can be read as a standalone novel, but you get the most from the series if you read it in order.
10 years ago Jenna's life changed forever when she watched her brother Ricky die in a race accident. No longer the outgoing party girl who spends her weekends racing the quarter mile strip, she spends her days battling anxiety and tries to just get by. The nightmares still come and the only person who has ever been able to save her from the nightmares in her dreams and the nightmares in her reality is Marco. When she was 12 and he was 16, he was her brother's best friend. When Ricky died four-years later, Marco become her protector. Now 14 years later, they have been debating the should we or shouldn't we and have to decide if their friendship can survive the relationship they both crave.
Marco has loved Jenna since he was 16 and she was 12. When Ricky died, his mom had Jenna move into their house because she had nowhere else safe to be. Marco held her every night when the nightmares came for the next year. The friendship has always felt like it was destined to be more than just a friendship, but the timing was never right. Can their 14 year friendship survive the relationship trial he asks her for? Will this week long trial be what they need to finally make things work or will they lose each other in the process?
“I’m scared. Okay! I’m so scared. I’m scared that I won’t live up to the expectation that you have built up in your mind or that I won’t be what you want after a while. Mostly I’m scared that if this blows up, then I lose you and I don’t think I can survive losing you. Nothing good ever lasts in my life. I can’t lose you. I won’t survive it.”
“Babe, you’re not going to lose me. You and me, we are forever. I made that decision the first night I held you through the nightmares. I’m good and I’ve lasted fourteen years. I’ve loved you for all of those fourteen years. I loved you when I shouldn’t have loved you. I loved you through the good times and the bad time. . . . I held you every night while you slept for almost a year after Ricky died. What else do you need from me to show you that I’m not going anywhere? I’ll give it to you right now. I have no expectations built up in my mind. I don’t want anything from you except you. . . . I want you to let me love you the way you deserve to be loved every day. Those are my expectations. Yesterday you told me you were in. Completely in. Now that you know all my expectations, are you still in?” His hands were on each side of my hips. He hadn’t broken eye contact since he started talking. I leaned in and kissed him. I spread my knees apart and wrapped them around his waist drawing him into me. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he said when he pulled away.
.
.
.
.
.
“We’ve talked about what happens if I decide I don’t want this to continue after the week. We go back to what we were before and file it away as now we know if we should or shouldn’t. We haven’t talked about what happens if I decide I’m in and you decide that this isn’t working for you the way you thought it would and you want things back to how they were.”
“Not going to happen, that’s why we haven’t talked about it. There’s nothing to talk about. It’s always been you. I couldn’t act on it because you were too young and by the time you were legal, you lived across the hall from me.”
.
“I can’t lose you Marco. I don’t know how to not have you in my life. I can’t lose you.”
He softly spoke into my ear. “You’ll never lose me. Let’s just see what happens this weekend and next week and go from there. Pretend to be my girlfriend and get an idea of what it would be like to be my girlfriend and then you can decide. If you decide it won’t work or you don’t want to, you’ll still have me, and we will both have the answer to the question of ‘should we or shouldn’t we’ so we can move on.”
10 years ago Jenna's life changed forever when she watched her brother Ricky die in a race accident. No longer the outgoing party girl who spends her weekends racing the quarter mile strip, she spends her days battling anxiety and tries to just get by. The nightmares still come and the only person who has ever been able to save her from the nightmares in her dreams and the nightmares in her reality is Marco. When she was 12 and he was 16, he was her brother's best friend. When Ricky died four-years later, Marco become her protector. Now 14 years later, they have been debating the should we or shouldn't we and have to decide if their friendship can survive the relationship they both crave.
Marco has loved Jenna since he was 16 and she was 12. When Ricky died, his mom had Jenna move into their house because she had nowhere else safe to be. Marco held her every night when the nightmares came for the next year. The friendship has always felt like it was destined to be more than just a friendship, but the timing was never right. Can their 14 year friendship survive the relationship trial he asks her for? Will this week long trial be what they need to finally make things work or will they lose each other in the process?
“I’m scared. Okay! I’m so scared. I’m scared that I won’t live up to the expectation that you have built up in your mind or that I won’t be what you want after a while. Mostly I’m scared that if this blows up, then I lose you and I don’t think I can survive losing you. Nothing good ever lasts in my life. I can’t lose you. I won’t survive it.”
“Babe, you’re not going to lose me. You and me, we are forever. I made that decision the first night I held you through the nightmares. I’m good and I’ve lasted fourteen years. I’ve loved you for all of those fourteen years. I loved you when I shouldn’t have loved you. I loved you through the good times and the bad time. . . . I held you every night while you slept for almost a year after Ricky died. What else do you need from me to show you that I’m not going anywhere? I’ll give it to you right now. I have no expectations built up in my mind. I don’t want anything from you except you. . . . I want you to let me love you the way you deserve to be loved every day. Those are my expectations. Yesterday you told me you were in. Completely in. Now that you know all my expectations, are you still in?” His hands were on each side of my hips. He hadn’t broken eye contact since he started talking. I leaned in and kissed him. I spread my knees apart and wrapped them around his waist drawing him into me. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he said when he pulled away.
.
.
.
.
.
“We’ve talked about what happens if I decide I don’t want this to continue after the week. We go back to what we were before and file it away as now we know if we should or shouldn’t. We haven’t talked about what happens if I decide I’m in and you decide that this isn’t working for you the way you thought it would and you want things back to how they were.”
“Not going to happen, that’s why we haven’t talked about it. There’s nothing to talk about. It’s always been you. I couldn’t act on it because you were too young and by the time you were legal, you lived across the hall from me.”
.
“I can’t lose you Marco. I don’t know how to not have you in my life. I can’t lose you.”
He softly spoke into my ear. “You’ll never lose me. Let’s just see what happens this weekend and next week and go from there. Pretend to be my girlfriend and get an idea of what it would be like to be my girlfriend and then you can decide. If you decide it won’t work or you don’t want to, you’ll still have me, and we will both have the answer to the question of ‘should we or shouldn’t we’ so we can move on.”
August 18, 2025
OMG! This book was a heartwrencher and a roller coaster of a ride. This author did a fantastic job with relaying the heroine's grief journey. I loved the chemistry between Jenna and Marco.
November 13, 2020
5 things I see... 4 things I feel... 3 things I hear... 2 things I smell... 1 thing I taste...
This is Marco and Jenna's story, and it's a terrific opener to a new series. It's also my first book from this author, but certainly not the last. I read it today, having trouble putting it down to do what needed to get done around my house. Jenna has been through so much. I admire the strength that she's regained, that she's not afraid to seek professional help to make life better, keeping her circle tight. But Marco - he's the star, and completely swoon-worthy. He's always been there for her, her safe place. He knows all her secrets, all her demons. And the only thing he wants in return is her love. This extended group of friends/family is just terrific, loving, caring, supportive. Joey said it best... "You're family, Not by blood but by everything else."
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is Marco and Jenna's story, and it's a terrific opener to a new series. It's also my first book from this author, but certainly not the last. I read it today, having trouble putting it down to do what needed to get done around my house. Jenna has been through so much. I admire the strength that she's regained, that she's not afraid to seek professional help to make life better, keeping her circle tight. But Marco - he's the star, and completely swoon-worthy. He's always been there for her, her safe place. He knows all her secrets, all her demons. And the only thing he wants in return is her love. This extended group of friends/family is just terrific, loving, caring, supportive. Joey said it best... "You're family, Not by blood but by everything else."
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
November 14, 2020
I received an ARC from the author thru Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving my review. This is the first book in the Woods Lake series and the first I have read by this author. I thought that the love story between Marco and Jenna was so sweet. They have been friends for a long time. She had lost so much so young, but he was her rock thru it all. The last thing she wants to do is risk losing him. Marco has been in love with her since they were kids. He needs to convince her that changing their relationship will not end it. This story was about them building their love into something more. I thought the storyline was good and I enjoyed the characters.
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.
October 14, 2020
I received this as an arc for my honest review.
Wow this book was so great. I could hardly put it down. The love story between Marco and Jenna was so sweet. The way he was there for her every time she needed him was beyond. The counting was such a fine way of keeping her centered and them growing together. I really can wait to read the next book in the series.
Wow this book was so great. I could hardly put it down. The love story between Marco and Jenna was so sweet. The way he was there for her every time she needed him was beyond. The counting was such a fine way of keeping her centered and them growing together. I really can wait to read the next book in the series.
October 11, 2020
JLynn Autumn knocked it out of the park. This is mostly sweet and a little dirty, which is my favorite trope. JLynn has created a wonderful world where love wins. I can't wait to read book 2!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews