Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: Contemporary romance
Length: 350 pages
Author: Brittainy C. Cherry
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: April 8th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Greyson East left his mark on me.

As the young girl who first fell for him, I didn’t know much about life. I did know about his smiles, though, and his laughs, and the strange way my stomach flipped when he was near.

Life was perfect…until it wasn’t, and when we were forced to go our separate ways, I held on to our memories, let go of my first crush, and wished for the day I’d find him again.

When my wish came true, it was nothing like I imagined.

I couldn’t have known when I took the nanny position that it would be his children I looked after, that my new boss would be that boy I used to know, that boy who was now a man—a cold, lonely, detached man.

The smile and laugh I had loved so much were gone, now distant memories. Every part of him was covered in a fresh pain.

When he realized who I was, he made me promise to do my job and my job only.
He made me promise not to try to get to know him, not to recall the memories I’d treasured all this time.

But, sometimes, I saw the boy I’d once known in his stormy eyes. I saw the Greyson who smiled and laughed, who had stolen a young girl’s heart, and there was no doubt in my mind that this boy was worth fighting for.

I was given a second chance with the one who’d left his mark on me. All I hoped was that somehow I’d leave a mark on his soul, too.

A BIT OF A FLAIR IN THE DRAMATICS.

Okay. I don’t know how I feel about this book which is why I’ve gone with 3.5 stars. There were some portions I enjoyed and was emotionally involved in and then I had this moment where I started thinking. And those thoughts led me to wondering how many more things can happen purely for the sake of adding a dramatic flair to the entire story?

Apparently, A LOT.

There were so many things jammed into this story to pull on my emotions that I was surprised by the end. I didn’t think it needed all of it to make a great story. A few of the dramatics were needed, yes. That’s how this became a second chance romance, but others were added that I had to shrug my shoulders over.

I did like the romance. I wished the time in high school was a bit longer so I really got a feel for Eleanor and Greyson’s relationship before they had to part ways. I was enjoying the precious romance that was brewing. I’m glad that in the present it took time for them to rekindle anything. I was going to be real upset if they jumped back together and was impressed that it took a bit to get there. I loved seeing the character arcs of both of them from the past to the present and even to the end. Greyson and Eleanor worked through a lot to be together.

I adored Greyson’s children. They were a great pair that gave this book a whole new side. Lorelei and Karla both had their own issues that allowed Greyson to step in as a father figure to address. Even better was watching Eleanor go mama bear on people when the girls were bullied or disrespected.

All in all, a good book. Especially if you’re into a bit of dramatics you’ll enjoy this. This was my first book by this author and I’m curious about her spin-off books from Eleanor & Grey. I think I’ll definitely take a look at those later.

Overall audience notes:

• Contemporary romance [trope: second chance]
• Language: some
• Romance: a few scenes mild to explicit, but brief; kisses/make-outs
• Trigger warnings: domestic abuse, losing a loved one to cancer, bullying, description of an awful car wreck, suicide ideation, severe grief and depression

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