BOOK REVIEW: MORE THAN WORDS
Link on Goodreads || Review on Goodreads
Review Published: July 24, 2018
This is my first time winning a paperback giveaway from NABC and of course, to the delightful Miss Mia Sheridan- words cannot describe how blessed I am and now your book has been sitting prettily on my bookshelves along with some other books. (I plan to fill them up more in the future!)
I brought this book along with me during a local flight. Heading home, I decided to read it and just after page 14, I couldn't literally stop being glued to the story. Sure, I shoved it back in my bag when it was time to deplane and gather the luggage but as soon as I have settled back and drop myself on the soft comfort of my bed- the reading continued and I finished it that night. Eyes-strained for a few hours but it was worth it.
Callen Hayes had such a traumatic childhood and my heart ached for his fucked-up experiences while growing up. He did NOT deserve to be treated that way by his father. Physical abuse is one thing but verbal abuse- it sticks to you even when years have passed... which is obviously what happened to Callen even when he'd reach stardom and success as a music composer. Tempted to numb those painful memories, he drowns himself with booze and casual trysts with women. Callen's past may be something he wishes to flush down the drain- but not those nights with Jessie when they were kids. Ever since she stumbled upon him of that ajar door in the boxcar, sparks flew and with that dreamy kiss- Jessie's first real kiss... that was it. Little did he know, it was end game for him; he was her prince all along.
Jessica Creswell had been mooning about a prince in her make-believe fantasies, away from the bitter reality back in her home. When she met Callen that night, she somehow found hope and started believing that things could possibly turn better and brighter for her. Callen's princess. Even after a couple of years have passed, she hasn't forgotten about him. Not one bit.
"No one makes me feel like you, Princess Jessie. No one ever will."
Ten years later, they reunite and get another shot to rekindle for lost times...
"Jessie Creswell. Goddamn.
The two years I'd spent with her had been the only real childhood I'd had, the only time I'd allowed myself to play, and to lose myself in lands of fantasy, where anything was possible. She had been the only good. And yet that time was riddled with pain, too, and memories I didn't want to look at, memories I tried to push away."
I was expecting more groveling because who doesn't want a good grovel back to his woman? And damn that curve ball of a plot twist nearing the end, aside from that interview... It may somehow seem to have complicated their situation but all the more reason that gave Callen the right push to the right direction. It was time to own up to his mistakes and forgive the past- his father. And that it was finally time to come home- to Jessie.
"Everything's amazing. The food, the day, this moment. You."
Bravo, Mia Sheridan.
This was truly beautiful.
A story about second chances,
Forgiveness and acceptance.
