Reaching Rachel – L.L. Collins
Synopsis
Rachel has always been seen as a wild child, never
committing or settling down. She wants
it that way, so that no one ever finds
out the truth. Deep down, she is crushed over something that happened years ago
that resulted in losing the only man she ever loved. Then she meets someone who
tries to convince her that she’s ready to commit again. But some things are not
what they seem. Realizing too late that she’s in over her head, and with her
life on the line, she comes face to face with her past in a way she never
thought possible.
Devin was in love once, and it destroyed him, making him swear off love forever. After a promotion and subsequent move unexpectedly brings him into the middle of her dangerous situation, he must come face to face with his past and to the woman who broke him into pieces. But she needs help. Desperately. And maybe, just maybe, he didn't know the real truth of their past. Can he help her survive the terrible ordeal she's been through, and during it all, can he safeguard his heart from her? Or will the truth of the pain that has kept them apart show him that he can't live without her after all?
Devin was in love once, and it destroyed him, making him swear off love forever. After a promotion and subsequent move unexpectedly brings him into the middle of her dangerous situation, he must come face to face with his past and to the woman who broke him into pieces. But she needs help. Desperately. And maybe, just maybe, he didn't know the real truth of their past. Can he help her survive the terrible ordeal she's been through, and during it all, can he safeguard his heart from her? Or will the truth of the pain that has kept them apart show him that he can't live without her after all?
My Review
Wow. This book… L.L. Collins has done it again. After
reading Living Again I wondered whether the follow up story and next of her
books would be as good as the first and boy is it. This is the second book of
this series but can be read as a standalone. This page hooked me from the get
go and takes you on a roller coaster of emotions, draws you in and stays with
you after. I read it in one sitting, couldn’t put it and needed to know what
happened next.
The story centers on the relationship of Rachel and Devin. We
start with Rachel’s perspective five years after they broke up. She hasn’t moved
on from Devin and after feeling responsible for how their relationship ended,
(which we do find out why) she is now a ‘casual-fling’ only girl. Not believing
she is worthy love, she soon finds a new man for a night – Justin. He however,
has other ideas and is soon worming his way into her life. After a few
different interactions between him and Rachel, I began to feel that there was
something off about him. Their story unfolds in a VERY unexpected plot twist
and just when you think Rachel is going to catch a break, everything goes downhill
once again.
“All she had to do was open herself up again and believe it was possible.”
Devin on the other hand, is now in the Police SWAT force
that is about to move for a very important case. He too, is plagued by memories
of his green eyed ex-girlfriend and that has stopped him moving on with his
life. When these two reconnect you are expecting a chance meeting somewhere and
definitely not what actually occurred between the two. During these scenes my
heart just broke for both of them. A totally unexpected way for the story to
play out but just adds to the overall feel of the book and has your emotions
unfolding for the lead characters.
“You are now and have always been it for me. You are my beginning, middle, and end. I’m only me when I’m with you. I’ve only lived marginally for the last 5 years. Don’t you see? Neither one of us has moved on because were meant to be, Rachel. You are mine.”
The situations faced in this book are very dark and at times
hard to read, but I felt that the way L.L. Collins told the story and set it
out was done so beautifully. Rachel has had a lot to face in her life and while
we find out why she keeps people at arm’s length, her journey to open up and
let people in, especially Devin was a long one. I found myself rooting for her,
and wanting her to let him in and move one together.
“I’ve never stopped loving you, Rachel. Never. Every woman has been compared to you, and they all failed. My heart has never belong to anyone else.”
Devin was an AMAZING character and probably my favourite in
the book. Him and Rachel are so messed up and have a lot of mending to do but
his loyalty, the way he works with Rachel and takes care of her just makes me
love him more. He’s such a sweetie and I want him for myself. We do see Kayley
and Ben from the first book, which I thought was a nice touch to the story as I
really enjoyed Living Again and so was nice to see how they were now.
“Thank you, too.”“For?”“For reaching me, making me believe I deserved the life I never thought I would have. I’m living again because of you.”
This story for me was beautiful. It wasn’t your usual kind
of romance where boy meets girl, one makes mistake, and they break up and then
get back together. In my opinion was it was so much better, rather a journey of
two people who reconnected after some time to work on their problems to create
a romance story that we could all connect with. The situations in this book
such as the PTSD, were treated with such care and the length of time they
played out made it believable and not just quick fixes. The book flowed
beautifully, drew you in and gave a major book hangover. I thoroughly enjoyed
it and would recommend it completely. I look forward to reading the next work
from L.L. Collins.
***An ARC was received from the Author for an honest review.
My Rating
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