Jag Jensen and Ellen Love had been best friends their whole lives until he turned thirteen and started noticing girls his own age, but that didn’t mean he stopped watching out for eleven-year-old Ellen. By his senior year in high school, baseball had taken the front seat in his life, with a scholarship to college and a pro career looming on the horizon, when sophomore Ellen caught his attention and they struck up their friendship again. Although Ellen wanted more, Jag didn’t want to drag her into what he knew would be a crazy life, but love has a way of deciding one’s future, and eventually they became a couple. Ellen followed him to California as he began his pro career, but his wild and hectic lifestyle screwed everything up.
Now Jag is lost, realizing he’s never been without his best friend in his life. Learning to live without Ellen doesn’t settle well with him, so while trying to remain at the top of his career, he also wants to get his girl back, which proves to be more difficult than he thought it’d be. Will Ellen give him another chance or does that sort of thing only happen in the sappy romance novels she always used to read? Jag hopes she’s willing to try again as he puts his heart on the line for the woman he knows will always be his forever and a day.
***ARC was provided by author in exchange for an honest review***
Let me start by saying that I read Discovering Us and Finding Us back to back in a 24 hour period. El and Jag’s story pulled me in from the beginning. My emotions were all over the place. At times, I wanted to shake both of them. Most of all, though, I wanted to crawl into the pages of the books and grab Alessandra by the hair and drag her as far away from Jag as possible – you’ll agree with me after you read the books. Needless to say, this series has left be frazzled, and I loved every minute of it.
In Book 1, through small story capsules, readers learn how far and deep El and Jag’s relationship goes. El takes us through defining moments, both good and bad, that have fostered and torn down her love for Jag. She starts with the first time she fell in love with him at age 10 and takes readers through all of the ups downs that occur when you fall in love with a handsome man who plays professional baseball. When I got to the cliffhanger ending, I knew sleep would have to wait because I needed to see what happened next.
Thankfully, Finding Us picked up right where Discovering Us left off, but this time, readers see and hear El and Jag’s story through Jag’s point of view. I adore stories that have the male point of view. For me, it allows for a more honest and grittier read because if it is a strong male lead, it’s not going to be sugar coated. Jag’s delivery is exactly the story I was hoping to have told. At the beginning of book 2, he knows he messed up with El, but he just doesn’t get why she left. As he tries to work through the answer and win his girl back, readers are privy to his jumbled up emotions and tell it like it is insights. He’s a guy’s guy, and while as a female, I may not care to hear all that he shares, his thoughts and feelings are real…they’re the thoughts of an alpha male who wants his girl and is fighting like hell to maintain a career he has always wanted while keeping his dream girl at the same time.
I’ll admit, at first, I was just as angry with Jag as El was, but the more I thought about it, and heard it from his point of view, ultimately, Jag didn’t do anything that deserved the severe cold shoulder he received. Yes, he should have been up front with her when it came to his endorsement contracts and what he would be doing with whom, but he never cheated…he never meant to be deceptive. El’s insecurities definitely got the better of her, and I can’t really blame her, but all they needed to do was COMMUNICATE.
Be warned….the second book leaves readers with another gut wrenching cliff hanger…knowing I didn’t have the third book waiting for me just about undid me. I kept trying to scroll on my Ipad to make the book continue, but of course, it didn’t. I will be waiting quite impatiently for Finally Us. The series is entitled True Love, so I have to believe that El and Jag are going to get their happily ever after because there’s definitely is a love that knows no bounds – “forever and a day”
Harper Bentley’s writing puts readers through the emotional ringer. By writing El and Jag’s story through both points of view (El in book one and Jag in book 2), she allows us to see the complexity of each and every situation they face. It’s like we are their close friends, experiencing it with them, which at varying times, puts us in one or the other’s corner. I’m hoping that book three will have me cheering for them both because they’ll finally be able to communicate and work through all of the bs that outside forces are bringing in to their relationship. El and Jag deserve their forever!
4.5 poison apples
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Harper Bentley has taught high school English for 21 years. Although she’s managed to maintain her sanity regardless of her career choice, jumping into the world of publishing her own books goes to show that she might be closer to the ledge than was previously thought.
After traveling the nation in her younger years as a military brat, having lived in Alaska, Washington State and California, she now resides in Oklahoma with her teenage daughter, two dogs and one cat, happily writing stories that she hopes her readers will enjoy.
AMAZON / AMAZON CA / AMAZON UK / SMASHWORDS / BARNES & NOBLE
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