You never get over your first love. It’s something I’ve heard countless times. Like someone has to point out that your pain will never go away. That your shattered heart will never mend.Because that’s exactly what my heart did the day I watched Asher Evans board that train- it shattered, splintering into a million tiny fragments that I didn’t think I’d ever be able to piece back together. He was … together. He was the boy I had loved since I understood what loving someone meant. The one who knew me inside and out. The one who swore he’d never let me go. It’s been six years since that day and even now the memory haunts me like it was yesterday.
I’ve done my best to move on, to rebuild, and for the most part I’ve done pretty well. But all of that comes crashing down when Asher strolls back into town like he never left.
I don’t want to want him. I certainly don’t want to need him. But that doesn’t stop me from doing it anyway. Only things are different now. I’m different. I’m not the girl he left behind all those years ago. I may have been foolish enough to give him my heart once but I won’t make that mistake a second time. Or at least that’s what I tell myself until I’m standing face to face with the one man who has the power to break me all over again.
Love Me Like You Won’t Let Go is a complete standalone.
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This 2nd chance romance will rip your heart out when Blakely first love leaves after his dad dies she never thinks she would ever see him again but 6 years later he comes crashing back will she forgive asher for leaving her? This book all the feels! I loved reading Blakely & Asher’s story and this is a must read and a one click!
This was just an ok read for me. I enjoy a second chance romance but this one was a turn-off for me because I simply did not like the lead characters and their actions. In my opinion, Blakely and Asher were both very selfish, self centered people and liars to boot. I did however really like Tyler and I thought he deserved so much better than what he got. Maybe the author can give him his own book and let him find the type of love he deserves. If you can get past the insufferable H/h the story is well written and offers lots of angst, heartache and emotional tension.
Loved every page, once I started I could not put it down!
What would u do if the love of ur life returned after 6 yrs, and u’ve already moved on with ur life? That is exactly what happened to Blakely, she is set to be married in a few weeks. She has never really forgotten Asher, and now with all the memories flooding back, she has a difficult decision ahead of her. Asher and Blakeley belong together, they are each other’s other halves, but the man she is set to marry makes her happy, but does he make her just as happy?Love me like you won’t let go is great! B and Asher have lots of history that torn them apart and somehow brought them back together. This is a wonderful second chance love story get your tissues ready and clear you schedule you will not be able to put it down!!!
Thank you Melissa for the ARCLove Me Like You Won’t Let Go
“Second chances, 4 stars”
Blakely and Asher were childhood best friends turned sweethearts. Then after a devastating loss Asher takes off, promising he will someday be back. Blakely waited until she gave up and moved on. But now Asher is back and wants her to be his again. Blakely has a choice to make, the man who sets her world on fire or the one she knows is safe. Only one way to find out who she picks.
I loved Asher. I hated how long he was gone and how he went about it but it was understandable. Blakely is living in fear. Fear of loving the man who left her, him leaving her again, of walking away from someone who cares about her, just straight up fear. The question is will she let it control her. Love me Like you Won’t let Go is a story about love that has with held during all the highs, lows, and distance. It’s a second chance at true love. I enjoyed how Toppen wove the story. I usually avoid any sort of love triangles but Toppen did this one well and classy without any cheating, so I took it for a win.
Plot-4/5
Characters-4/5
Heat-4/5
Writing style-4/5
Overall-4/5
Blakely is left heartbroken when Asher leaves, and now six years later he is back in town. This is a well written second chance romance, which is an emotional roller coaster throughout. I was hooked throughout this heart-warming story, and look forward to reading more from this talented author, whose work I highly recommend for all.
A poignant story of first love with all the ups and downs and heartbreak it brings. Asher and Blakely were young and in love when tragedy struck and they were torn apart. Six years later Asher returns home to win the woman he’s loved since he was a boy.
There were aspects of the story I enjoyed and also ones that baffled me. The reasons for him leaving and his silence for six years just didn’t make sense to me. I also found it hard to really like either character. Blakely was a but wishy washy I kept hoping for her to show a stronger side to her but I just didn’t feel it. Maybe if we had seen more of their relationship when they were younger and more of what Asher did when the was away I might have had more of a connection with both the story and the characters.
Reviewed by United Indie Book Blog
This story was amazing!
Follow the story of childhood friends and sweethearts, Blakely & Asher, in this second chance story.
Asher, just fresh off losing his dad, decides he needs to do all the things his father had made a list of and never got to do. For him to do this he needs to leave Blakely behind, but he promises he will be back, and she promises she will wait for him.
Fast forward 6 years, Blakely is getting married, and now Asher decides he’s done all he can do and needs to get back to claim his girl. Watch their story unfold as you read along, make sure you have tissues close by, you will need them throughout the story!
I loved this so much, 5 stars for this one, it was so well written, don’t miss out on this one!
4.5 Stars
This one was full of “Feels”.
Blakely was a down to earth girl with her life set out for her, she was running the family business and had amazing friends in Mary & Allie and Tyler an amazing finance who treats her great. But you don’t simply forget your first love, especially when it is the best friend you promised to wait for, the one that owns your entire heart, the one you can’t forget or let go. This is exactly what made this one hard for me….I LOVED the idea of Asher finally coming home, but I hated what it did to Tyler. I honestly hated what it did to Blakely as well, this girl was forced to do some serious soul-searching and make some hard decisions. Thankfully she listened to her heart & had the support of the best friends imaginable and a Mom with sound advice. I liked the fact that Blakely did not just run off, but took a year to make sure that she was in the right place & the old swing set ~ PERFECT!!!
The photo albums… Swoon-worthy!!!
This story was amazing!
Follow the story of childhood friends and sweethearts, Blakely & Asher, in this second chance story.
Asher, just fresh off losing his dad, decides he needs to do all the things his father had made a list of and never got to do. For him to do this he needs to leave Blakely behind, but he promises he will be back, and she promises she will wait for him.
Fast forward 6 years, Blakely is getting married, and now Asher decides he’s done all he can do and needs to get back to claim his girl. Watch their story unfold as you read along, make sure you have tissues close by, you will need them throughout the story!
I loved this so much, 5 stars for this one, it was so well written, don’t miss out on this one!
Asher and Blakely had been in each other’s lives since childhood and shared a lot of firsts together. But when Asher’s dad got sick and passed, it was too much. He wanted to feel close to his dad and find himself. He loved Blakely with his whole heart, but he needed to leave. How do you do what is best while hurting the ones you love? Can Asher come back from that? Will Blakely welcome him back or will it be too late?
Asher left town for 6 years, it destroyed Blakely, but in the middle of her loneliness, she met a wonderful man who helped her rediscover herself and pick herself up. But with the wedding just a few weeks away, does Tyler have Blakely’s whole heart? When Asher comes back, can they just be friends?
This is a wonderful story of second chances and true love. You can really feel the connection with Asher and Blakely and Blakely and Tyler. It is about Blakely discovering herself and going after what she really wants. This is full of turmoil, romance, finding yourself and an emotion roller coaster. I enjoyed the book and the journey! I received an ARC of this book from the author.
Love Me Like You Won’t Let Go by Melissa Toppen is emotionally charged, and poignantly written. As a second chance novel, this book was so much more than I expected, and kept me guessing. I found myself going back and forth throughout, hoping for different outcomes, and enjoying the result. Melissa Toppen delivers a must read. and an angst filled ride in Love Me Like You Won’t Let Go.
Asher seeks to find himself by living a nomadic life and traveling the world after losing his dad. Six years after leaving everything and everyone behind, Asher returns home to an icy reception. He left to escape his crushing grief, and in doing so lost what he valued most – Blakely. Asher may have put his life on hold, but life kept on moving without him. After mourning the loss of her best friend and first love, Blakely finally has found happiness and moved on…or so she thought. When Asher storms back into her life expecting to pick up where they left off, Blakely finds all of her old wounds ripped wide open. He says they can just be friends, but Asher plans to be anything but, aiming to claim Blakely’s heart for his own. Will Blakely forget the boy from the past and the man he’s become, or will she trust Asher with the heart he’s already broken?
The main characters have great chemistry and a strong connection, which is evident throughout this slow burn. I enjoyed all of the characters, however I did have a hard time with Blakely halfway through the book. I initially understood her fickle tendencies due to fear, but she eventually grew a bit frustrating. Like come on already. This was not at all a negative reflection on the author’s writing, simply a reader preference. I thoroughly enjoyed Asher as a main character, however misguided he was in his decisions based on grief. In spite of his departure, he was loyal, enamored, and equipped with the patience of a saint. If you’re looking for an emotional second chance novel with a slow burn, look no further than Melissa Toppen’s Love Me Like You Won’t Let Go. Enjoy xo
Melissa Toppen has become one of my favorite authors to read. Her standalone romances pull every feeling from your heart as you read. Love Me Like You Won’t Let Go is no different.
LMLYWLG is a story of a second chance at love. A love that can stand the test of time, distance and still burn quietly regardless of the years life has kept them separate. From the moment that Blakely sees Asher, its as if the universe draws them together no matter the heart ache and obstacles that could keep them apart forever. It was never a question if Blakely and Asher were supposed to be together, rather a journey of how it would come to pass.
Admittedly I can say that I wasn’t a fan of any of the three characters. Blakely was pretty co dependent. Asher walked away. I wondered if he would ever redeem himself. Tyler, well lets just say there wasn’t a lot to make me root for him. However, I still found myself riveted on the history that these two childhood friends shared and if Blakely could be woman enough to go for what she wanted. Although they weren’t the most endearing of characters there was something about the overall story of self discovery that kept me reading page after page until the very end.
What a second chance love that will show you you all the angsty of every emotions throughout this book. This will have you hooked from the beginning to the very ending.
Love Me Like You Won’t Let Go is a beautiful story of true love withstanding the test of time and distance and coming to life again in a second chance. Melissa has added her signature touches to this young pair, and succeeded in making me adore a man I questioned from the beginning.
The story of Blakely and Asher brought out many different feelings for me. I went back and forth in my decision about what Blakely should do. I didn’t love her as a character. She was not a strong heroine but she had amazing friends who knew her better than she knew herself and they helped pull her along. I questioned whether Asher would ever redeem himself. I wondered if I even like him. I think that was due to the way the story was written and we didn’t get to see a lot of their relationship bloom before there were not together anymore. It made it difficult for me to endear myself to Asher and really root for him to win Blakely back. I eventually liked Asher, even though I wasn’t totally on board and didn’t totally agree with them, I did understand his choices and the reasons behind them.
Melissa Toppen has never let me down and once again she succeeded to bring a tear or two to my eyes. I thought I had avoided them. I didn’t think the characters has woven their way into my heart enough to draw out a tear, but there came a point in the book when Asher’s true inner beauty and his journey of self-awareness and reflecting really hit home with me. I guess it hit me at the same time as Blakely gets her ‘oh my god’ moment as well. My tears were flowing and I loved Asher and felt his love for Blakely ten-fold. I wish I could tell you what he did that had be clutching my heart, but that would be the ultimate spoiler.
I really enjoyed this story and this couple, but my heart would have liked to see more of them together. I would have liked some substance that I could base my feelings for them on. I wanted Asher to win her back I wanted to see more of the winning going on instead of the internal dialogue and remembering that both he and Blakely did. I loved their flirtations. All the scenes where they interacted and had to fight their feelings; those were my favourites. I never once felt a cheating vibe, but obviously it would have been had they acted on it. I guess I felt the same way Asher did – Blakely was his, he just had to remind her.
The epilogue was beautiful and symbolic. It should not have happened any differently than it did. I tie up all the strings and brought the couple full-circle. After reading a whole book about Blakely and Asher trying to find their way back to each other, I would have liked to actually read a bit more with them together. As I reader, I invest my time in a book and I want to feel like I am a part of them. I did not like the time-lapses throughout the book. Sometimes it works to read the words “two years later” but generally I want to be a part of those two years; to feel the pain or happiness each of them encountered along the way. Had we been given some of those parts in this story, it may have helped me attach myself to the couple a bit more. I still give this book 4 stars because Asher turned out to be an amazing individual who loved Blakely more than anything else in the world and because of how he showed her. He finally wove his way into my heart.
Asher left for 6 years and Blakely moved on with her life. She was set to marry another man when Asher walked back into her life. You can imagine how much angst she feels between her first love and her current love.
I loved the plot and the overall feel of the book. What I didn’t care was being “told” things rather than shown…if that makes any sort of sense. I wanted to feel emotionally attached and I couldn’t seem to attach myself completely.
I struggle with how much I loved the story line and how much I wish I felt their connection more. I wish we had gotten some more background on their history instead of being told about it…I couldn’t feel the chemistry and connection they had.
With that being said though, I did enjoy the book. It was definitely a second chance romance filled with angst and turmoil. Just the way I like them!
Break out the tissues for this book because it is so worth it. This second chance story is about Asher and Blakely, friends since childhood and each other’s first love. He leaves Blakely for 6 years expecting her to wait for him but she doesn’t. I was torn on who Blakely should go with. Even after she decided, it was still so sad. It is an emotional story, I enjoyed it very much.
Review copy was received for a honest opinion. Love
What a great read this was!
Loved every page, once I started I could not put it down!
What would u do if the love of ur life returned after 6 yrs, and u’ve already moved on with ur life? That is exactly what happened to Blakely, she is set to be married in a few weeks. And her bff and the love of her life returns, upending her life as she knows it now. She has never really forgotten Asher, and now with all the memories flooding back, she has a difficult decision ahead of her. Asher and Blakeley belong together, they are each other’s other halves, but the man she is set to marry makes her happy, but does he make her just as happy?