Inseparable. Michael and I used to be, but we took each other for granted and made mistakes that left us both hurt and alone. I avoided spending winter break from my freshman year in college back in my small town, but summer is closing in, looming like a dark cloud on the horizon. Returning home means facing Michael and the ruins of our relationship, but my fearful heart still aches over the … heart still aches over the future I always assumed we would share. When my younger sister reveals that Michael is rumored to be engaged, I realize that I’m not ready to give him up.
Not without a fight.
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Oodles and Oodles of heat-felt drama.
by and1515
Wow what a totally delightful story.
You have the quintessential teen couple in love been friends forever and a day
but then bam one moment everything changed.
And now he’s moved on.
This book was absolutely charming with oodles and oodles of heat-felt drama.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was a sweet story about Jenny and Michael. High school sweethearts that due to a misunderstanding broke them apart. Both main characters had some growing up to do. I felt bad for the secondary characters caught up in Jenny and Michael’s storm. I’d recommend this story for any young adult readers, clean with a good resolution. This is a new author for me and I’m looking forward to Emily and Jonah’s story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
When You Were Mine by Alessa Martel is a cute little romantic book about a second chance love that is all clean and wholesome.
Will Jenny be able to make things right with Michael so that they will both feel better?
Jenny Collins
Jenny Collins is our point of view character, and I think this is a great way to do this book. It makes the way that Jenny evolves from being only thinking about herself to thinking about others and wanting to reconcile with Michael that much better. Jenny does do a lot of character growth in this book that we can see in her perspective, and it’s excellent to witness. I think that Jenny is a remarkable character and that she is doing a great job of figuring out who she wants to be now.
Michael Lindsay
Michael Lindsay was Jenny’s boyfriend since middle school and together throughout high school until Jenny sees something that she should have had talked about with Michael. He is a great guy who wanted someone in his life and thought that with Jenny away that he could move on with Emily. The problem was that the whole reason they broke up wasn’t something that ever got resolved between the two of them. It made Michael not want to open up much with Emily. Not until after a bit of time with Jenny being back. I like Michael, and I think that he is a great guy. Michael is into his family and wanting to take over the family business, which is a great thing for any young kid that wants to keep a family business within the family.
Five Stars
When You Were Mine by Alessa Martel is an excellent book by a lovely duo of mom and daughter. All the characters felt so real and that I was right there with them. These two will be on my radar for more books that they will write in the future. I loved Jenny and Michael and Emily as well. Those three and the rest of them were so well written. Valley Vale felt like a beautiful place to live. I am giving this book five stars and recommending it to anyone that loves to read romances.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of When You Were Mine by Alessa Martel.
Until the next time,
Karen the Baroness
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Slow Start
This is a story of a college-aged couple who had been sweethearts since forever but broke up after a high school senior party when the girl sees the boy kiss another girl. She grabs another boy and kisses him to make her boyfriend jealous. The heroine then goes off to college two hours away. She avoided coming back for Christmas, but she needs to come home for the summer for a job so she can make some money for her next year. She knows she will see her ex, especially because she’s accepted a job at his parents’ restaurant—baking in the morning, so she hopes she won’t see him too much.
I felt like the entire part of the story that took place at the college, which was about 14% of the book, was far too long. In a romance like this, you don’t really feel like it starts until you actually see the couple together and their interaction. The college stuff could have been compacted into a couple of scenes before taking us back to the heroine’s small hometown, which is where the action of this book happens. Perhaps I’m just old and old fashioned, but I didn’t like the way the college roommate acted with men. Do young women really act like her these days? She’s hoping to become a doctor, so you think she would be better educated about the dangers of sleeping around with a new guy every week.
3.5 rounded up to 4
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
Good story with characters that have issues to work through. Interesting and entertaining characters tell a good story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Jenny and Michael were high school sweethearts and everyone thought they would marry. One night at a party, Jenny sees Michael kissing another girl, so she grabs the closest boy and kisses him. They break up and Jenny chooses a college two hours away because it hurts too much to see Michael. Then Sydney calls and tells her Michael is engaged. When Michael’s mom calls offering her a job over the summer, she accepts. What is going to happen when she runs into Michael and his fiancée, Emily. Will Jenny and Emily become friends? No spoilers, so grab your copy and see what happens.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was a sweet second chance read. It did take a while to get to the point where Michael and Jenny clearers up their misunderstanding. There were parts that dragged on a little too long.
The story line was good, the character work was great, and the book had a fairly smooth flow to it. This book was an entertaining read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.