“I couldn’t have forgotten about you even if I’d tried. The seas could have frozen over. The heavens could have come crashing down to earth. Time could have stood still, and I would never have been able to cleanse myself of you.”
CoralieTwelve years ago, I ran to stay alive.Port Royal, South Carolina, was my home. I was born there. I fell in love there. And I nearly died there. I never … born there. I fell in love there. And I nearly died there. I never thought I’d go back. Now, after so many years, I have to return to bury the man who made my life a living hell. Some nights, I used to cry myself to sleep, praying my father would die. Other nights were different. Other nights, there was him.
Callan Cross.
My first confidante. My first kiss. My first love. My first everything: Callan was the glue that held me together when everything else was falling apart. He was my savior. He was there for me whenever I needed him…Until he wasn’t.Every night, I’ve seen the love of my life in my sleep. I just never thought I’d have to face him again.
Callan
Living life through a camera lens is sometimes easier than dealing with it head on. Scratch that. It’s always easier. For over a decade, I’ve been a master of my art, taking photographs all over the world. Yet despite all of the countries I’ve visited, the amazing things I’ve seen, the beautiful women I’ve screwed, my heart has remained in pieces.
Coralie’s the only woman I’ve ever loved, will ever love. And I’m determined to show her that we’re meant to be together. Even if it means unearthing the bones of the past in the process.
A lifetime and a thousand miles have stood between us.
Now, there’s no length of time I won’t wait, no distance I won’t travel, in order to make her mine.
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Callie delivered an amazing story yet again, I didn’t expect anything less…
This story is of love, heartache, hurt and I loved it.
Callan and Coral have separate life’s and are brought back together.
After she left him and her life in a small town in South Carolina, 12 years later when Coral goes Returns home for her father’s funeral, Callan is there because a neighbour called him and told him what has happened, he had to come back for her as much as he didn’t want to be there he would do anything for Coral.
I felt so many emotions while reading this book I was sad, I laughed, I was annoyed, some of the book is hard to read but it is beautifully written.
I didn’t want to put this book down once I started Callie had me hooked from page one, I really connected with the characters and felt their emotions
Thank you Callie for another amazing story
“Hey, bluebird,” he whispers. “I’ve been dreaming about you.”
Their story will shake you and fracture your heart.
It made me cry more than once.
Coralie was being abused by her father but she kept it a secret from everyone. He made her feel like she can’t trust anyone, can’t tell anyone about the abuse because he would hurt them too. She tried to protect others from the pain she felt by his hands, so she leaves her first love and runs away before things get worse.
Callan’s love for her was stronger than anything else. They were separated, each one on a different part of the world but still their love didn’t fade. He made her see that their feelings for each other didn’t fade and she didn’t fall out of love with him, she was just hiding her feelings.
“There’s not a damn thing you can do to hide your soul from mine.”
They got to meet again and feel the love they had grow stronger. They were meant to be together.
You’ll believe in love and second chances after this book.
Okay. I LOVED this one and really was wishing I’d bought it paperback to fully enjoy this story!
Narration: 5
Fantastic Narrator! Ramona Master did an amazing job portraying both the female and male main characters! Coralie & Callen were beautiful. Told in alternating POVs, I was engrossed in the narrators performance!
Story: 5
Heart wrenching second chance romance! This story was emotionally gripping and I was completely invested in finding out where things went so horribly wrong for Coralie and Callan. The circumstances around Coralie’s upbringing are traumatic and definitely can be triggering for those sensitive to child abuse. Callan was Coralie’s safe place and when things come crashing down, she runs. Callan’s love for Coralie was the sweetest! I loved how determined he was to face their past and set things straight.
All around a fabulous read even if at times it got emotionally heavy. I loved it!
Calico is my first novel by Callie Hart and I have to say it was the cover that got my attention, it’s stunning and after reading the book, it is the perfect representation of Coralie and Callan.
Calico is a mix of first love, friends to lovers & second chance romance written with a Dual POV aspect that flips between past and present. I will start by saying the back and forth is the only element that slowed the pacing down a little in my eyes. Was it needed absolutely! However I would have liked a little more depth/knowledge of the main characters, larger sections in past or present near the start of the book just to set up that connection a little quicker.
I did really enjoy this book and it’s got some hard hitting themes that some may consider triggers for them. I found Callie’s writing to be raw and emotive, with a good sense of what both Callan and Coralie were going through. The Hero and heroine were high school sweethearts, but trauma and secrets tore them apart and 12 years later they come face to face again, when all their old demons come rushing back.
Callico is a novel of two soulmates torn apart in a heartbreaking set of circumstances that no two people should ever have to go through. However seeing them meet again and that soul crushing connection is still there makes you want to fight for them to break through all the hurt. As each piece of the puzzle was revealed, I didn’t think that it could get any worse. How a woman can heal from a past like Coralie’s; but both her and Callan are survivors and they are stronger together, they always have been.
I am glad I picked up this book, I did enjoy Callie’s writing style and admired the fact she tackled some powerful topics in the story. Definitely curious to read more from her.
This all new standalone dark romance was such a change of pace for avid readers of Callie Hart. Whereas we’re used to these fast paced action and adrenaline packed novels, this was a refreshing slower paced powerful love story with everlasting love at its core. It could be coined as a “second chance” story, but let me tell you…it was SO MUCH more than that! It was raw, emotional, beautiful, heart-wrenching, tear jerking (yes, I cried at like 16% and again around 85%), and most of all perfect! Callie Hart has depicted a rare timeless love story that lasts the test of time and endures trials that most relationships wouldn’t overcome. This book was about making amends, dealing with grief and overcoming pain, facing the ghosts of your past, taking back control and most importantly, rekindling a love that never died.
“I couldn’t forget about you even if I tried. The seas could have frozen over.
The Heavens could have come crashing down to Earth. Time could have stood still, and I would never have been able to cleanse myself of you.” –Callan. *swoon*.
Both characters (Callan & Coralie- love their names BTW) can’t move beyond the past, so in order for them to do so, they had to come back to where it all began.
This novel is gripping and leaves you feeling hollow and emotionally spent at times, but in the end, Callie delivers a powerfully captivating novel from page one. I had so many emotions going through me while reading this book that I felt like a train wreck at times and over the moon at others. Callie Hart’s writing has always been all-consuming to me and CALICO was NO different! I would recommend this book to any fans of hers and anyone that hasn’t read her books before! My only warning would be is, if you have a “hard limit” of abuse, go into this novel with caution…I wouldn’t avoid it, but just be warned some of the subject matter revolves around violence and mistreatment and can be hard to swallow at times, but if I, a very pregnant woman, can make it through, so can you.
“The present and future can’t change the past,” he whispers. “But the passing of time makes the pain at our backs less severe. All we have to do is face forward and look in the light. Behind us may be dark, Bluebird, but I know it in my bones. There are great things up ahead.” –Callan.
5 flying stars!
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/158925477