Beautiful, BreathtakingAn Epic Love Story!Have you ever looked at someone and just knew,knew that they were put in your life for a reason?The one person that would be not only your best friend,but would be your absolute everything?That’s how I felt the first time I saw him.That one day when a few little words changed our entire lives forever… forever…
Don’t be Afraid, he said.
Life can change so quickly.
One moment you can be smiling and feeling as if you’re walking on clouds and the next, everything you love, everything you treasure crumbles at your feet.
I told him to fight, I told him I needed him.
We needed him.
But there are just some fights that can’t be won…
He was my angel then, and he’s still my angel now.
In a way, I believe he’s still looking out for us, giving us a future.
Sometimes it’s as if I can still feel his presence,
guiding us and keeping us safe.
So, I won’t be Afraid.
I’ll live. I’ll fight.
It’s what he would have wanted.
I’ll do it for him…
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Some books evoke such profound emotions that they stick with you forever. This is one of those books. I started crying on the first page of the prologue and continued until the very last page of the epilogue. There is more emotion in this book than in any other book that I’ve ever read. This book rips you up, and then puts you back together again.
I don’t want to give too much detail, because it will give away the story, but the characters in this book show a level of strength that just isn’t seen in people today. The beauty of the love between them is just…..amazing. It’s pure and everlasting, something that can’t be destroyed by anything. It’s what we are all looking for in our own lives.
This book contains a story about devastation, loss, and grief. But that is balanced by the love, understanding, and friendship that pulls everything together. This book is a must read, but be prepared for an emotional story that will change the way you look at everything!
When the author mentioned it was a ugly cry kind of story, I didn’t expect that the crying I would make would take up an entire box of Kleenex. This 5 star story gutted me raw but left me smiling at the end.
I’m not going to say what the story is about because this story needs to be experienced first hand. The readers need to go through what I went through.
A beautifully written story that had an unique storyline. I was put through the emotional wringer. I had to put the book down a few times in order to compose myself so I could finish reading it. It must have been very difficult for the author to put these words on paper. Behind all those words there is a strong message. Live life at it’s fullest, be happy because you never know when everything can be taken away. Life is too short to waist.
Theses characters were perfectly created and developed to their fullest because they made me feel so much. It’s like living through them. This story could be sad but yet made me smile with their selfless acts. It was highly addicting and captivating. Bottomline is this is a must read.
Standalone told in multiple POV’s with an HEA. I strongly recommend this story. Have plenty of Kleenex handy.
The best of CA Harms so far – Don’t be Afraid is an emotional must-read!
It’s the truth, Don’t Be Afraid is my favourite book of hers to date. I have to admit to hating ugly cry books with a burning passion, and I’ve only read a couple, refusing to read them ever, until now. 2018 is the year I am challenging myself to do so, and already this book is my reward.
Cancer is insidious, and has affected every one of us through our friends or family. And in the telling of Patrick and Sawyers’ story, CA has told the story of so many young couples who have lived it. Even I knew a friend of a friend whose life was exactly this.
The words are loaded with emotion, and please, do not let me put you off when I say that I cried until it was hard to read through the tears. You will absolutely be missing out on one of your top reads for 2018.
Patrick and Sawyer have a passionate love and marriage. Things weren’t always perfect, but it only served to strengthen their love, and they were both beautifully balanced characters suffering all the foibles of being vulnerable and human. Add to the mix the strong and loyal friendship that Gage has had with Patrick since childhood, and you have the perfect storm of love, loss, anger, acceptance, moving on slowly and discovering love once again. My words cannot give justice to the beauty of the this book.
I also know, that I’ll never look at that cover again without crying. 5 stars for a book that must be read.
Now, in the spirit of my 2018 ugly cry reading, I’d best go look for that other book.
Put into words a book that makes you weep for a fictional character is an amazing job for a writer. C A Harms
takes you on a painful journey of the loss of life, a husband and a father. Patrick diagnosed with terminal cancer
and Sawyer his wife are the heart of the first half of the book. Gage, Patrick’s best friend is asked to look after
Sawyer and their baby. The second half of the book deals with Gage’s guilt for the feelings he has for Sawyer and
how she deals with Patrick’s death and motherhood. This is a book that has many different feels and makes readers
stop and think about mortality and how life does go on. A five star read all the way.
3-3.5 Stars
I’m a bit all over the place. I cried a lot, rolled my eyes just a bit when it became to mushy and repetitive for me. I skimmed some of that. I loved Patrick’s story and passion but felt Gages love came on too quickly. It should have had time to grow especially after the deep love with Patrick. IMO.
Where to start? Heart-breaking, real, emotional, hopeful, sad, and so very much love. In a sea of cookie-cutter romance novels comes this gem containing a slice of real life. Bonus – fairly well edited. Only a few missing words or letters, and the occasional incorrect word (i.e. piece instead of peace).
It is really hard to say if this is one love story or two. Patrick and Sawyer are fairly young – in their twenties. They met, fell in love, and got married. Life seems to be good, heading in the direction they always thought. Until. Sitting in the doctor’s office, absorbing life-altering news, Sawyer tells Patrick they are expecting their first child. What should be a joyous time is overshadowed by the death sentence they just received. The next few months are met with moments of laughter, moments of joy, gallons of tears, anger, despair, courage, and always, always love. Through it all, Patrick’s best friend and heart-brother, Gage, stands by both their sides. He supports and encourages Patrick and offers encouragement and strength to Sawyer. In the end, Gage helps bring Patrick’s daughter into the world and helps Patrick as he leaves. In the wake of the greatest loss of their lives, how will Sawyer and Gage find a way forward? Will Sawyer ever allow herself to move forward? Or, will she stay drowning in grief? Gage promised to look after Patrick’s girls, but how can he when he is grieving to? Patrick told both Sawyer and Gage not to be afraid to live, but will they find the courage? For Sawyer, she will have to figure out if she can open up to new love without forgetting her past love. Gage will have to figure out how to stay true to his best friend while forging ahead with his own life.
This felt like such an authentic story. This isn’t full of angst and contrived miscommunication. This is what really happens in the lives of everyday people. People meet, they fall in love, they get married, they plan a life, and then one day life alters. So many people face situations just like this one – they receive a diagnosis and have to move forward knowing there is really nothing to be done to fight. Here, Patrick and Sawyer must decide how they are going to live in the face of impending loss. Will they wallow in the grief and inevitability or will they strive to make as many happy and loving memories as possible. Will they choose to live every day with all the intention possible, or will they choose to be swallowed up by anger and despair? In the end, they ride a roller coaster of ups and downs, striving for as few downs as possible. And somehow, Patrick loves enough to know he will need to leave behind the encouragement both his wife and his best friend will need to really live again. The story here is one of deep,loyal, abiding, faithful, and unconditional love. Love between friends, love between family, love between husband and wife, and love that stretches forever. Enjoy.
One of the most heartbreaking, beautifully written stories I’ve read. I literally cried through about 80% of this book. It’s extremely real and I love that fact. Patrick and Sawyer haven’t had enough time but fate doesn’t care. Best friend Gabe is there every step of the way with them, the good the bad, doesn’t matter. What Patrick and Sawyer had and created during their time together will prove to be something extraordinary. And Gabe’s part in all of it is just as special. Just how special is something only one person could see before anyone else would even imagine.
Favorite Quotes:
I’m scared… I don’t know how to be me without you.
Miss him, fall apart. I’m here to pick you up, I promise.
He knew I couldn’t help but fall in love with you. How could anyone not see the beauty inside you and be weakened by it?
I promised her pancakes and eggs… There may have been a mention of chocolate chips too… What? Isn’t it in the aunt handbook that I should spoil my one and only niece every single chance I get?
My Review:
While the premise was relevant and predictable, the exceptional quality, depth, and poignancy of Ms. Harm’s writing, as well as the complexity of the explored emotions shared by the characters, were not; and those were the unexpected treasures I gleaned from this heartrending tale. The storylines were robust with all the feels, agony, fear, love, grief, satisfaction, levity, despair, elation, and completion. Tears were often close and on more than one occasion my eyes stung while my throat constricted and burned, and my chest tightened with threats of an ugly cry. And while I typically prefer to eschew that phenomenon, this thoughtfully written and engaging story was more than worth my distress.
I still have tears in my eyes while writing this review. I don’t know if I even have the words to truly express how gut wrenchingly beautiful this book is. I have always loved everything C.A. Harms has written, but this, I just don’t have words to explain. Incredible. Beautiful. Heartbreaking. Astounding. Breath taking. All of those don’t seem big enough to describe Don’t Be Afraid.
One of the greatest ugly cry books I’ve ever read, I truly don’t know how I’ll pick up another book anytime soon. I already know this has left me with the mother of all book hangovers. Just. Ugh. Thank you C.A. Harms for giving the world this beauty. I sobbed, and I mean SOBBED reading this. Big, huge, can’t see words anymore, pass the Kleenex, make my husband very, very concerned for my sanity level of cry. And it was beautiful.
The love literally pours from the pages of this book. You can FEEL it. The raw emotions both good and bad, you can’t escape them because this book will suck you in so deep you won’t be able to let go. Don’t Be Afraid is one of those books you read and just know it’s going to stick with you forever.