He’s always been the one… She’s always been just a friend! Grace Beverly spent years hopelessly in love with her best friend, Billy Austin. Now he’s back in Eagle’s Rest, Colorado, determined to provide the best life possible for his four-year-old daughter. He’s just not sure how. Helping Billy navigate the world of parenting is a one-way ticket back to heartache. Yet how can Grace say no to … can Grace say no to her oldest friend?
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Grace has been (silently) in love with Billy for years but finally put herself first and cut him out of her life when he moved away with her best friend. This is such a hard but relatable situation. Grace had such little self-confidence and having him not see her as anything more than a friend did nothing for her state of mind. But getting away and making a life without him helped her discover more about who she is and her worth. Having him back again threatens that … but its difficult to turn him away.
Billy had no clue about Grace’s feelings and was hurt when she stopped talking to him. He’s back now, a little girl he didn’t know he had in tow, and seeing Grace again seems like a godsend. His own troubles are pretty overwhelming – making a connection with Poppy and trying to figure out how to raise a super-smart daughter while continuing to hide a lifelong secret – so having her around again brings him hope.
Johns does a great job of taking two people with their own insecurities and putting them in a situation where they have no choice but to face them. These are real, every day issues and they are handled with a good deal of care. Both Grace and Billy have a lot of discovery to do and have to really talk with those that mean something to them. There’s no way that they can successfully move forward without addressing their problems first.
**Review given honestly and freely after receipt of a reader copy. This opinion is completely my own and was not influenced in any way.**
I received a free advanced copy of this book from NetGalley.com This is my unbiased and voluntary review.
This is a heartbreaking story about two best friends, who each kept a secret. that resulted in them losing contact for several years. Grace Beverly was in love with her best friend Billy Austin, but instead of telling him, she watched him go from one hot girl to the next, until finally breaking off contact after he left town with a friend of hers. He never thought he was good enough for Grace, because he couldn’t read and thought he was stupid. He hid his dyslexia from everyone. She became a teacher and they are brought back together when she is in town temporarily as a substitute teacher, while he is back in town because he is now a Dad of a 4 year old girl, who he had not known about until her mother left her with Billy. Poppy is a very precocious child and Billy is overwhelmed, afraid to make the same mistakes his single mother did with him. Will they have a second chance with each other, or will their fears keep them apart?
This is the first book that I have read from this author. Wonderful characters, a compelling plot and a well written narrative make this a pleasant read. There is a HEA, though the end seemed hurried, as if the book was only allowed a certain number of words and they were running out.
What a sweet story!