“What a gorgeous book. Five whole-hearted stars.” – Emma Scott, author of Forever Right Now and the Full Tilt DuetFinding Me is a STANDALONE novel.I’ve always been lost . . .Abandoned by a father who didn’t want me. Cherished by a stepfather, though I wasn’t his. Shattered by a boy who swore he loved me.But I belonged nowhere, to no one.Then I met Owen, the sweet-talking hockey player who made me … the sweet-talking hockey player who made me love him. He gave me the courage to trust in someone besides myself. He showed me a love I longed for.
When an unwanted ghost comes knocking on my door, my heartbreaking history threatens to repeat itself. But where do I turn if I lose everyone? And how do I find where I belong, when I’m still Finding Me?
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Gah! I LOVED this book!
To begin, I should be fair and say that I think I would read anything that Stephanie wrote, whether it be a romance book or the telephone book. I have devoured each book that she’s written! And I’d say they keep getting better, but they’re all so great, that it isn’t possible. And Stephanie had me from the dedication~ seriously, I began crying then.
Finding Me is the story of Bella, Samantha’s daughter from Always You. Seeing her all grown up, on her own, making her own choices~ good and bad~ was great. It starts out when Bella arrives at college as a new freshman. She chose to go to school four hours away partly due to escaping a particularly bad breakup where she was humiliated (Christian~ hmmm… the same “boy” who took her to the school dance in Always Us, Stephanie’s novella). She struggles with fitting in, not only at a new school, but in life. A life that has been good for years, but when your biological father rejects you, it can really mess with your confidence. But Bella befriends her new roommate, and shortly thereafter, she meets Owen. Oh, Owen! He is a hockey-playing alpha who you can’t help but fall for. Of course, all the girls do fall for him. But he only has eyes for Bella. He may come across as an arrogant ladies man, but he has such a great head on his shoulders. He works hard, and puts everything he has into whatever he wants to achieve. And he wants Bella.
They story unravels over the course of Bella’s freshman year. You get to catch up with Samantha and Lucas (I so love him and his relationship with his daughter!) and watch Bella mature into a wonderful, strong young woman. While she grows and matures, you do get to see that some people still haven’t (hint, hint). And the Epilogue… that was epic!
I cried… a lot. Because I was just so touched by the realism of the situations, the feelings, the love. And there is plenty of love. This book oozes with it. And not just between Bella and Owen, but Bella and her friends, her brother, her mother, and her dad. I cannot put into words just how special the love is between Bella and her dad.
I absolutely loved this book! Stephanie has an amazing writing style and writes wonderfully written, strong characters. One of the things that I love most is that her characters are “real”.
I highly recommend Finding Me, but would also suggest reading Always You first. I am already anticipating more from Stephanie!
You’re my sky full of stars
Eeek! Stephanie Rose did it again! I love that we have got to witness Bella from the age of 5 to finding her HEA. What a woman she has turned into. She is definitely a character I would love to be friends with in real life.
Enter Owen Thompson…. sexy, swoony and a whole lot of funny. There were moments I wanted to strangle him, moments I wanted to jump into his arms and moments when I was bent over laughing with tears in my eyes. He had many similar qualities of Lucas.
I love how much we have gotten to know this family and yup I still hate Marc with a passion.
A good read. This just felt very young adult to me. I tend to lean towards more mature adult romance these days.
The hero is a good guy and displayed some jealous, possessive behavior that I like to see in my heroes. Nothing over the top.
There is a little bit of other woman drama. While I didn’t like her character, the author did a good job of not overdoing her part.
The heroine is a sweet girl. She had a couple immature behavior moments but nothing too bad. There wasn’t anything exceptional about her. I do tend to care more about the hero in books though.
I think overall the author did a good job of not making anything too much in this story. While I liked that, it also didn’t make the story stand out for me either. Again, that could be because this couple felt too young for what I normally like.
* A review copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review *
~ 4.5 “Sky Full of Stars” Stars ~
I absolutely love Stephanie Rose’s books. I have read every one of them and I will continue to read anything she writes.
Her stories always have that feel good feeling and leave me with a HUGE smile on my face in the end. She doesn’t create stories that are overloaded with excess drama, which I love. Her stories do tend to lean towards the insta-love kind, but they work. I think it has to do with the fact that she keeps the story moving and the timeline moves along, so you don’t feel like everything happens in a day or two. (I hope that makes sense)
I was looking so forward to reading Finding Me. This is part of her Second Chances series, but can be read as a standalone. I would recommend reading Always You (Book 1) first just so you can get the feeling of the characters in this book. Finding Me is the story about Bella (Sam and Lucas’s daughter from book 1) I fell in love with Bella as the five year old little girl we were introduced to and I still feel the same way after we see her as an 18 year old college student.
We learn a lot about Bella and her feelings in this book. She was a broken girl who had some trust and abandonment issues. Her biological father Marc left when she was 5 years old and hasn’t had any contact with her since. Then her high school boyfriend cheats on her and does it publicly, making her senior year at school awful. So Bella has decided to move away to college to start fresh where no one knows her background. This is where she meet her saving grace….Owen 🙂 Owen was a fantastic Hero in this story. He made me swoon almost every time he talked.
I thought Finding Me was a really sweet love story. The storyline was engaging and held my attention all the way through. I felt that this story was very well written. I really liked that there wasn’t an over abundance of drama. Don’t get me wrong there was some drama, but it was usually short lived and not dragged out throughout the whole book.
I will say that there was one part of this story that I really didn’t like…it was a bit to cliche for me and something that was very predictable for this genre of book. I truly felt that part could’ve been left out and this book would’ve been just as good or even better in my mind. Plus I didn’t feel this part of the story was ever really finished. I wanted to know what happened with Amber and Richie. We did get some closure with Richie but not what I was hoping for. Maybe there was more to that storyline in my own head and that’s why it felt unfinished to me. I still really enjoyed this story, but this is why I didn’t give it 5 stars.
What I loved the most about this book was the message Stephanie was trying to get across.
“ Sometimes our parents aren’t the ones we’re assigned, sometimes God gives them to us in other ways. Biology doesn’t make a father, love does.”….Stephanie Rose
You’ll understand more of why I loved that quote from Stephanie after you read this book.
I LOVED that we got to see more of Lucas and Sam and got to know Joey as well. I’m actually hoping after reading the epilogue, that we might get a book for Joey as well. I think his story would be fun. I want to see if he turns out like his dad Lucas.
I would recommend this book to everyone, especially those who love a great college love story.
4.5 Sky Full of Stars!
It was so much fun catching up with Bella after I fell for the adorable little girl in Always You and the emerging young teen in the novella Always Us. This can definitely be read as a standalone though. In Finding Me, Bella is off to her freshman year of college. She is attending a school 4 hrs away from home to re-invent herself after a terribly embarrassing breakup with her ex-boyfriend. He made her believe she wasn’t enough for him. This raised all kinds of insecurities of always being left behind, first from her father when she was small and now her first crush. When she meets Owen, a cocky hockey player with a sexy southern accent, she doesn’t believe she is good enough for him. Owen was sick of girls only wanting him because he was on the hockey team. He liked that Bella was smart, independent, and beautiful. She didn’t care how many goals he scored, she liked him for who he was and wouldn’t let him get away with anything. He was patient and determined to break through her defenses and make her his. I liked how their relationship grew naturally, first as friends and study partners, then gradually into more. Bella liked how funny and sweet Owen was and enjoyed his teasing so much that she would finally give in to his southern charm. They were really great together and their chemistry was combustible. This story had several events and plot twists that tested their bonds, added suspense, and kept me turning the pages! I thoroughly enjoyed this sweet, sexy, and exhilarating story.
OMG, I was so happy when I realized Finding Me was Bella’s story! I loved her in Always You, and she grew up to be an amazing young lady! With all of her insecurities, I adored her the best! And Owen! He’s absolutely swoon-worthy. Stephanie Rose is the Queen Creator of Swoon-Worthy Heroes. And I still have a serious lady boner for Lucas, but’ that’s a completely another story.
All the stars for this book!
I’ve read the books in this interconnected series completely out of order but it’s just made me want to go back and read Always You that much more.
Bella and Owen seem like they were destined to meet. All the roads led them to each other and their connection was immediate and so strong. I loved listening to their story. I love this series and these characters so much, I can’t wait to go back to the ones I’ve missed.
Finding Me was exactly the sweet and steamy romance I was looking for. It hooked me right from the start and I didn’t want to put it down. Even when I had to because adulting called, I found myself thinking about these characters and how their story was going to unfold. This book is a spin off of the author’s Second Chances series, but can be read as a stand alone.
Owen. Holy moly. He was literally swoony perfection – considerate, romantic, funny, smart, loyal, and oh yeah, a freaking hot hockey player! He was such a good guy and was devoted to Bella from the start. They had such amazing chemistry and I loved their witty and sexy banter. It also didn’t hurt that my own college sweetheart and now hubby, pulled a very similar “Can you help me with class?” Owen move too. 😉 He melted my heart with his POV chapters and he had some of the sweetest lines in the entire book.
“She’s it for me. She’s everything.
I think in ‘when’ with her. Not ‘if’.”
Bella. She had such an emotional journey. From overcoming her trust and abandonment issues to opening her heart again. Stephanie Rose gets you invested in these characters and you feel every high and every low right along with them. Bella doubting Owen repeatedly did get a little annoying at times, but given her history and Owen’s “fan club” I could definitely understand. I loved that Bella’s story came full circle and that she did eventually come into her own. Yes, there is some angst along the way and the inevitable push away, but through it all Owen and Bella never waver from each other and you just can’t deny that kind of connection. The epilogue was wonderful and had me grinning ear to ear. Seriously, can we PLEASE have more?! Perhaps a novella further down the road?
I completely loved this book and can’t wait to read more from Stephanie Rose! Do yourself a favor and read this now!
I finally know what all the fuss is about when it comes to Owen Thompson. When Finding You was free on Amazon I couldn’t 1-click fast enough cause I needed to meet this OT. Well let me tell you all that Owen Thompson aka OT is the sweetest and kindest guy ever. Man did he swoon me with he’s gestures and his personality. Everything he did just so he could spend time with Bella melted my heart. Bella is a cool girl who’s had a horrible and heartbreaking breakup and has her guard up around Owen but his charms persuades her.
Their relationship was a beautiful journey and the story dealt with relatable issues. Bella’s biological father shows up and people trying to meddle with Owen and Bella’s relationship adds tension to the story.
I love Bella’s parents Sam and Lucas. Their love for Bella was evident and every interaction between them was amazing.
Owen Thompson and Lucas Hunter made my heart sing. What a fabulous story.
4 BadAssDirtyOTStars
When you met Bella in After You her Mom’s book I was hoping she would get a book and Stephanie doesn’t disappoint in this college romance . She tells Bella and Owen’s( hot hockey player) story and how even with a great mom and great stepdad she had a loser for a birth father and has trust issues from him and an experience from her past . You don’t need to read After you to get this story but it helps and let’s be real Lucas Hunter ( step father ) is in both books so theres that ! #anchorforev
I’m sitting here, trying to come up with words that will do this book justice. I had the absolute pleasure to beta this story, and then to read an arc. I finished it a couple of weeks ago and I still am not sure where to start. That may in part be due to that fact that any time I think about it I start to tear up. Lucas and Bella tend to do that to me. And then throw in sweet, sweet, Owen…and well, a girl can only handle so much.
If you’ve read Always You then you know Bella. She was the timid, shy, adorable little girl we all fell in love with. In Finding Me – A Second Chances Series Spinoff that adorable little girl is all grown up and off to college. After a horrible high school experience she’s picked a college away from home, where she can make a fresh start for herself.
Bella’s first day on campus finds her running into Owen “OT” Thompson, star hockey player and campus hottie. Oh Owen, just thinking about this sweet southern boy has me swooning. He’s everything Bella could want, “Owen was the first man I had dreams of licking while I was still awake.”, and everything she’s not ready for. She’s still gun-shy because of what she went through with her ex, but Owen is determined and does everything he can to win her over. And, sigh, that boy knows how to win a girl over. “You outshine everyone to me. You’re bright…like a sky full of stars.”
Freshman year not only brings Bella a new love, it also brings an unwanted visitor from her past…her biological father, someone she hasn’t seen or heard from in 13 years. Marc Christensen is a man she doesn’t even know, he abandoned her and her mother when she was 5 and he’s made no attempt to contact her since then. But now he’s back, causing Bella heartache and conflict, as she tries to figure out what he wants without hurting Lucas, the only father she’s ever known. Bella’s always wondered and questioned why Marc left her, his only child. She’s hoping that his getting in contact with her now means he wants to be a part of her life, and maybe she’ll get some answers.
Oh how I adored this book.
Bella is a strong, courageous young lady. She’s so real and relatable. Life has thrown some difficult situations in her path, but she’s dealt with them with aplomb and has come through them for the better.
I loved seeing Samantha and Lucas again- Lucas is still the swoon-worthy alpha male I fell for in AY, but to see him as a proud and caring father, to see that special bond he still shares with Bella, the absolute and unconditional love he has for his Butterfly, I thought my heart was going to burst.
Owen is probably my favorite college-aged hero I have read…there really are no words. He’s swoony, (I may have mentioned that before), he’s caring, he’s protective, he’s an utter sweetheart who just completely stole my heart. Even when things with Bella hit a rough patch his love for her never wavered.
“She’s it for me.” I shrugged. “She’s everything. I think in ‘when’ with her. Not ‘if’.”
Finding Me is the beautiful and touching story of one young woman’s quest to figure out who she is and where she belongs. And I can’t recommend it enough.