The words “For Lila, forever” adorned the front of the envelope in blue ink, the handwriting all too familiar. But it didn’t matter what it said. I didn’t have the heart to open it.We couldn’t be together. Not after everything …Leaving Rose Crossing, Maine was one of the most painful moments of my life—or at least it was until the day I came face-to-face with Thayer Ainsworth again. After a … Ainsworth again.
After a decade of searching, he’s found me, and he wants to know why I quit my housemaid job and left his family’s island estate without so much as a goodbye. But I’m bound by a devastating secret much bigger than the two of us, and telling him the truth has consequences.
Looking into the eyes of the only man I’ve ever loved, I tell him the only thing I’m allowed to: never contact me again. And when he’s gone, I sit down and finally open his letter.
Only it isn’t a letter at all.
And it changes everything.
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Another great read, with lots of chemistry and hotness. This is a well written story and hooked me from the start.This is a quick hot read, with a interesting plot and fantastic characters, great emotion and Loads of steam!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
OMG! What an intense romance!
Oh! I absolutely adored this book about Lila and Thayer!
Lila just lost her mom and has been sent to live with her grandparents on Thayer’s family island in Maine. Both of her grandparents and his grandfather warned them to avoid each other right from the start. But slowly, they began to get to know each other and care for each other over the summer. But sometimes things happen that you can’t foresee and you get separated, whether it’s right or wrong. But ten years later and Thayer’s private investigator finally tracks Lila down.
This really is an emotionally charged romance with lots of secrets and emotions to wade through but it is amazingly written and developed it’s easy to follow.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was the first book that I have read from Winter Renshaw. This book was just ok for me. I am ok with the retelling of the past as a basis of why the characters are the way they are in the present however this story spent too much time in the past and that was a turn off for me. I understand that you want to have the reader know about the characters during the time that they have been apart but having the past-present time jumps throughout the book were a little much. This could have been done in maybe a couple of chapters and it wouldn’t have taken away from the story. This made it hard for me to feel like I could connect with the characters.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
For Lila, Forever, is an emotional second chance romance from Winter Renshaw. A one-click worthy book, it’s a beautiful story of young love buried under the weight of family secrets, of a young man who never gave up on his first love. Swoon…!
Thayer and Lila met as teens on his family’s island retreat. He was the favored heir, she was the granddaughter of the caretakers of the family estate…they shouldn’t have met, much less fall in love.
This is a beautifully written book. Thoughtful and emotional, it’s one of the best stories I’ve read this year. I fell in love with Thayer and his fierce loyality, and I wanted Lila to be worthy of his love–and she was. Swoon again…!
So good for so many reasons, this is a 5 star read for me. In a book world filled with bullies and harsh dominance, this was a refreshing change.
Thayer & Lila’s love story reads like a summer romance. Of course, that is how it starts. I felt like I could see, feel, and hear that lazy summer setting. Thayer is from one of those Kennedy-like families in New England, but without the political aspirations but with a controlling patriarch. Lila is the granddaughter of the family island caretakers who comes to stay with them because her mother just died and she has nowhere else to go. He is instantly drawn to her. Their love story is sweet and tender. He is far from who she thought he was. He wears away at her walls like a river erodes a path. Sadly, things do not go smoothly. This is a journey thru their joy and sadness. What started as a joyful secret led to many years of frustration and deception. But in the end they finally get to the same destination. I floved it! Always the right mix of wit, sweetness, determination, steam, a dash of drama, and lots of love.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A different take on Romeo and Juliet
Thayer is from a rich family and his grandfather’s pride and joy. He warns him off the granddaughter of the caretakers of their island. After her mother dies, Lila comes to live with her grandparents at Rose Crossing.
Thayer and Lila connect and sneak around the whole summer, then she and her grandparents are gone.
lovely little romance with a lot of roadblocks
For Lila, Forever was a great read by Winter Renshaw. Lila and Thayer met on the island that belonged to Thayer’s grandfather. She moved in to live with her grandparents after her mothers tragic death. They are the caretakers of the homes on the island and Thayer is supposed to stay away from her. But they cant fight their connection. Thayer left Rose Crossing, Maine to go back to school and Lila wasn’t there when he returned. But after a decade, Thayer found Lila and couldn’t believe what kept her away from him all that time. I enjoyed reading this book and cant wait to read more by the author.
The basic story was interesting and it was well written but it just didn’t grab me. There was too much going over the past and not enough focus on the present. I liked Lila but I didn’t believe in Thayer. Who would suspend their life for ten years without moving on? I also felt the family scenario wasn’t that believable. If the grandfather was such a dominant “baddie” that they were all so terrified of him, he should’ve had his comeuppance. But it was a nice love story, if far too long.
A romance that keeps you guessing. Thayer and Lila are an instant classic. This story checks all the boxes. Forbidden love. Family drama. And a few more I won’t list to avoid spoilers, but trust me, they are amazing. This story is told back and forth in time. This is something that usually annoys me in a romance, but this is done expertly. It builds tension and makes you question what you know, all leading to a satisfying end that will leave you smiling.
:grips heart and swoons: This story was everything! It was filled with so much heart, emotion, and just true feeling. Thayer and Lila come from two different worlds. His family is wealthy. Her family is lower income, they are the help. They meet on the island Thayer’s grand father owns and a friendship forms. Even though it’s forbidden, a romance blooms and true love is felt. As Thayer comes back from college ready to start a life with Lila, she’s gone with no explanation. As he searches for her he learns family secrets. Lila’s life has been anything but easy. Falling in love with Thayer complicated things. Now it’s years later and he wants the truth. But if she tells him the truth of everything it could mean the downfall of her own life and a life she is responsible for. That’s all your getting from me! This book had me guessing from page one until the end. I felt like I went on this journey with Thayer and Lila. Gosh I loved every minute of it. And this narrator brought it all to life. I felt every word. This is a truly epic romance with suspense that will keep readers enthralled. I definitely want to read more from this author.
I’m usually a huge fan of this author, and I liked the book, although I didn’t really buy into the storyline and plot. Thayer was amazing and so faithful in his search for Lila, but it didn’t seem realistic that he couldn’t find her despite all the resources at his disposal. Lila was kind of hard for me to respect, even though she was in a tough situation, and I think at some point she could have stood up for herself, her love and her family. This had the potential to be a really amazing love story, but it fell a little flat for me.
This was a good love story about two young people, Thatcher and Lila. They meet each other when Lila comes to live with her grandparents on Thatcher’s grandfather’s island. This is told in dual pov and has a lot of past/ present/ then past and present again. This story is kind of like a Romeo and Juliet story, but modern.
What a story of true love! But all is not as easy as you may think because there are family secrets and lies, and manipulations from the grandfather who rules all within Rose Crossing Island. The grandfather controls everyone with his money. So while both Lila and Thayer were warned to stay away from each other, it couldn’t stop their love from blooming. There was such a deep connection between these two they just couldn’t deny it. But someone also knows and will try to put as many obstacles to drive them apart. But I fell in love with Thayer and his determination. Angst filled story but well worth the read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
One star for the writing, and one for the hunky cover.
This started out so strong and so promising with an awesome besotted hero, a strong heroine that knows her mind and a manipulative villain. Then we have the rest of the story. At the 50% mark it morphed into a Southern Gothic style manufactured angsty, stupid icky mess and a heroine that betrays her H. No, she doesn’t cheat, but her betrayal is as bad if not worse.
Rant..rant…rant
SPOILER
Upstairs/downstairs romance where the H and h are kept apart by the H’s evil, awful grandfather. Initially he comes across as a benevolent dictator, but he is actually the spider waiting for his flies. Gramps finds out about the baby wherein the heroine and the H’s cousin lie and say the cousin is the father so the H can have his college paid for. H is unknowing of any of this. H is a very good guy and looks like the cover of J. Crew.
Evil Spider Grampa loses it and informs the heroine and the fall-on-his-sword cousin that they are half-siblings and makes them sign a NDA. He will pay for the h and her baby if they leave his island and never come back. He fires her grandparents as well because he is a low-life scum of the earth and needs to die in the fires of Mordor. The fact that the heroine and the cousin’s mutual father is a cheating, low life scum who never did anything for his daughter and that her mom was a low-life hussy that had an affair with a married man whose pregnant wife was on bedrest with TWINS is brushed over. This charming fact also makes the H and h half first cousins if you can be a half-first cousin. Minor deets but eeuuw.
The H searches for the heroine for ten long faithful years, and must have hired the standard crap HP PI as the detective can’t find them despite their simple, simple name change and more caca that should have made it obvious.
H deserves SO MUCH BETTER. This is where I wanted to toss my computer at the wall. Gee, the h really wants to get in touch with the H to tell him about their baby, but then she’ll lose the $60,000 a year evil Grampa has been sending. Really? He searches for you for a damn decade and you can’t pick up the phone? And for $5K a month? And they say love doesn’t have a price.
I hated the heroine almost as much as I hated the grandfather. I checked my other Winter Renshaw books and they were all DNF’s or no go’s. END spoiler)]
Yes, I hated it and I am grinding my teeth, but this one’s for the Angst Junkies.
Wow…an awesome storyline about 2 teens that fell in love, spent a wonderful loving, caring summer together and then his grandfather was a controlling, manipulative jackass. Thayer went to college and never heard or saw Lila again. When he went back to the island, his grandfather lied and said her grandparents retired. Lila was pregnant and grandfather didn’t want her distracting or disrupting Thayer’s life. Ten years later he finds out the truth and will move heaven and earth to be with MJ and Lila….forever.
Lila moved to the island to live with her grandparents when her mother died. She ended up working with them also. Thayer and his cousins were told to stay away from Lila but Thayer was drawn to her. It wasn’t long before they were hanging out together at a cottage no one was supposed to be in. Just before Thayer went back to Collage they slept together. He promised that they would be together soon but when he got back to the island the next summer Lila and her grandparents were gone. When he asked about them he was told they had retired but he didn’t believe she wouldn’t leave him a note or something behind. It takes him ten years of searching to find Lila and when he finds her its with a secret his grandfather sent her away with that he’ll never forgive his grandfather for. Will he forgive Lila for not reaching out to him? What will happen between them now?
This is an amazing story that will have you tearing up at what his grandfather did to this family. This is a well written and very entertaining story. I would recommend this book to any book lover.
Ahhhh this story!! The title makes you swoon but then when you read this story and realize the meaning and setting for those words is just epic.
This is a story of star-crossed lovers, it is fresh and fabulous and I couldn’t put it down until it was over.
The romance in this story is magical! The most pivotal thing that Thayer does for Lila is so huge, so over the top and it’s also one of the most romantic things I have ever read. And I read A LOT of romance novels.
The story is set up so well and even with the flash backs it flows beautifully! You need the back and forth in time to really bring this story full circle. The story is fast paced but beautifully done.
There is angst and a huge twist and it keeps you gasping until the end. The secrets the island holds carries on for generations.
I have yet to read a Winter Renshaw book that I absolutely haven’t fallen in love with. For Lila, Forever is another book that I love and can’t wait for readers to fall in love with it too!
Awesome second chance romance from one of my favorite authors. This book had some twists I didn’t see coming.
This book is really good. The characters are pretty polar personalities but it kinda just works. I could imagine the summer that I was 19 again!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I was always a big fan of this author, but last couple of books I have trouble finishing her stories. This one is no exception. While the blurb seemed really promising, the book ended up being disappointing.
As others already stated, there was too much time spent in past and parts in present were too rushed. I never actually felt this big emotional connection between Lila and Thayer. Their storyline was also predictable and actually pretty boring. It didn’t have anything special to keep my interest and although it seemed like a quick and easy read I struggled to finish it.
As I said, I really loved this author’s earlier work and am sad to leave a bad review. But I feel like in her last couple of books there is always something missing to make characters and storyline fully fleshed out.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.