We fell in love. Then our world fell apart. I wished so hard for Cole Danforth. And one day, he came true. He was my first crush, my first lover, my first and only love. He should also have been my last. But in a split-second, we were ripped apart, our lives broken, my heart shattered. After ten years, I’ve returned to my hometown, the place of my greatest joy and darkest pain. Cole is still … joy and darkest pain.
Cole is still here, but the beautiful boy I’d loved is gone. Now he’s a ruthless, unforgiving man determined to feed both my resentment and my lust.
Then our torturous past encroaches again, trapping us in a violent storm.
But this time, there is no escape.
The reading order of the WHAT IF series is:
IF WE LEAP
IF WE FALL
IF WE FLY
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Following Nina Lane’s standalone The Secret Thief, we return to Castille, Maine for the story of Josie and Cole. Their’s is the story and young love, first love, and just maybe forever love. Nina never fails to fore all my attention to her characters and their stories and this story completely captivated me. To read about the start of Josie and Cole, pick up If We Leap. This part of their journey takes us past one a tragic event and the aftermath on Josie and Cole. As I said, I get completely sucked into Nina’s stories but it’s because her characters are so complex and I want to find out why, what makes them tick.
The story starts out from Josie’s point of view, the more I got to know her, the more my heart broke for her. She is emotionally terrorized by her past and her return to Castille, while intending to be a way to exercise the demons and try to heal, begins to exacerbates the situation. This is mostly because Cole Danforth is in Castille and in no way welcome’s Josie’s return.
Cole can be a right arse, all brought about by his life circumstances, but at heart he is a man who wants to save the woman he has always loved from pain. A complicated man, his idea of saving Josie, his actions, most definitely do not wash with his inner thoughts.
“She’s under my skin. Inside me. Her cherry taste, sweet soft body, skin like cream. All the parts of her that I broke.”
As the past is shared with us, we really start to understand what motivates him. It didn’t take long for me to swing completely around and start to root for Cole, mostly to make things right.
Lane leaves us with a spectacular last line, adding a great twist to the story. My mind is whirling with the implications. Knowing Nina’s writing is always solid, I am going with a series recommendation even before I’ve read book 2 of the duet. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Josie, Cole and the naysayers of Castille.