Gabriel Luca Maldonado, III and Francesca Leandra Solomon were meant to be. They were so in love that everybody prayed for what they had.Everything was glorious. They would get married, have children and live a perfect life. She would be a doctor in the emergency room once she finished her doctorate, and he would be a badass Navy SEAL and save people for a living. But then Luca is deployed across … is deployed across the world, and per military regulations, Frankie isn’t allowed to follow.
They’ve overcome a lot in their short relationship, and they can overcome this, too. Two years was a piece of cake. She’d finish her schooling and wait for him. And when he finally returned home, they would marry.
But two months into Luca’s deployment, the unthinkable happens, and Frankie is left alone and heartbroken, knowing that she’ll have to face the rest of life without Luca at her side.
***
Fast forward two years, and Frankie is exactly where her fiancé’s father left her, in a pit of despair that she has no hope of ever finding her way out of.
She lives life one second at a time, depressed and alone, hoping tomorrow won’t hurt like today.
She finds a job, moves, and hopes that the nightmares won’t swallow her whole.
But just as she thinks that she’s getting better, one of her nightmares walks through the doors of her ER, and that nightmare has a name.
Gabriel Luca Maldonado, III. In the flesh.
Also healthy and whole, and definitely no longer missing.
Sadly, it only takes her a half a second to realize that the man that left her isn’t the same man that returned.
The old one wanted her. The new one? Well, he’s definitely not interested anymore.
more
You know when you read a book and you’re all and you really want to like yell at everyone to go read it IMMEDIATELY so you have some one to go through that emotional roller coaster with you because you can’t say a word about it until they’ve read it too and you feel like you’re going to explode with all the feelings ready to burst out of you? *takes a huuuuuge breathe after that ridiculously long run on sentence* THAT is what If You Say So is.
Gaaaaaah this couple. Their story is one that has you hooked right away with the emotions and just keeps hooking you deeper and deeper as feelings grow. I can’t (seriously CANNOT) explain how incredible these two are together because I have no words to really put their love into perspective. What I can say is that this is one of my all time favorites from Lani, and seeing as how she could write a grocery list and make it incredible that’s saying something.
This series just keeps getting better and better. I cannot get enough of Vale’s amazingly sweet, loving men of the KPD Motorcycle Patrol!
This one is my new favorite. It will rip your heart apart and slowing piece it back together. It will put you straight into your feels and will keep you enthralled until the very last page. I had all of the emotions reading this one and loved every minute of it.
I know this review is a bit vague but I don’t want to give anything away. But I will say this, You need to read this one! I promise you won’t regret it.
Another fantastic story by this author! This one had me glued to my kindle from the very beginning. LLV couldn’t be hat cruel to have the best friend show up from war when the fiancé was still MIA, could she?? Does Frankie get her HEA? Do Luca and Malachi really make it out after 2+ years after being prisoners of war? You will just have to read to find out. I’m chomping at the bit to get my hands on the next story in the series!!
This book was so hard to read. Not because it wasn’t amazing, because it was a fantastic book. It was hard to read because of the emotion behind it. Frankie’s pain. Gabe and Ember’s pain. It all added up to make this one of the most emotional books I’ve read by this author. I just could not read it without copious amounts of tears. So be prepared, and have the tissues handy. You will definitely need them! You have been warned!
Frankie is absolutely devastated, and knows her life will never be the same. All of her hopes and dreams left with Luca, and she will never get them back. She is living day to day, trying to act like everything is ok, when it really isn’t. Despite the support of her family, and Luca’s family, she just can’t make herself move on, and doesn’t think she ever will.
This book is one that you will never forget. Frankie’s pain is absolutely palpable, and it hurts! I don’t want to give anything away, but even through the pain, there are surprises, and Frankie is able to come out stronger on the other side. It was a great book, and I enjoyed it overall, but there were some parts that were hard to get through (It’s kind of hard to read through tears) but I kept pushing through, because I knew LLV had an amazing ending in store for us!!!!
Another 5 star hit
When I first started reading this story, I tried to think back to when I first heard Frankie mentioned along with the man she loved, who disappeared overseas while serving his country! I remember my first thoughts being how horrible for Frankie that she’d never know what happened to the man she loved and then I saw this blurb and I knew my heart would never be the same
This story has a rainbow of emotions and I absolutely loved it. I couldn’t have asked for a better story for Frankie and Luca…it was perfect because it was theirs
So much more…and loved the suspense!
This book is not quite what you expect and I loved the suspense of it all.
It’s hard to review this one without giving too much away. Let’s just say that it was a quick read because it was quite the page turner.
Luca and Frankie had a once in a lifetime love. Then he went missing…then someone returned…but that’s when it gets interesting!
“That was everything that I ever imagined it would be…” which describes how I felt at the end of this book.
I voluntarily requested and read an advance reader copy.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher/author to review for Stephanie’s Book Reports.
Gabriel Luca Maidonado III, and Francesca Leandra Solomon were meant to be. They were so in love that everybody prayed for what they had. Everything was glorious. They would get married, have children and live a perfect life. She would be a doctor in the emergency room once she finished her doctorate, and he would be a badass Navy SEAL and save people for a living. But then Luca is deployed across the world, and per military regulations, Frankie isn’t allowed to follow. They’ve overcome a lot in their short relationship, and they can overcome this too. Two years was a piece of cake. She’d finish her schooling and wait for him. And when he finally returned home, they would marry. But two months into Luca’s deployment, the unthinkable happens, and Frankie is left alone and heartbroken, knowing that she’ll have to face the rest of life without Luca at her side.
Fast forward two years, and Frankie is exactly where her fiance’s father left her In the pit of despair that she has no hope of every finding her way out of. She lives life one second at a time, depressed and alone, hoping tomorrow won’t hurt like today. She finds a job, moves, and hopes that the nightmares won’t swallow her whole. But just as she thinks that she’s getting better, one of her nightmares walks through the doors of her ER, and that nightmare has a name. Gabriel Luca Maldonado III, in the flesh. Also healthy and whole and definitely no longer missing. Sadly, it only takes her a half a second to realize that the man that left her isn’t the same man that returned. The only one wanted her. The new one? Well, he’s definitely not interested anymore.
I loved this book. All the stories in this series have been amazing but this one has stolen my heart. I thought that it was super emotional. I can’t even imagine the things that Frankie has had to endure and then to see the man she has loved for forever and swore she would spend the rest of her life with is alive after all and in the flesh. However he is not the same man he was and this is crushing for Frankie. Things however just might not be what they seems and there is a reason for everything that is going on with Malachi has been through. However I think with everything that is going on that Frankie is misreading Malachi and that he still wants her. I don’t think you can love a woman like he loved her and forget her. He might not remember with his mind but his heart sure knows. I thought this story was amazing and beautiful and of all the Lani Lynn Vale books I have read this is the one that had tears running down my face at times. It is so good and you do not want to miss it.
5 Everything Isn’t Exactly as it Seems Stars!!!
Frankie and Luca were in love and planning a life together until the moment she was told he wasn’t coming home from serving his country. My heart hurt for this woman because her love was so pure and passionate for this man. She never gave up hope that he would return to her one day.
Fast forward a couple of years and she’s living in Kilgore trying to start a new life and wouldn’t you know her fiancé’s best friend Malachai finds himself in Kilgore and there’s a connection between these two that they don’t understand and most importantly try to fight with every fiber of their being.
I could feel every tear that Frankie cried and the frustration of Malachai when he found himself wanting to spend time with the woman that was off limits to him. But watching their friendship form and become stronger each day was both beautiful and heartbreaking. This man is scarred beyond recognition and he can’t understand why a beautiful woman inside and out would want to be with him. What he does know is that he can only stay away so long and watching them fall in love was truly beautiful. For this man who doesn’t think he’s worthy of love, he’s bowled over when he realizes that Frankie cares for him no matter what…especially when things are discovered that change everything!
This story is full of unbidding love, suspense, passion and friendship. We get little peaks at some of my favorite characters along with a love story that touched me deep in my heart!
Oh gosh! The author really knows how to pull out the feelings from me. I was so scared when I started this book. When it came to Luca and Frankie I have been craving their book since we knew it was going to be them. I loved them both. The way it was written we weren’t really sure what was going on. I’m worried about giving spoilers because I’m not sure what the author was going for (even now after reading it). So I’ll just say I loved it. It was everything I was hoping for when it came to these two. Add in the amazing secondary characters, some now people that I really really hope get books because they deserve to have a HEA after everything they have been though and just a beautiful romance that these characters deserved. 5 stars #2OCCJD
Saying goodbye to a loved one as they go off to fight in a war or participate in peace keeping activities must be one of the hardest things to do. But hearing they are missing must slowly eat away at you from the inside. This book gives some insight into both what that is like as well as being disfigured from war injuries and trying to assimilate back into civilian life. Real eye-opening experiences that are not dwelt upon in maudlin ways, yes this is a book of fiction but the very real life aspects are carefully and respectfully explored through the characters of Riel and Frankie.
I enjoyed Frankie, she had an inner strength that helped her but also after years of grief, and being older too, she let her inner sex kitten come out to play. But then again Riel, although physically scarred, didn’t have any handicaps in the intimacy department and knew his way around the female body!
I have to say that Ember is one tough protective mother bear when she needed to be, I loved her! Once again the old gang from the police motorcycle crew make a welcome appearance and it’s especially nice to see a more personal side of Captain Morgan.
The underlying mysteries in this fast paced storyline threw a few curly turns to make things exciting and to keep you on your toes.
Friendship and camaraderie, trust and loyalty are all things found in this book but mostly- love!
Another perfect addition to the KPD Motorcycle Patrol! The way you can laugh, cry and find happiness in these books makes them a perfect cuddle up on rainy day read. I love the way Lani Lynn Vale sucks you right in from the beginning and keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole way through.
Lani Lynn Vale has done it again!! If You Say So wasn’t anything I expected, it was so much more!
Luca Maldonado left behind his new engaged fiancé, Francesca “Frankie” Solomon to head overseas with his best friend Malaki for a Navy SEALs mission. Two years would go in a blink, but two years actually became a nightmare.
Two long years passed. Two years in which the the men disappeared. Two years in which Frankie never gave up hope. Two years where Frankie prayed for Luca to return home, but instead of Luca a different man returned.
The man who returned had no memory of his previous life. The man who returned didn’t feel comfortable with his own name, in his own clothes, living what was supposed to be his previous life. Perhaps he’s not the man he’s supposed to be, but who does that make him? He has no clue, that is until he sees Frankie Solomon that he actually feels something, but the problem is, should he actually want her? His new name says no, his heart says yes.
If You Say So is touching and emotional. I love how Lani writes military vets with deep emotional depth. Her books hit me in the solar plexus every single time.
Every book that I’ve read pulls at my heartstrings and this one definitely did that. Luca and Frankie were so in love and then Frankie got her heart broke into a million pieces when she got the news that would forever change her.
I definitely felt the pain that Frankie had for losing her fiance’ and the author kept me guessing how things were going to progress and if I was was wrong or right in some of the things that I was thinking.
I love how the author always makes me fall in love with the characters and love seeing the family that they have around them.
I definitely can’t wait for the next book in the series!!
I absolutely loved this book!
I’ve been dying for it since when we met him in Sinners are Winners!
Luca and Frankie’s story has got to be up there with my favourites from LLV! I love second chance romances and this kinda was! The heart never forgets.
I loved the story line and seeing previous characters, when they continue on like they do it’s like revisiting old friends, seeing how their getting on.
Frankie i liked instantly, you could feel her pain radiating off the pages but she was a trooper and carried on like he world wasn’t falling down around her.
Luca was that alpha, broody type which is another thing i love, he went through some traumatic stuff but when he sees Frankie again something draws him to her.
Amazing book, amazing series!
I’ve had this author on my TBR for a while now. I probably should have picked a different book to start with being that this is #6 but all in all, I wasn’t disappointed. The story of Luca and Frankie starts out with them saying goodbye but between then and the end there are so many twists and turns. Frankie’s day to day life, just going through the motions, an unexpected friend, thoughts of longing and betrayal, the girl goes through it all. I found myself trying to ‘guess’ what was going to happen and when but then just gave up and let the story lead me. I enjoyed that the author kept me on my toes and kept me guessing what was going to happen next.
Review by: Melanie
(5 stars)
As it’s in the blurb, it’s not a spoiler for me to say that despite being told that he was dead, Frankie gets the shock of her life when Luca Maldonado; her fiancé, returns. He’s not “her Luca” though, he’s someone new, and the pair of them have to deal with this new “them”. A few twists along the way as these two get to know each other again, all the while strange things are happening around them and there’s the little subject of letting Luca’s parents know that he’s alive after all.
I enjoyed this and it was sad and/or sweet in places. There were a couple of things I would have liked a little more from but as with all Lani Lynn Vale books, this was so easy to read and is another great addition to this world I love. I can’t wait for the next one and I give If You Say So 5 stars.
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Review by: Jennifer
(5 stars)
Finally Frankie and Luca’s story comes and it was phenomenal! Wow, this is super hard to write while not really trying to leave spoilers or anything. The blurb pretty much lets it all hang out while simultaneously doesn’t really match the story. Enter a shrug here cuz I’m not sure how that is possible but it happened. I loved almost everything about this story, there was one part that I really wanted a bit more of but I have never denied being greedy when it comes to LLV. Frankie and Luca’s story takes us through all the feels, once again on one page I’m almost in tears and the very next page I’m giggling at something. This was an amazing movie in my head and I give this 5 super plus stars.