PAIGELogan McKinley. My ex. I knew he was trouble from the first moment I laid eyes on him.Fresh out of law school with a new job at one of San Diego’s biggest firms, I was supposed to focus on my career. No distractions, no men, and especially no office romances.Then I met Logan. He was cocky, smooth-talking, and gorgeous—a hotshot associate on the fast track to a partnership and exactly the … partnership and exactly the kind of guy I needed to avoid.
But he was relentless. He pursued me, intrigued me, and seduced me. And when I had no defenses left, my ambitions shifted, and I only wanted him.
For a while, that was enough.
But no one’s perfect. The man who put a ring on my finger isn’t who I thought he was, so I left.
Now he’s back in my life, and he’s pushing me into a corner. It’s time to show him how hard I can push back.
LOGAN
“It’s over.”
When those words came out of her mouth, I wasn’t surprised. What I didn’t expect was how damn near impossible it’s been to move on.
The first time I saw Paige Waters, the new associate at my firm who was as intelligent and self-confident as she was stunning, I wanted her. I wasn’t used to women rejecting me, but she did—or tried to, anyway—which made me even more determined to have her.
I had no idea that when I finally got her, I wouldn’t want to let her go.
But I screwed up. She doesn’t even know how badly I screwed up, and everything still went to hell.
Now, one year after our split and with so much still unresolved between us, we’re suddenly going head to head on the same case. Seeing her at the office again, where it all started, I realize that this is far from over.
She’s still mine.
And whether it’s in the courtroom or the bedroom, I always win.
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Kivrin Wilson’s Waters Family series is beautifully written, incredibly moving… jthe type of romance that makes you cry happy tears and believe in happily ever after.
Couldn’t put it down. Loved it!
I ended up loving this book! I almost stopped reading it once I found out the lead female character was married with kids because that is my reality. And…The reason I read, is to escape my reality. Anyhow, so glad I persevered. The characters and storyline were fantastic!!! This book is definitely a must read.
Thank you for your review.
This book was very good. First couple of pages didn’t grab me but then I kept with it and was glad I did. Great story. Different, but a good read. Two thumbs up.
Great book
Kept my interest to see where the story goes between two married people at odds with each other.
Kept my interest throughout.
I can’t tell if Mend is the best self-help book for a person facing a divorce or the absolute worst. That’s what I’m left thinking now that I have finished it. Because should you always fight for your marriage or your significant other as this book suggests? Not that I am an expert on the subject considering I’m not married, but I feel like some marriages are worth to struggle and fight for and some are not. Not that this technically is a self-help kind of story or anyone having a difficult marriage should take it to heart, but still. The mind wanders when the story, sadly, bores you a bit.
Not that there was anything wrong with the story. The writing was really good and there was both potential and happenstances where my interest was piqued. However, I just couldn’t get drawn into the story as I would have liked. To me it felt slow paced and strangely, with all its drama, it felt drama free. I mean, it had a good start with the wedding and Paige calling it quits. I were intrigued of what had led to them turning resentful in their marriage and why they treated each other like crap. And Logan giving hints that he had made some horrible mistake that she did not know about certainly had me curious. But that was it. It took so long to go anywhere from there and the pages were filled with lawyer talk and cases that just made any interest I had shrivel up. Sure, there were still drama like them fighting over the past, the kids and being on opposing sides in a case. That drama didn’t really do much for me since it didn’t take off far before one of them left the room or went quiet. It sad really that the drama felt so underwhelming, because drama is what makes a story like this such a pleasure to read.
I must say though, that I am very impressed with how applicable and relatable the relationship was. And not just between Logan and Paige, but also the relationship with the parents, siblings and kids. It was not overdone to be perfect like in most romantic novels, so much so that it becomes unrealistic. No, it was pretty much spot on to an actual normal human being relationship. The romance wasn’t all love and compassionate understanding. There was also room for mistrust, resentment and jealousy. There wasn’t a perfect parent-child relationship either. The kids was drawn more to one parent than the other as well as they could resent one parent for a situation they were to young to understand. As well as Paige and Logan’s parents treated their children differently and vice versa. In short, it was exactly like how it is in real life. There is no such thing as a perfect or balanced relationship and this book reflected that well.
My conclusion is that the idea behind the story and the message was really good, but the execution had me wishing for more. And as much as I love a happy ending it kind of takes the enjoyment from it if I don’t get invested in the story at some point. This is why I give this story three stars.
Loved it! Hope there is a 3rd book coming for sarcastic Cameron!
Really good book but very slow at parts. Didn’t really like the back and forth with the now and the whatever number of years before. Very likable characters though and well written story
I loved this book. It shows how misunderstandings and miscommunications can hurt you more than you know.
You feel for the characters, it is so real.
“Some broken things can’t be fixed. But it turns out, we weren’t one of them.”
3.5 stars
Mend is one of those books that rip me apart. Seriously. I have no idea how to rate this book and how to write my review. This is going to be a tough one. Mixed feelings toward a book are always hard to put into words. But I try.
Mend was my first book by Kivrin Wilson and I was intrigued by the blurb and this beautiful cover. The first thing I noticed was Kivrin’s very rich writing style. I love how descriptive she’s with her words and it makes it easy to picture things. She has a great attention to detail and I really enjoyed reading this book.
“She’s the earth, and I’m the moon. She’s everything I’ve ever wanted.”
So what’s hard to rate, you ask? Well, the thing is, up until about 60% the story itself did nothing for me. On the one hand I got pretty irritated about the fact that Paige and Logan are so bitter toward each other and the constant bickering. And the flash backs don’t even reveal what happened to them, that Paige decided to get separated. At least not in the first half of the book. We get to know how the fell in love and how things developed from there on. But on the other hand, it’s pretty realistic, that a separated couple has such distant feelings for each other and that their behavior reflects their feelings. So yeah, I think you get my mixed feelings here, don’t you?
However, up until those 60% the story around Paige and Logan has no real development. All we get to read is about how they loath each other, how things developed in the past and about the even more annoying couple Paige and Logan have to represent as lawyers. And even this divorce case, which could at least have been filled with a little suspense, was as annoying and irritating as the clients themselves.
The main thing, which I personally think should have been the center of this story (or let’s say the part which I expected to be the center of the story), the part where Logan starts to make things right, where he tries to win Paige and the right to love her back, this part only starts developing through the end of the book. And then things get rushed. All of a sudden Paige is ready to forgive, even after she learned about the things Logan did. Logan doesn’t really have to prove himself that he changed, that the past won’t repeat itself. He’s just forgiven, simple as that. And this is the part where I’m most disappointed of.
“She looks like an angel. Like the dawn after a long night. Like hope.”
I felt pretty distant to Logan and Paige, I couldn’t really connect with them. Not sure if this was intended by Kivrin to let us as reader experience the distance between the couple or if it’s just me who couldn’t connect. Only close to the end I found myself caring for Paige and Logan.
So yes, Mend isn’t a simple romance book. It’s complicated as the story it tells. Being separated with the intention to divorce, having three little kids in the middle and still loving each other is not a simple topic. If you’ve ever ended a relationship out of pure rationality even though you still love the other, you know how hard it is to move on with your life. So Kivrin did a great thing with this book and if you love a challenge, Mend is definitely the book for you!
“Apparently I’m like a penguin. Or a beaver. Or any of the other dump fucking animals that mate for life.”
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this challenging book.