“Midnight Valentine completely stunned me! It very well may be my top read EVER. One of those rare books that speak to your soul.” ~ Devilishly Delicious Book Reviews The thing that breaks you is the only thing that can put you back together.Megan Dunn arrives in Seaside, Oregon a broken woman with a dream: open a B&B like she planned to do with her husband, Cass, whose life was tragically … Cass, whose life was tragically cut short five years ago. But the old Victorian she bought needs extensive renovations and the one man who can help her—Theo Valentine—takes an immediate and intense dislike to her.
Left scarred and mute after a terrible accident, the reclusive Theo is a brilliant contractor whose plans to renovate the building Megan bought are eerily similar to her own. As their paths cross again and again and Megan begins to see the man beneath the mystery, a part of her that she thought was lost forever slowly starts to reawaken.
But when she discovers unsettling similarities between Theo and her late husband and strange coincidences begin to mount, Megan is forced to confront everything she believed about her past…and decide how far she’ll go to get the truth.
more
This book is ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. I’ve never read anything like it and I doubt I ever will. Definitely one of the best books of 2018. Just phenomenally outstanding. It has pretty much left me in a puddle of emotions. I highly recommend going into the book blind and preparing yourself for an emotional slow burn. There were parts that gave me chills even when I had a strong inclination as to what they were implying. Midnight Valentine is just a beautifully unique book and I’m so very grateful that I got the opportunity to review it, as I’m not sure if it would’ve blipped in my radar otherwise. The story is magnificent – the kind that stays with you long after you read the last word. And the characters, Megan and Theo of course, but even the side characters, were so wonderful and layered and fully fleshed out – I really loved every bit of the book and can’t wait to read more from the author. 5 out of 5 wine glasses.
Loved it!
Great story with great characters. Unique plot and hopeful. Hilarious side kick!
~5 ++++++ STARS~
I have been completely taken off guard by the books I have read so far this year. It’s only February, and I have a long list of top reads. But, I will tell you…Midnight Valentine completely stunned me! It’s not only a top read of 2018, but it very well may be my top read EVER! It is completely original, literally grabbing ahold of me from the very beginning. It I’m almost at a loss of the right words to do this review. I don’t think there are adequate words to convey how spectacular this book really was!
Megan has moved all the way from Phoenix to Oregon to restore an old inn and possibly restore pieces of herself. Too bad, the only handyman, Theo, is moody and seems to take an instant dislike to her. She can’t figure it out, but Megan, being who she is, refuses to take his attitude. Her snarky, sarcastic comments to him were some of the humorous parts of this book, especially in their first emails. As much as he rubs her the wrong way and as much as he tries to avoid her, the two are inexplicably pulled toward one another by some outside force. Too bad Megan doesn’t believe in fate or coincidence. Before long, she will be forced to question that stance.
Megan absolutely amazed me. She and her husband, Cass, had a love story that was something out of a romance novel, until the didn’t. Cass was taken away from her and along with him, all her hopes and dreams.
“Even though Cass is gone, our love isn’t.”
“People say time heals all wounds, but that’s a lie. Grief is a chronic disease.”
It is a miracle she survived. I’m not sure I would. She isn’t without her scars. She sees a therapist, but never really participating. Her body might be there, but her mind sure isn’t. She decides to fulfill her and Cass’s dream of refurbishing an old inn on the Oregon coast and making into a bed and breakfast. She mistakenly thinks this may help her do some healing, but instead, it reopens old wounds and makes her question her very own sanity.
Theo has devastating wounds as well. His are both physical and mental. He not only almost lost his life, but he has lost an important part of himself. He isn’t sure who he is anymore. He knows Megan holds an important key to the mystery, but he is scared of what the answers might be. Because of this, he is a tortured soul. He carries his burdens much differently than her though. Whereas she keeps her pain inside, Theo lets the world see his. One minute he is sweet as can be to her, and the next minute he is “snarling bear.”
One very important thing that made this book so special was a third and very important character…the Buttercup Inn itself.
“And despite its state of disrepair, this crumbling old inn feels like home. We’re both in ruins. We can keep each other company while repairs are made to our insides.”
The inn brings these two, tortured people together somehow, maybe just maybe, restoring their faith in fate and destiny.
Midnight Valentine is one of those rare books that speak to your soul. The characters come alive with Geissinger’s writing. It is almost like you are reading prose instead of a book, absolutely stunning and breathtaking. It is not a book to be read rapidly. It is a book to be read slowly, devouring every magic word that is written.
****Read and Reviewed for Devilishly Delicious Book Reviews****
This story had soooo many feels! Gah! I can’t even.. and that ending?! I am extremely happy this author chose the avenue she did. After all the heartbreak and confusion…Meghan and Theo earned the chance for more. Just that. More.
And thanks to Carol for putting this book on my radar!
I couldn’t pull my face out of this book. That’s not even an exaggeration really – I read at every single opportunity and carved out opportunities where none may have existed. I was glued to this book, spellbound by the incredible storytelling, and completely captivated by Megan and Theo’s enchanting love story.
There’s a little bit of magic tucked within these pages. The story itself dances around some spiritual/paranormal themes, but the real magic lies in the writing, I think. It’s engaging. At times humorous and playful, other times hauntingly heartbreaking. It’s the balance of these things – the lightness against the darkness – that made this such a moving reading experience, I think. Add in two lovable, interesting, strong but wounded characters and the whole thing was a nearly perfect package for me.
I am drawn to these deeply romantic stories of desperate love. Wounded heroes are my favorite to read – their stories and personalities so complex and richly layered. Midnight Valentine was such an original concept, and the writing so perfectly executed so that while it sometimes tested the limits of my belief, it also compelled me to embrace the fairytale. And I do love a good fairytale. In the end, my heart is so very happy, and this was a major hit for me. I’m completely smitten with this story and cannot recommend it highly enough! ~ 4.5 Stars
I am not like most people in that I RUN from emotional books. They intimidate me as I feel all the gut punches and choked up moments as they stay with me long past the book is over. But within the first 10% of this book I knew that this book would touch my heart. I felt Megan’s pain and uncertainty about fate and love and all the pain she was feeling as a result of her loss. There were moments I just sat and cried because the pain felt so real. But then I also had a smile from ear to ear when I saw her relationship with Theo. I loved them together. Their connection was honest and pure. Even when they both didn’t want it, they were just drawn to each other. I didn’t want this book to end!
At first glance I wasn’t sure what to make of this book. Without giving away any spoilers I was hesitant to embrace the storyline as I just didn’t know where the author was going with this. Or maybe I suspected it, but I didn’t know how she would get there. And honestly? I was floored. I was so lost in their passion and story that at times I just weeped. Theo was everything I loved in a hero: broody, moody, loving, protective and so honest. Likewise Megan was sassy and equally heartbroken and strong. I just wanted to scoop them both up and hug them to my heart as I was rooting for them while still heartbroken over their tumultous past and present circumstances.
All in all this book touched my heart so deeply and I fell more and more in love with them as the story progressed. I never read a book like this and I know it will stay with me for a very long time. Bravo! 4.5 stars! ~Ratula
MIDNIGHT VALENTINE by J. T. Geissinger is a romance story of second chances; of coincidence and discord; of life and death; of love transcending space, time and the inevitable crazy of déjà vu-been there, done that, and you don’t know why.
Five years after the death of her beloved husband Cassidy, Megan Dunn moves from Phoenix Arizona in search of ‘their something more’. Hoping to reopen the old Victorian Buttercup Inn in Seaside Oregon, Megan will come face to face with her future and quite possibly her past in the guise of a dark, brooding and heartbreakingly broken contractor who knows more about Megan’s life than she could have ever imagined. Enter Theo Valentine, a scarred and selectively quiet man whose own life spiralled out of control five years earlier. What ensues is the back and forth, yin and yang between two people whose paths may have crossed in another life.
Megan Dunn does not understand why Theo Valentine took an instant dislike to her upon her arrival in Seaside Oregon. From outwards appearances Theo’s disdain and hatred of our story line heroine hides a growing attraction and curiosity that embodies one man’s interest and concern for a woman he has never met but knows everything about and more. While Megan desperately tries to get inside the head of the man with whom she is falling in love, Theo is unable to let go of the past insisting he is not worthy of second chances at life or love.
There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters whose love for our story line hero is balanced by his own hatred of what was and what has become.
MIDNIGHT VALENTINE is fantastically brilliant and intelligent story of the mind, body and spirit’s ability to hide and protect; to overcome the demons of the past. A tender, tragic and encouraging tale with a heartbreaking hero and sassy heroine who battle between head and heart in a fated dance meant to captivate the soul, and liberate the ghosts from the past. MIDNIGHT VALENTINE is a beautiful written and mesmorizing story of second chances, fate, coincidence and love.