From the New York Times bestselling author of Archer’s Voice comes an “uplifting story of two broken souls” (Corinne Michaels) in this “exquisite, beautifully written romance” (Samantha Young).
A broken woman . . . Crystal learned long ago that love brings only pain. Feeling nothing at all is far better than being hurt again. She guards her wounded heart behind a hard exterior and carries … her wounded heart behind a hard exterior and carries within her a deep mistrust of men, who, in her experience, have only ever used and taken.
A man in need of help . . .
Then Gabriel Dalton walks into her life. Despite the terrible darkness of his past, there’s an undeniable goodness in him. And even though she knows the cost, Crystal finds herself drawn to Gabriel. His quiet strength is wearing down her defenses and his gentle patience is causing her to question everything she thought she knew.
Only love can mend a shattered heart . . .
Crystal and Gabriel never imagined that the world, which had stolen everything from them, would bring them a deep love like this. Except fate will only take them so far, and now the choice is theirs: Harden their hearts once again or find the courage to shed their painful pasts.
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WOW. Just WOW. I fell in love with Mia Sheridan’s writing when I was introduced to Leo. She has become an absolute 1 click author. It just doesn’t matter. Whatever she writes will be amazing! Her stories are told from the heart. She makes you believe that no matter what happens, at the end of the day you can find goodness and love.
I am not one who likes to spoil stories. So I sit here and think about what I can say about Most All of You. First of all, I went in blind, I didn’t even read the blurb. Most All of You is a story about love, loss, tragedy, coping, circumstances and healing.
The prologue had me on my knees. The emotions I felt had my heart in pieces. It was raw and real. I was so devastated. I didn’t think I could take anymore. And I mean that in the most sincere way. I knew that I was a in for an amazing story. It is beautifully written, and flows from chapter to chapter.
Crystal and Gabriel meet under unusual circumstances. Life has put them both in horrible situations. They have learned to cope with the hand that was dealt to them in different ways. Unfortunately, Crystal does not have the same support that Gabriel had thus making her coping much different.
Although life has put them both in these situations, Gabriel realizes that he and Crystal are more alike than he first thought.
“Sometimes we wore such hurtful, limiting labels in this life, whether they’d been assigned by others or by ourselves. I’d felt ruined and damaged once, but I didn’t anymore. I was still a work in progress, but I wasn’t a victim. I was a survivor.”
There are some flash backs and I love love loved the quotes in the beginning of each chapter! When we finally learn their meanings – just get the tissues ready…..
So go! Jump in, feet first! Feel the love, loss, tragedy, angst and experience the journey that is Mia Sheridan.
“You can find hope in the strangest of places, in the darkest of corners. Clutch it close, my darling. It’s yours and no one else’s.”
5 stars!!!!!
The characters are perfectly flawed and human and yet as shattered as they are the way they persevere, (one of them more/sooner than the other but they both get there), fills you with hope and leaves your heart full. It’s a satisfying, beautiful read.
Mia Sheridan is the queen of the deeply wounded, soul scarred hero/heroine who is healed thru love. Every book I’ve read by her makes me cry – in a good way. Her books aren’t quick reads and there isn’t a lot of steamy sex scenes, but if you want to read something about love, slow burning, simmering, crock pot love, then read her books. This is the story of a Gabriel, a young man who as abducted and abused as a child for 6 long years. When he is found and returned to his family, he finds another set of tragedies involving his family. Because of the abuse, he can’t stand to be touched so he hires Crystal, a stripper at a local club to teach him how to tolerate being touched. This arrangement doesn’t work out because Crystal has her own baggage from her horrible childhood. Tragic events throw this couple together and they end up spending a lot of quality time together, which eventually blossoms into love.
Your heart will ached for this couple as they try to bury the demons of their pasts so they can be open to love again. They each go thru a lot to get there, and sometimes I found myself holding my breath because I wasn’t sure they were going to make it.
I have been a fan of Mia Sheridan for a long while, Archer’s Voice is still one of my favorite books of all time, but Most of All, You is a close second. Make sure you have plenty of tissue when you read it!
New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Mia Sheridan seized my heart with a fist and squeezed tighter with each new revelation in Gabriel and Ellie’s story. Most of All You is an emotionally wrought love story filled with despair and hope.
Ellie has been dealt a s*** hand in life from a young age. Working as a stripper by the name of Crystal, she pays the bills, barely. She doesn’t allow herself to hope or dream for anything other than what she has. She constantly sees the bad in every situation and accepts it as what she deserves. She has closed herself off from the pain and the unwanted advances that tend to be an everyday occurrence for her.
When the mysterious stranger who looks like he doesn’t belong anywhere near a strip club wants her help being comfortable with closeness from a woman, she turns him down. She’s a stripper not a prostitute. Then her car breaks down and she has no choice but to reconsider. Though their “sessions” don’t last long they develop a deep connection to each other. One that she is thankful for after a horrific turn of events leaves her incapacitated in the hospital.
Gabriel’s life hasn’t been a cakewalk. In fact, he’s lived through more than anyone can imagine. The events in his past have left him closed off from everyone, unable to experience true intimacy or just a simple touch without freezing up or flipping out, sometimes both. When a grad student shows interest in interviewing him regarding his past, they form a friendship through emails and phone calls. As the day approaches that they will finally meet, Gabriel feels he may be ready to try with her. But his aversion to closeness remains. His solution is to hire someone.
When Gabriel first meets Ellie, she’s dancing as Crystal. He glimpses something in her eyes, a sadness and longing for more. She doesn’t belong in the dirty seedy club any more than he does. His offer and their “sessions” only confirm his thoughts about her. And even though she continues to push him away he keeps coming back. When she lands in the hospital needing someone to care for her after her release, he doesn’t hesitate to offer himself and his home. His intention is to show her that she is worth so much more than she believes.
Can the woman who only knows how to run away help the man that wants her to stay?
This gloriously written novel takes you from traumatic experience to traumatic experience. There is more than enough hurt to fill a lifetime. I don’t know how Gabriel found the strength to survive what he did. When he basically relived it, I found tears streaming down my face. He is one of the strongest characters I have ever read. His ability to face what happened and not let it take him under, was nothing short of amazing. He lost so much and instead of allowing it to make him bitter, he used it to show his love every day. I loved his awkward shyness and his steadfast love for Ellie.
Ellie is as Gabriel described her, witty and intelligent, hard and soft, a mixture of hope and reality. She was dealt the cruelty and harshness of this world at a very young age and let it dictate how her life went. But she kept a hold on a thin sliver of hope and when Gabriel comes into her life he nurtures that hope until it blooms. Ellie was such a broken and lost girl. I couldn’t help but feel sympathetic toward her and everything she goes through, especially since she reminds me of a once close friend. If I didn’t know better I would swear that this was written about her.
My heart ached, my eyes wept and my mouth smiled. Devastating yet sweet, Most of All You is a must read! You’ll fall in love not only with Gabriel and Ellie, but Kayla, George, Chloe and even Dominic. FIVE stars for rainbows, daffodils and angels.
What an epic love story, two broken hearts finding wholeness in each other and then wholeness in themselves as individuals. What great sorrow and pain to great joy and healing. I really connected with Ellie and I thoroughly enjoyed her healing process and her road to self discovery. Heartfelt, true and so consuming.
Both of the leads were easy for me to love. They have painful pasts, beyond the norm, tragedies in fact. I like the way they overcome. It’s an emotional journey that fills the soul and the eyes. Crystal/Ellie is not in a good place in most aspects of her life, but the writing makes her easy to understand. This book illustrates the importance of taking the time with others instead of judging. Gabriel is bone-deep good. He’s solid, strong, supportive and sensitive. I couldn’t help falling hard for him. Because he’s been working through his issues for longer and mostly in a better place, he is patient with her. He gives her love and space as needed. Also, I have to say thank you so much to the author for making girl characters who are genuinely nice to each other. I’m always looking for a story that makes me feel. Most of All You kept a hold on my heart. It’s definitely a book I recommend.