Still The One (The Heartbreak Brothers Book 2)

After reading a review that particularly hated the hero, I was worried what my reaction to this book was going to be. I was quite surprised. I loved Tanner. I loved him in the previous book, and I love him here in his own book. Yes, he does some stupid things, but he was young, and stupid, and didn’t really know any better at the time. Van rubbed all my baggage the wrong way. With alcoholics in my own history, I have an intimate understanding of all the things Van is doing wrong and it made me want to yell and scream at my reader. I guess it just goes to show how deeply into the story the author pulled me. In spite of my reservations going in, I loved this book.
I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book through Booksprout.

I enjoyed reading Still the One, the second book in The Heartbreak Series. A great second chance, friends to lives romance. This book is a standalone, but I do recommend you read the first book as well. This book was very well crafted, and Carrie does a wonderful job of touching on several topics, weaving into seamlessly into the plot of this book. The story of Tanner and Van is a hard one for me, and the amount of angst in this book is a heavy load and is not necessarily the easiest to swallow, but I definitely recommend you give it a try though.

I thought this book was very well written.
Savannah (Van) and Tanner were sweet together. I loved the memories they shared about growing up together as BFF’s… they were inseparable.
It was sad that due to a major misunderstanding that left them both having broken hearts, they were feeling incomplete for 10 years.
How many times have relationships been destroyed because the parties weren’t honest with each other or themselves. That a simple conversation may have put things into perspective.
This story broke my heart, but I felt both Van and Tanner had a lot of personal growth and deserved a HEA.
Great read.
I was given an ARC but voluntarily chose to review

I really enjoyed reading Still The One by Carrie Elks because it was such a great book about Van and Tanner. They had known each other as kids and were friends. But then it grew into something else. They were in love but as it was something happened and they wouldn’t see each other for years after that. They meet up again after Van comes back to help with her mom and sister. There was some family drama that made Van the talk of the town. Tanner’s character was lovable and he was always trying to protect and help his siblings. Van’s character was scared and embarrassed of her situation. Together, they made a great couple. I highly recommend this book. It is definitely a roller coaster of emotions for Van and Tanner and all of their family. It is a great book about getting a second chance with the one you love.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

“Still the One” is Book 2 in the Heartbreak Brothers series by the brilliant Carrie Elks. It is the first book in this series I have read, but I discovered Elks through her Angel Sands series, and with each book of hers I read, I fall more and more in love with her writing. Tanner is the second Hartson brother to have his story told (Gray’s book is “Take Me Home”).

Tanner and Van met when they were six years old and were instant best friends. They stayed that way until after high school, when their relationship not only ended, but ended badly. Ten years later, they are reunited when they both return home to their small town. Their love story is a second chance romance at its best. Tanner and Van are such well-crafted characters and there is no other way to describe their story than to say it is beautiful. Heartbreakingly so at times. But when you have a couple as real and with such combustible chemistry, you have to expect some heat, and not always the pleasurable kind. Then add the supporting cast : each of Tanner’s four brothers and his sister Becca, all well-developed, three-dimensional characters; Zoe is the coolest kid; and Kim is written with such authenticity that you cannot help but emphasize with Van that much more.

Any story that can make me laugh, cry, growl in frustration a couple times, and beg off a Saturday because I am too engrossed to notice the time pass, is worth more than five stars.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

The second book in the Heartbreak Brothers series focuses on brother Tanner Hartson and childhood best friend Savannah “Van”. These two characters had not seen each other in 10 years, but when they reunited, the angst and lost love between them could be felt in the pages Carrie wrote.

In the end, Carrie gives the readers a happily-ever-after in this page-turner novel that will keep you on your toes, and rooting for these two characters wholeheartedly! I can’t wait to read more in the Heartbreak Brothers series!

‘Still the one’ is the second book in the ‘The heartbreak brothers’ series and after reading and loving the first book ‘Take me home’ I was very curious about the other books in this series. Because in the first story we met not only Gray Hartson but also his 3 younger brothers and sister. And his fun and handsome brothers certainly left a wonderful impression on me and I wanted more of them. This story is about Tanner, the youngest brother, who just like all his brothers left their small town but just like his oldest brother Gray, he has come back to it, but he is not the only who has come back to their hometown, his childhood best friend Savannah ‘Van’ Butler has come back too.

‘Still the one’ is a story about friendship, about two people that met as young children and from the first moment, they formed a bond. They were best friends growing up but then emotions and some misunderstanding broke these two lovely people apart. Now, ten years later, they have a second chance on love, will the past repeat itself or are they older and wiser now to make the right decision and have a future together?

It was such a sweet and emotional story! I loved the two main characters, Tanner and Van very much. Tanner is a great guy, intelligent, caring, with a good heart and Van is lovely too, she’s sensitive but also strong. They had a very special bond so it was very sad to read what had happened in the past between them but I can also understand why it happened. Van is very loyal and she feels very responsible for her sick mother and her little sister Zoe (who is a great character too). In life we have to make difficult decisions and sometimes we make the wrong ones, that is reality. The importance is that we learn from it and both Van and Tanner luckily did.
This story is more than just romance, it’s also about growing up in a small town and standing up for yourself.

I was delighted to see all of the Hartson brothers again and to see more of Maddie too and how she and Gray were doing. The bond between the brothers and their sister is strong, warm and filled with emotions but also with laughs and jokes.

The story is told in both POV’s and I’m already curious to read the next story in this series.

So Good, I Didn’t Want It To End

This book has so much to it, it’s hard to describe. Its not merely heartwarming, it literally tugs at the heart strings. It’s has just enough angst to make you want to keep tissues handy. It’s sad and what makes it even more sad is that it could be real life. BUT…. it also shows how people can grow, how they can change and how they can learn to face their fears rather than keep denying them.

So, what is this book about? It’s about survival. It’s about love. It’s about acceptance. Some in this book succeed …. some don’t.

Camouflaging abuse takes special skills. I’m talking about emotional abuse.It requires excellent denial skills, It requires accepting loss of people and of things, regardless of the pain that comes with that loss. It’s needed in order to keep walls up that started erecting as a child.

What would you do to survive? Here, both Van and Tanner have perfected those skills and didn’t even know it. Following their journey to healing, to realizing the truth, to finding love is a journey worth taking. Enjoy!

OBSERVATIONS … (may contain spoilers):

Van’s mother had me cringing. Van was her enabler for way too long. It finally took the truth revealed to make her mother see she needed help. Mama held on to secrets way too long…. and papa? Well, I wanted to see his downfall. I wanted to see him as the scourge of the community at those weekly Chairs meet-ups. Pride goeth before the fall and that man’s pride needed to go… followed by his fall.

What Tanner did to Van was VERY painful. I can understand and see why she stayed away for 10 years. I never felt like Tanner knew or felt the the depth of pain he caused. If he knew Van so well, then he would have known there was a real reason she couldn’t go with him to Duke. Instead of getting to the truth, he chose to act out in the worst way possible. What he said to her at the door was inexcusable. She already felt she was not good enough. He just compounded it. That would be VERY hard to overcome and forget. Even 10 years later, Van kept her mind in denial to the degree of pain Tanner caused her. Did Tanner cheat on Van or not? That’s up to you, the reader, to decide. Sometimes actions and choices are not black and white.

(Spoiler paragraph follows)

Tanner said they needed to talk about what happened at Duke. Well, to me, his explanation was weak and shallow, and Van again was in denial. Surely she didn’t forget those painful words … words he calmly said to her that morning at the door. And how about the words his ‘new friend’ used when she basically told Van to get lost. And, from what Tanner said, he and his ‘friend’ sure weren’t finished as the morning was young. He made sure Van knew he wanted more of what he had the night before… WITH SOMEONE BETTER THAN VAN. He even laughed at her as he put her down and watched her tearfully run away. He doesn’t give her a second thought as he goes back to his lover and continues on in the bedroom. Nope, he brushed over all of that when he ‘talked’ about that night at Duke and what happened. Words are painful…. they may not break bones but they form and embed scars that don’t heal. Tanner couldn’t be more cruel. There’s a difference between hurting the one you love and being cruel.

Tanner had a lot to make up for … and 10 years later he does his best to do just that. He also suffered from what he did/said to Van that morning. He suffered for those 10 years, reliving daily the damage his words/acts caused. I wish we could have ‘seen’ some of that daily remorse he suffered during that 10 year absence. Maybe I would ‘see’ Tanner in a better light. Yes, I do believe he knows he was wrong but I just didn’t get to see him living it. Logan alludes to it in the book but would have liked to have felt Tanner’s remorse better.

Must say, I agree with Grey…. Tanner was an a$$hole. And, just who was the one there for Tanner on the worst night of his life, the night his mother died? It was Van. But when she needed him…. where was he? Certainly not with her, as she found out in the crudest of ways.

Loved seeing Grey, Maddie, Logan, Cam etc. again. They played a real role in the story, not simply cameo appearances.

As for Nora…. I have mixed feelings. She was treated badly by her husband too. If she knew what he was doing and accepted it, then shame on her. But if she was blindsided, that’s a different story. I got the feeling she knew but for how long, I’m not sure. She made her choices so it’s hard to feel badly for her.

I received an advance copy of this book for an honest review
(Edited review to clarify thoughts on Tanner)

A well-written and beautiful story filled with lots of emotions and wonderful characters. I loved the bond and chemistry between Van and Tanner. Will definitely check out the next book in this series.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.