I didn’t know her name, but I heard her laugh, tasted her lips, felt her warm skin as I held her in my arms. Together we watched our young children playing in the sand, the warm ocean lapping at the shore behind them as the setting sun painted the sky. She was my soulmate and this was our life, our beautiful forever … machines.
There was no wife. No kids. Not a single soul waiting for me. That life I dreamt of—never existed.
The woman I loved, the woman I knew better than I knew myself—wasn’t real.
Until she walked into my life six months later …
And it was both the best and worst day of my life because the woman of my dreams—was about to marry my best friend.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: This angsty contemporary romance contains NO cheating or love triangles.
more
4.5 stars
I had to read this book. I believe signs from above come from various ways. I thought this book about signs and fate was beautiful. I loved how persistent and truly believing he was about the dream and it’s content. When your heart knows, it knows.
This book is hard to explain. It is a forbidden romance, with a small taste of supernatural. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but you get a glimpse of it from the blurb. After his accident, he is basically a shell of a man. Barely living life. He woke from his coma a different man. A better man, even if he isn’t emotionally on point. She is sorta the black sheep of her family. Very much loved, but the odd man out (at least when it comes to certain things.) She has a job she loves, a doting fiance, and a family who loves her. He has his sister and his career, and a dream he is trying to unravel. While the characters show their emotions (whether that be happy or sad,) the overall vibe of the book has a melancholy feel. There’s no real joyous moments to liven it up. (Well, until we get to the HEA.) Though it’s not a dark read. While the two shouldn’t be anything more than acquaintances, there is a force constantly pulling them together. It’s an easy and rather quick read. It alternates between POVs. Despite the lack of ‘joy’ it is a captivating read.
*I received an ARC of this book.
This was a very enjoyable book to read. If you are looking for a steamy read this is not it but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read this book. The story is different-I won’t give any spoilers. It’s mostly about the 2 main characters but they hold your attention with what they are going through. A very well written book
You need to have an open mind when reading this book. A second chance love story filled with angst, it broadens the contrasting perspectives of fate and free will.
The Best Man is a fascinating story that completely captivated me from the very beginning. There are so many different elements that develop within the story line – suspense, mystery, forbidden, star-crossed, and friends-to-lovers. The development and flow of the story blends beautifully with the growth of the characters, both individually and together. But what pulled me in was the bewitching and compelling connection between Cainan and Brie…how one serendipitous encounter set forth fate’s plans for their HEA. But alas, it is not a pretty one. The battle between the head and the heart is an emotional roller coaster of love, loss, and sacrifice…challenging the strong bonds of friendship and loyalty with the yearning desire for love and devotion. The story makes you believe in a destiny that at most times is very hard to accept but is worth it in the end.
This slow burn romance takes two very emotionally vulnerable people and brings them together when they are needed for one another the most. Its meaningful and diverse story line paired with the author’s superb writing makes this a highly enjoyable and very memorable must-read. You won’t be able to put it down.
4.5 Stars!
I love Winter Renshaw’s writing. She never disappoints! Cainan (Cain) and Brie’s story is beautiful. Cain, a divorce attorney, is a complex character. Brie is a beautiful character, strong, smart, and independent. They are great together. The storyline is intriguing, filled with angst, lies, and unpredictable twists and turns. I loved it! Looking forward for more books writen by Winter Renshaw.
This book is amazing and the character are wondering. Cainan is your typical male that is very good looking and know it. His world comes crashing down when he wakes up in a hospital looking for a wife that doesn’t even existed. Everyone keeps looking at him like he is crazy so he start to realize that he has to act normal in order for others to think he is past this whole wife thing. deep inside he knows that something is just not right and he know she has to be somewhere out there but where. He continues to live life but is always filled with pain that he might never be happy because he wants the wife for his dreams well to him not a dream at all it was just to real.
Brie is a girl who does really like to take changes and like to keep everything the same she stays in her own little shell so that others dont judge or try to change her. Little does she knows that her life is going to flip real so when she finds out the a man she meet a while back at a bar happens to be someone she saved and someone she gets a butterfly feeling but cant act on because of her boyfriend. Things get crazy and i dont want to give up to much so you must read and i promise you will love it.
sometimes life gives you signs and those signs are for the ones we love and cant believe it.
Cainan James’s life is perfect. He loves his wife and children and is happier than he could have ever imagined. That is until he wakes up in a hospital room and is told everything he thought was his life was all in his mind and none of it existed.
Brie White met a man in the bar and although she felt a spark with him she never saw him again. After witnessing a car accident Brie meets Grant Forsythe and the two soon find themselves in a relationship and engaged after 6 months but Brie isn’t sure that he is the man for her.
Yet nothing surprises Cainan more when 6 months later he sees the girl of his dreams once again only she is engaged to his best friend and not available.
This was such an awesome story and I loved it from beginning to end!
My heart broke for Cainan with everything he experienced after waking up from his coma and how he truly believed he had a wife and kids and could remember so many specific details. When Cainan realizes who he has been dreaming about his heart completely shatters and I feel awful for him! Cainan truly was a great guy and it was apparent he had changed because of the accident and I truly respected him for it as he knew how fragile life could be.
I really liked Brie was a great character and I loved her first meeting of Cainan in the bar. She was such a great person which was apparent after the accident and how much she helped at the scene. I did feel bad for her with her relationship with Grant as it was apparent he was fast tracking everything and had completely won over her family.
I loved when Brie and Cainan met up once again without knowing who each other were and how honest they were. The two had an ease with each other that made it comfortable to share things. Yet things then went sideways when they discovered who the other one was.
I gave Brie so much credit for following her own path and not giving into anyone else. I loved that she took a chance going to New York and it provided her the clarity that she needed to figure out her own life.
I liked the friendship that began to form between Brie and Cainan although there was still “secrets” that hung over Cainan’s head that I was definitely worried about. Everything did explode and my heart really broke for Cainan above everyone else.
I loved when Brie also put together the pieces surrounding Grant!
The end was awesome and I was so glad that Brie really finally believed Cainan about everything and his “dreams”.
The epilogue made me do such a happy dance and I want more of these characters!
The Best Man was a beautifully written story that will leave you book satisfied long after you have finished. These two characters you never knew you needed to read their story, until you do. Loved it!!
Cainan never knew love growing up, he always a protector. One day he met a boy next door. One who became his brother. So he has his sister and his best friend. As the years go on, and he has always kept up his friendship with Grant. He is good looking, rich, but he is not your typical guy. Which Brie is about to find out.
Brie is a very driven woman. She hates conflict, unlike her twin Kari. But when her twin died, she wanted to embrace her sisters attitude with life. One day her life changes when she helps a stranger.
This story has so many feels you guys. I was so sucked in by this story. The pace was perfect. The scenes with the main leads was captivating. I just loved them together. Vivian does such a great job of writing these stories that take us away from the everyday life. Ones that leave a smile on our faces.
I was absolutely intrigued with the blurb for The Best Man by Winter Renshaw. A man in a coma dreams about his wife and kids only to wake up and find out they were not real. None of it is real. But no one else makes sense to him. Then he finds her. She is engaged to his best friend. That should make her totally off-limits, right?
Cainan and Brie’s story was emotional, forbidden and angst-filled. Their journey was not an easy one and one that takes its time, but it does get you there. It was full of surprises and twist. Cainan was determine and loyal to a fault. Brie was a bit lost but did find her way. It will hurt your heart at times, but it is also about finding love and destiny.
Read and reviewed for Sultry Sirens Book Blog.
happy reading!
Brie and Cainan’s first meeting sets the wheel of fate in motion, putting them on a life-altering course to happy ever after. The final outcome isn’t set in stone though and the choices they make will determine where they end up.
The intriguing book blurb alone should whet your appetite for this amazing story! There’s something magical, literally and figuratively, in this incredible love story. It is sweet and heart-warming and special in every way. The appealing characters, the excellent writing, the captivating plot by Winter Renshaw, pulled me into the story heart and soul. I loved it and I couldn’t put it down.
I am voluntarily reviewing an advance reader copy of this book.
P.S. This book would make a GREAT movie!
4.5 stars
“It’s ironic – I almost died. And yet, since the moment I was condemned back into my body, I’ve never felt more…dead.”
Cainan James wakes up from a coma asking for this wife and kids. However, the beautiful reality he was convinced he had seemed to be just a dream because they don’t exist. Until he meets a familiar stranger one night. Until he meets her again and realises that he can never have her.
“Everything is criss-crossing and intersecting in the strangest of ways, and I don’t quite know what to make of it.”
Brie White has never felt a connection with anyone, such as the one she has with Cainan. Their paths have crossed a few times before they finally formally meet. When her circumstances change and she finds herself spending more time with Cainan, there’s definitely a line between them that can’t be crossed.
“It’s as though my soul has been waiting for her to come along my entire life. Now here she is.”
This was a fab, somewhat magical story full of coincidences and fate. Cainan is my kinda guy – gorgeous, strong, loyal, and only really speaks when he has something to say. I was rooting for him all the way to find his dream woman. Brie was always the quiet one in her family – the one not really living life large – however, quiet doesn’t equal weak. She’s got backbone and convictions and willing to do the right thing even if it’s hard, rather than go with the flow so as not to rock the boat. I thoroughly enjoyed their slow-burn fall into love.
Leave it to Winter to write a beautiful, heartbreaking story about Cainan and Brie’s chance meeting that should have been more. So what happens when you wake up from a coma with amnesia and the woman you thought was your wife was really your best friend’s fiance? Oh my God this book was good.
Brie is in New York City on business. She is very young to be an actuary but she concentrated on going to college without socializing. Cainan is a divorce attorney with his friends from college. He was in a car accident and wakes up in the hospital a month later thinking he has a wife. He suffered extensive injuries in the accident and had to be put in a medically-induced coma. Brie rescued Cainan and told him about herself to keep him focused on her voice. This was well written and has wonderful characters that draw you into the storyline. You have betrayal, lies, cheating with an HEA ending. I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
From the moment I read the Blurb I knew I was in for an emotional ride. I could feel the angst and anticipation and without knowing the characters, I was rooting for them. Cainan and Brie have the kind of connection you wish everyone can have. They truly are soulmates who found each other before they ever even met. I couldn’t put this down. The angst and anticipation and the wait for them to figure out how to be together was so much.
I enjoyed reading Brie and Cainan’s story. A dream/premonition, and a second chance at the woman he wants. I received a copy of this book via Hidden Gems and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Can you fall in love with a voice heard in your dying mind?
One thing to remember when you are reading Winter Renshaw’s books, is that every scene is significant, because she will waste no words. And so, I started The Best Man.
I was intrigued from the first chapter, and straight from there Ms Winter broke my heart for Cainan and his lost dream. I knew from the blurb it was going to happen, but it hurt nonetheless. It also broke for Brie and her lost chance, and then I sat there with a deep hatred for Cainan’s best friend, merely for being the one to ask her out first. Heart-broken from the irony of their first meeting. I was gutted. GUTTED, I tell you! I wanted to scream at her that she was with the wrong man! Grant seemed too handsome, too cheerful, too happy and just, too, smarmy!
Cainan was a gorgeous man with an honourable soul, and unfortunately, he was also Grant’s attorney.
This is one hell of an intense slow burning book. Oh man, the chemistry between Cainan and Brie, once they did meet was sooooo ‘intense,’ yes, I have to use that word again, and Ms Renshaw held me in her thrall through every chapter. I couldn’t put this book down, and I was glued to it, because I needed to find out how and when Cainan was going to get his resolution, also knowing that all will be revealed in Ms Renshaw’s own timetable. Reading faster was a double-edged sword! Sure, I’d find out what happened faster, but I also didn’t necessarily want it to be the end of the book!
Seriously, Winter Renshaw is an auto-one click author for me, and one whose books I will always highly recommend. And, this book deserves 5 Stars
One of Winter Renshaw’s best work yet! The Best Man is a story of destiny and fate. Cainan and Brie meet at a singles bar in Hoboken. With striking handsome looks and piercing eyes, Cainan has no problem attracting women. Brie, on the other hand, is more careful. She doesn’t do one-night stands and ends up walking away from Cainan’s advances that night.
A couple days later, she witnesses an accident that Cainan is involved in while heading home. Brie is the one at the scene calling 911, then following up at the hospital. This is where she meets Cainan’s best friend Grant. Friends since childhood, Cainan and Grant were more like brothers that shared a long history.
Months into Brie and Grant’s relationship, he proposes out of the blue. Marriage was never discussed between the two so it came as quite a surprise. As if fate had other plans, Brie encounters Cainan on numerous occasions. Their chemistry is undeniable but out of respect for Grant, Cainan keeps his distance.
Without giving too much away, The Best Man is a breathtaking story of fate and destiny. It took me on a roller coaster ride of emotions and reminded me of what it felt like when you love someone with your entire heart and soul.
Can you dream about the love of your life while in coma? Cainan’s car accident almost killed him. But after a month in come he is awake and asking about his wife but he is nor married. Brie witnessed a terrible accident and kept talking to the man involved until the ambulance arrived. Can two soulmates keep meeting until they really find each other? A deep love story.
This is one of Winter’s most outstanding books in my opinion. It was a twist on the theme of someone waking up in hospital and not knowing the person that they love. In this one Cainan wakes up after being in an accident, and believes that he is married to the love of his life and that they have two kids. Even though he realizes that his dream is not true, he is still haunted by this woman. It makes us wonder how he can possibly know so much about someone he has never met.
Brie randomly met Cainan in a bar for the first time when they were immediately drawn to each other. Then she became a witness to his accident and talked to him before paramedics arrived. She met her fiance Grant at the hospital when they were both waiting for news about Cainan. What a shock for Cainan when he learns that the woman in his dreams is real and is engaged to his best friend. This is when we think ok we have a love triangle here, and who will win the fair maiden. But this is so much more!
This story did not turn out at all how I imagined, there were many twists and turns and unexpected motives revealed, and characters were not at all how they seemed at the beginning and I loved it. A great book that I had a hard time putting down so I could sleep.
A beautiful tale of love, fate, second chances and destiny! I loved this story and these characters! Such an emotional and compelling story!