How much can a man take before he breaks? 1,843 days. That’s how long I survived in that hellhole. They tried to break me, but I resisted. And I owe it all to the memory of warm summer nights, the scent of peaches, and the one woman who loved me more than I ever deserved to be loved. Now, I’ll do anything to get back to her. Only Shelby Eubanks isn’t the girl I left behind all those years ago. … I left behind all those years ago. She’s someone else, a stranger. My Shelby—my little green-eyed firecracker—would never give up her dreams, would never disappear into her mother’s ambitions. But I won’t give up on her. On us. I may be broken, and scarred, and not the man I used to be, but I will do whatever it takes to remind her of the story of us.more
This was a tear-jerker for me. Loved every minute of it in a what-in-the-world-can-happen-to-these-characters next. Seriously rooted for them.
4.5 bumped to 5 stars. Wow. Just WOW. The first book I ever read by Tara Sivec was A Beautiful Lie, book one in the Playing With Fire series, it was a 5-star read as far as I’m concerned and I don’t give those out very often. The Story of Us has made almost the same impression on me. Tara Sivec managed to wreak havoc on my emotions once again.
The Story of Us is a second chance story of a young couple torn apart by war, deceit, and selfishness. The deceit and selfishness will shock you. It isn’t often that I’m caught off guard or blindsided, but Ms Sivec managed to add a twist to this story that I totally didn’t expect and was literally caught with my mouth hanging open.
The Story of Us is emotional, it’s raw, and it will rip your emotions apart.
This was my first Tara Sivec read and I was blown away. I knew right from the start it was going to reek havoc on my heart. I cannot even imagine the horrors our troops see on a daily basis. To say my heart went out to Eli is an understatement. My heart broke for Shelby and the choices she made to protect him. I truly did not see the twist coming and I bawled my eyes out. Kudos to Ms. Sivec for tackling such a heavy subject and writing such a beautiful love story.
I wanted to like it because it sounded interesting. But it didn’t take long to get tired of f bombs being dropped way too often without really adding anything to the story. Didn’t read much and would not recommend it.
If I could give this book more than five stars I would. No, seriously, this book deserves more than five stars because it’s that powerful.
What happens when you put someone else’s dreams before yours without them knowing? What happens when walking away is the only option you have to save those you love? What will you do if you’re given a second chance? Will you take it? Read the Story of Us. For Eli meet these characters and let them captivate you.
This has been the hardest review for me to write because all I can think about is how emotionally invested I was from start to finish. It was nothing of what I expected. There are some twists that literally left me feeling so open and raw. I put my kindle down. My son found crying. I ran out of tissues. I thought about sending the author my pitchers of tears.
If you loved Fisher’s Light by this author, you will without a doubt love this book.
Read it.
This is one heck of a book hangover!
5 “You saved me” stars!
Wow, wow, wow. Sometimes my cold heart will feel, what are those things called again? Oh yeah, emotions. They don’t come around too often but when they do, they hit me hard and make me like a book that much more. I absolutely loved Shelby and Eli. Those two had me feeling all kinds of these so called feelings. A roller coaster of emotions if you will. I finished this book late last night and I’m still thinking about them a day later. The last half of the book about killed me. I wanted to wrap both Eli and Shelby up into my arms and give them a great big group hug!
I say Tara hit it outta the park with this one. What a fantastic second chance romance, I highly recommend it.
My favorite quote-“You saved me, Shelby,”
“For five years, you saved me, and you didn’t even know it. Now it’s my turn to save you.” *girly sigh*
Eli and Shelby were in love, the kind of love that most spend a lifetime trying to find, but they came from different worlds, and their differences caused them to part. Eli left their little town to serve his country, and Shelby followed in the footsteps that her mother paved for her, and the love they shared slowly slipped away. Eli found himself being captured and held against his will by the enemy and everyone back home began to lose faith and started to really believe he was gone. Shelby mourned the loss of Eli and the life they had together. Then she met another man, one handpicked by her mother, and soon found herself engaged to be a wife to man she didn’t really love, but walking away from him was not permitted. She has an image to uphold, and this man is good for appearances, and her mother’s political reputation. Shelby knows it isn’t right, it isn’t the life she wants to live, but what can she do…
Then Shelby gets the surprise of her life, Eli is alive and headed stateside, and she wants nothing more to be with him, but there are expectations in place for her, and Eli doesn’t fit into the plan. But Eli has a plan of his own, to win back the woman who stole his heart all those years ago, and create the life with her they had always dreamed about… come hell or high water. But the woman he finds when he returns home is a mere shell of the woman he left behind, and she is engaged to marry a man he knows isn’t right for her… now he must remind her of the love they shared, and hope it’s enough to win back her heart, and put light back into the eyes of woman who holds his heart.
This breathtakingly beautiful story completely wrecked me, it broke my heart and then little by little began to mend it back together again. It was a heart-wrenching story about two broken souls who needed to find love again, needed it to heal them, and bring them back to life. and their touching journey to find it moved me beyond words. It has been a while since I have read something so powerful and moving, and I have to say I am quite impressed with this first time read, it is definitely one of the best first reads I have read in a really long time. I highly recommend you get your hands on this one, it was an eye opening experience for me, one that stirred my emotions, moved me to tears, and is sure to linger with me for a long while.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this title.
Tara is such an amazing writer. She does so much so good that I am in awe of her. This book is yet another reason she is one of my favorites. I haven’t read anything that has hit me as hard as Fisher’s Light did, well now there is this one. The Story Of Us is full of feeling and intensity that you can not come up for air till you are at the end. A second chance romance that I knew I was going to love but I did not know it would wreck me as much as it did. The end of the book could have been a little less crazy but other than that the book was flawless. I can not recommend this one enough. Amazing Tara, simply fantastic in every way.
Heart wrenching, but beautiful and emotional.
Raw, emotional, beautiful, sweet and tragic. There are not enough adjectives in the world to describe all of the feels in this amazing story. I absolutely LOVED Eli and Shelby’s story. And Rylan…sweet, messy, crazy, man-bun-having Rylan. I love that this story was beautiful and painful at the same time…at certain points I felt like the pain was jumping off the page right at me. I was completely hooked from the very first page and I didn’t put it down until I was done. By chapter 29 I was sobbing and trying to read through my tears. Those who have read it will know why…so I won’t give anything away. One of the things I loved most was that I didn’t see it coming. It’s not often that a book catches me by surprise…but it’s one of my very favorite things when it does. I have read every single book Tara has ever written…and I truly love them all. But The Story of Us is my new favorite. It’s one of those books that will stick with you for a while after you read it and that is ALWAYS the sign of a great story! Do yourself a favor and one-click this story…you absolutely will not regret it.
I have never read a Tara Sivec book before. Yeah, I know, I’m really late to the game. I’m not sure why I haven’t but when I saw a blurb for The Story of Us, it seemed like something that I would enjoy. I enjoy a good second chance romance while the aspect of it being a military love frightens me. I had a feeling I was in for the ride of my life…and I was right.
As I sat today and read the book, I am in awe of Ms. Sivec. I am completely and utterly heartbroken one minute and then totally in love the next over this story. From the start of the relationship of Eli and Shelby, to where they are when they reconnect is one of pure heartbreak and devastation. Shelby is not the woman Eli left behind. Eli has gone thru things that Shelby could never even imagine. Shelby puts on her fake smile for a man whom she doesn’t love and a mother who is holding her hostage. Eli knows there are so many roadblocks in his way back to Shelby, especially her mother.
Can Eli and Shelby reconnect and find love again? What exactly does Shelby’s mother have to do with their relationship? Can Shelby and Eli truly surpass all the roadblocks in their way?
The relationship between Eli and Shelby is fantastic. Even after all those years apart, you can sense their chemistry is just off the charts. There are so many twists and turns in this book and so many pieces that Eli and Shelby have to put together to find the truth.
Hands down, The Story of Us may be the best military/second chance romance book I’ve ever read. It took me on a rollercoaster of emotions that I have never, ever had while reading a book before. Absolutely amazing.
Let me start off by saying… Fuck Tara Sivec and her fucking feelings! If you follow my reviews, you know I am not an emotional reader. I RARELY cry. I RARELY feel all emotional reading books. Of coarse Tara just had to break me with this book!
I really think that the above should be enough said, but I think I should just talk a little more about something. Shouldn’t I? Maybe I shouldn’t…
I VOW that Eli and Shelby’s story is going to rip you apart and sooth you over and over again. The real story of their shared past comes out little by little. And each time, your heart will break a little more for these characters. My emotions were all over this place throughout this story.
I feel like I should just write paragraph after paragraph about this story, but you know I won’t. You know I will not give you anything other than the important things you need to know. (If you want more than that, I am sure you can find a million reviews telling you the whole story or a rewrite of the synopsis masked as a review elsewhere.) Really, in case you haven’t caught on. THIS STORY WILL BREAK ALL OF YOUR EMOTIONS and you will love and loath every single second of it!