Willow Thompson walked into my life like a fairy tale. Prettier than any masterpiece, and years before I was ready. She stole my heart the moment our eyes met, and I’ve never felt more complete.Toby Matthews thinks he loved me first. I’m sure you’ve heard the story, he’ll tell any sap who will listen. Love at first sight. My sweet boy. But that’s not my truth. His… sure, but our love story … story started before our eyes ever met. Come, let me tell you how it really went down….
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Toby was a wonderful person. He had been dealt a really crappy hand at life, his mother was artistic but she traded that in for drugs, his dad was an alcoholic who would never hesitate to beat Toby just for breathing. His amazing friends and their parents treated him like family, took him in, cared for him, and showed him love. Toby always tried to look on the positive side of life even with having to deal with the things he did. He just knew something would come along and change his life for the better. Enter Willow, she’s the daughter of the art teacher who believed in Toby’s abilities and she is the one who brought the light to his darkness. They fell at first sight. She was his and he was hers. They never wavered on it at all. Their love was true, beautiful, epic, and one to be remembered. This beautiful man with a heart of gold found his light and he held on to her with all he had.
I am trying to find the words to express how much I loved this book (and the series). Toby and Willow’s love story is epic. The emotion you feel reading this book is so strong. Everybody wants a love story like it. It’s pure love, raw, emotional and so good.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, please, please take the time to read this book, you’ll fall in love with Toby and Willow. If you haven’t already read the whole series, do it and fall for the Men of the Leaves of Maple Series
Wow…. just…. wow. I’m not really sure how long it will take me to recover from this book. Toby is, simply put, perfection. Haley Jenner’s best work yet. Willow is the best kind of heroine: sassy, understanding, loyal, and supportive. Toby, her artist, has a heart that is tortured, tattered, and ripped with the capability to love harder than any other fictional character I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. This book is epic. Read it. Now. Don’t wait. Wait…. if you haven’t read the other books in the Leaves of Maple series you need to read them first… but then… don’t wait. Don’t stop until you’ve consumed every word that Haley Jenner has to offer.
Okay. Toby and Willow’s story is so much more than I expected. I was very curious to read more about the beloved couple in the Leaves of a Maple books, but I sure wasn’t expecting my heart to get damn near obliterated in the process! Toby, our happy-go-lucky, smartass, beautifully artistic, broken hippie is fucking one of the most cherishable characters I’ve ever read. To come from such an awful home and to still have such a hopeful outlook on the future…SOBBING! And you know what else is sob-worthy? The REAL family that he has in his best friends and their parents. The way that they all fight for him is so incredibly meaningful and it hit me hard, right in the feels. This man deserves nothing but the best and Willow Thompson and her family are that for him. Willow is the repellent to the darkness that could swallow Toby so easily. She’s most definitely a forever keeper. I love their love times infinity.
It was everything to read how Toby and Willow’s relationship started and grew. It was everything to read about Toby’s friendships and the love that he received through them, as well as the way they all navigated painful times together. This story and the laughs, the steam, the freaking heart…was everything. Many more than 5 stars deserved for this exceptional little story that felt anything but little.
I devour this read, because it was that damn good, l wouldn’t expect anything else from these fabulous authors l love their work! I am so glad Haley and Jenner gave us Willow & Toby’s beautiful love story, it’s a love we all want in our lives! Chapter 12 was my favorite couldn’t see the words through my tears! #ForeverSouls
If you have read the Leaves of a Maple series, Toby & Willow have always been the steady couple. They are the ones that all of the other couples turn to and Toby has been the backbone of his group of friends. Now, we finally get to see the true story of Toby and Willow and how they came to be. I love that there wasn’t the typical break-ups and heartbreak that most couples in romances suffer through before their HEA. Instead, this is a true never-ending love story from beginning to end. Absolutely love this series by Haley Jenner.
Throughout the Leaves of a Maple series Toby seems almost too laid back. Easy going Toby, nothing ever affected him.
Within the first two pages of Toby’s own story it is apparent that easy going Toby is the lie he’d like everyone to believe.
I think he and Willow are perfect from day one. They both knew exactly how much was at stake for a successful life, and I’m glad Willow didn’t let him quit.
I love them both, this was the perfect way to show the end and beginning for this chosen family.
What a wonderful addition to the Leaves of a Maple Series! Toby was the friend who was always there but somehow blended into the background. It was almost as if he’d had his happy ending before the series started with Archer. I’m so glad Toby and Willow got to share their story in print.
My thoughts are drawn to the age old saying “it takes a village to raise a child.” Carnation is a tight knit community and Toby thinks that his parents actions will leave a black mark on him. Families come in all shapes and sizes, you can be born into one, hand chosen or protected and raised by one. Archer’s mother Janie is more maternal to Toby than his own ever will be. With the guidance of Bennett’s dads Adam & Will he learns unconditional love.
When things seem to be almost at rock bottom, Willow blows into Toby’s life like a breath of fresh air. It’s insta love for them at the mere age of sixteen and you’d be excused for thinking it’s just puppy love. Toby is enamoured by his soul mate, whilst Willow believes that the energy pulling them together comes from their previous life encounters. Willow sees the beautiful, battered heart in Toby’s eyes and he sees his muse with a chance to create his once in a lifetime masterpiece.
Toby has always been there for his buddies. He has a great sense of humor, but he’s also a steady friend when you need him the most. I had no idea how hard his story was, the pain he went through growing up. He and Willow were meant to be. I loved reading about the growth and development of their love, through the challenges and the hardships. This series has been so amazing! I have laughed, cried, a lot, and swooned so much throughout the entirety of these stories! I feel like I know them all so well. A fantastic circle of friends and family!
What do you say when you‘re so overwhelmed by a book that it leaves you speechless. I have been trying to come up with the right words for days. I still don’t think I’m going to do it justice. I have been waiting for Toby’s story since I fell hard for his charismatic charm in Archer the first of the Maple Men series.
This is a sensationally written, heartwarming story of a relationship between two beautiful souls destined to be united from a very young age. My gorgeous hippy boy, the tortured artist and Willow the light to his nightmares.
Relationships being the key word to describing this book, it was built on so many, the good and the ugly. We meet our favourite characters from the series, it’s like being home. We were also introduced to new ones as Willow’s story unfolds. Haley Jenner have a phenomenal way of writing, so visual on all levels, everyone needs to enjoy the experience. He is going to make you swoon, cry and smile like a loon. Told in a dual POV no truer words were spoken from Willow.
“It’d be easy to offer up your heart to this boy, to fall in love the way people driven wild with lust describe it, head-over-heels. Gifting every last inch of your body, heart, soul, and mind to the promise of the way this boy would love you back.”
“Toby grew into himself like a masterpiece. His body built to love, body fierce, the love inside him even more so.”
This is my pick for the best “feel good book” of the century. My heart was bursting with happiness as I turned the final page. Thank you for the gift of Toby. Toby is your masterpiece.