First came love. Then came hate.Olivia Quinn wasn’t looking for love. Climbing the corporate ladder at Coleson Creek Winery filled her days, and HGTV and chardonnay filled her nights. Hooking up with the boss’s black sheep son seemed a bad idea for her heart, and her employment status. But even a maxed-out Visa couldn’t make her refuse a weekend one-night-stand with a soldier who wore rugged and … soldier who wore rugged and handsome like a tailored suit, and danger like a second skin.
A weekend that soon had her walking down the aisle toward him.
The problem? He was already married to the U.S. Army.
Asher Coleson is former Special Ops and 100% alpha. The sole heir to a winery he wants jack shit to do with, he’s the strong, silent type, hardened not by the military, but by the circumstances that ended his marriage. Underneath his aloof attitude and sinewy muscle–all six and a half feet of him–lies a man still so in love with Olivia, he’s living half a life. And that half doesn’t include sex. He’s a bit… backed up. And not happy about it, either.
Getting lucky only means one thing these days. Getting his wife back.
The problem? Convincing her to give them a second chance.
more
Wow! You are dragged in from page one. This story is thrilling and emotional, and littered with some real witty prose. I laughed, cried, got angry at both of them and was relieved at the ending.
Definitely 4.5/5. I have looked forward to Asher’s story, and I was not disappointed. Ash and Olivia’s story is one of family dysfunction and immense grief. Well edited.
We met Asher in the two previous novels, as he is one of the partners in Scorpio Securities and Hope’s brother. We got a mention here and there of Olivia. In a surprise to most, Asher and Olivia were married six years before the events in this book. What happened to tear this couple apart, and why has Ash kept his wife a secret?
In this one, we find out a bit more about the deep rift between Asher and his father. Unfortunately, Marshall sees Olivia as a potential weapon in his battle with his son. On one Asher’s trips home to check on Hope, he meets Olivia and finds love at first sight is a thing. Within short order, Asher and Olivia marry, and about a year later, Olivia is pregnant with their first child. Asher is still in the military, and is gone and often uncommunicative for long periods of time. This is difficult for Olivia, especially the further into her pregnancy she goes. Tragedy strikes, and Asher is half a world away. By the time he gets home, Olivia is so distraught that she lashes out at Asher. Things are said, she walks out, and numbness and pain settle between them. Four years later, Asher and Olivia are both living in a pain filled limbo. Can they find a way through the pain and back to love? Will Marshall continue to interfere? Will Olivia ever forgive Asher for not being home when she needed him most? Will Asher trust her not to walk away again when things get hard?
This was a really emotional story of two people dealing with immense grief. Grief is such a tricky thing. Everyone processes it differently. Unfortunately, even the people suffering have expectations of how someone suffering the same loss should behave. In many ways, it is understandable, and part of the process. In others, it is as deeply unfair as it is for someone on the outside to say how any one person should process loss. Fortunately for this story, Asher and Olivia have a tenuous hold on each other through the darkest times, until they can finally communicate and begin to heal together. Very moving story. Enjoy.
Miscommunication, heartbreak, Liv and Ash are two broken souls, completely shattered halves that piece together a whole, that will never be perfect…these two are beautiful, sad, and magic, but they will never again be what they once were…trust has been broken, the trust that life life will be happily ever after as long as you love ENOUGH…and sometimes it isn’t the second chance, but the third, or the fourth, because if nobody is talking, nobody is listening….Ash and Liv find life isn’t fair, or just, but if you open yourself up, and allow yourself to be real, honest, and open, if you share not just the good, but the bad…if you take your marriage vows to heart….together, you can weather the worst pain imaginable and come through stronger, together, with love and trust in each other…I love Ash and Liv. Their love story is so beautiful, so perfectly flawed, so raw and so real
I strongly recommend Jodi Watters. You don’t want to put the book down but yet you don’t want it to end.
While I truly enjoyed books one and two of the Love Happens series, I can honestly say that True to You was in a class of its own! I laughed, I cried, at times I wanted to throw my kindle . . . but throughout, I completely fell in love with by Ash and Liv!
Love at first sight. . . it struck Olivia Quinn and Asher Coleson when they least expected it. After a literal whirlwind courtship when Ash was home on a short 72 hours leave from his covert ops military unit, Ash and Liv declare their love and marry a few short months later, when he is again home on leave.
Life was hard but good for two years. Ash was away for more than he was home, but Liv kept busy working at the Coleson Creek Winery waiting for his sporadic visits and phone calls. Both were thrilled when together . . . when personal tragedy strikes, however, their marriage disintegrated.
Both Liv and Ash are now trapped in their pasts, barely living in the present and unable to see a future with or without each other. Both foster feelings of guilt, resentment, love and even hate towards one another . . . yet neither can completely let go even though they have not had any contact for four years.
When Liv finally comes to Ash for a divorce, he offers her a deal . . . give him the summer to win her back. She agrees knowing she can never let go of the hatred she holds deep in her heart . . . . but once together, can they move past their tragic past to have a chance at a future together or will they forever keep hurting each other, unable to move on and truly have a second chance at the love still buried deep in both of them.
Jodi Watters truly created magic with this book. Both Ash and Liv are beautifully flawed and trapped, unable to truly process the unthinkable. Circumstances kept them physically apart when they most needed to be together, and harsh words said in the heat of the moment have kept them separated even longer. However, it is clear that this couple is still very much in love if they can let go of the baggage dragging them down.
The dialogue is sharp and witty. Ash and Liv are truly well matched and love verbal sparring. While heart breaking and even frustrating at times, the story is beautifully written as these characters truly struggle with how to move on and forgive themselves as well as each other. The rest of the Scorpio team, especially office manager Carrie Mendoza add to the humorous dialogue to help lighten the story as well.
While it could be read as a stand-alone, I highly recommend reading books one and two in the series first, as these characters are woven into True to You’s plot, and readers can also enjoy catching up with these couples.
Grab yourself glass of wine, a red velvet cupcake and a box of tissues and let True to You take you on a relationship voyage meant to test even the most committed of couples. 5 stars!
Book three in this series tells the story of Asher and Olivia. This is a second chance romance that is full of emotion. The author keeps the reader in suspense, not revealing all of the details of the reason their marriage fell apart before until more than half way into the book. There are hints, and the reader can speculate part of them prior to the reveal. Once I understood the full story, I was heartbroken for both characters.
I did find myself a little irritated with Olivia on occasion as the past is revealed. She was jealous and resentful of the demand of his unit. Asher was already part of Delta when they married. I do not deny that the struggle of a military spouse is difficult. At the same time, every military spouse I have known understood that their spouse was owned by the military for their term of service. They understood that Uncle Sam comes first before everything, including their marriage and children. That is not to say they did not resent it at times. And certainly, being involved in a special forces team would take this to a higher level. I just felt that Olivia should not have been so surprised. That said, I can certainly understand her devastation at being alone as the story is revealed.
This couple had a lot to overcome to get their HEA. I felt like the story does a good job demonstrating the need to for honest and complete communication within a marriage. I do not cry often when I read books, but I will admit I shed a couple of tears with their story. I highly recommend this series full of manly, honorable heroes and the strong women who love them.
Ash and Liv’s story is one emotional roller coaster but absolutely worth the ride! I cried (and I rarely do when I read books) got angry and frustrated with them but also laughed out loud in parts. They were both wonderful, 3 dimensional characters with fabulous banter. I just love Jodi’s work and her writing style in general. I always get super excited when I’m about to read one of her stories! Can’t wait to read the next one!
Okay, while this series is definitely standalones that can be read in any order, I am definitely going to have to go back and read the first two books. I loved the supporting characters, so I am really interested in their stories. Ashton and Olivia are a very passionate and intriguing couple. Their very short and but hot relationship was one that I enjoyed reading about. I definitely felt for each of them and what had happened to them, but it was hard at times to give Ash a break or feel sorry for him after what he did to Olivia. Even knowing that he was hurt as much as she was, the way he handled it, and his treatment of his father, even with what his father may have deserved, was not very flattering for him. In the end though, I really wanted them to just realize they needed each other and get back together. Still, you should pick this up and give it a try, and also probably pick up the rest in the series like I intend to.