Brian and Marcie were supposed to live happily ever after–they repeated vows that stated that very sentence. So no one, especially Brian, could have predicted that Marcie would file for divorce. It was difficult to fight the situation, finding that all his possessions were packed and waiting by the door when he came home from work that Thursday evening. Kate Moore sat in a stupor for a month. … a month. Unlike any other breakup she had experienced, this felt more like a drive by shooting, with her ex holding the smoking gun as he sped away. What happened, she asked herself, knee-deep in peanut butter cups and bags of cheese doodles. Oliver was the man she was going to marry…she’d already pinned a secret board of wedding dresses and honeymoon destinations.
1247 Sycamore Street, Apartment A and B respectively, is where Kate and Brian find themselves after their tumultuous breakups. An unlikely relationship would soon ensue between these shattered souls, and ‘what ifs’ would slowly rise to the surface of their attraction for one another. But, what would happen to their budding relationship when their ex’s want a second chance?
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Where to start with this review….. I have so many emotions running through me as I decide what to write. There was so much going on and I was so invested in these couples. My heart went out to Brian and Kate because they did nothing to deserve the treatment they received from their partner. The way they were thrown to the curb like they were trash was not called for and I hated their partners for doing that. This is one emotional ride that will have you laughing and crying and screaming at your kindle because you get so emotional reading it.
Brian never in a million years expected the love of his life to throw him out and file for divorce. She said she had enough well marriage is hard and it is not easy it is something you have to work through in order to stay together. My mother always said to me the family that prays together stays together.
Then poor Kate she was thrown to the curb by Oliver and I never understood his reasoning because to me he was a douche and needed to go and she deserved to be happy.
Then Kate and Brian move to 1247 Sycamore Street and they meet and start to have a friendship. As their friendship starts to grow they begin to have feelings for one another and just when they are ready to become a couple their ex’s come back and want them back. What will they do?Will they return to their ex’s or will they take a chance on second love and move on together and leave their ex’s in the wind!
I received an advanced copy to read in exchange for an honest review.
This is a well written story that highlights just how complicated relationships can be. I liked that it was an honest in how hard it is when long term relationships end.
Brian and Marcie were happy married until an accident torn them and their family apart. Brian is shocked when Marcie announces he needs to leave. Brian is devastated and find an apartment 10 minutes away so he can still see his daughter Ellen often.
Katie and Oliver had a long term relationship and were living together. Kate a struggling artist and Oliver had family money. Although they came from different worlds the both loved art. Katie is shocked when one day out of the blue Oliver announces he is leaving to go to Italy without Katie.
Katie leaves Oliver’s apartment they had been sharing and moved into an apartment in the suburbs and take a job teaching art at a local school to make ends meet.
The day Brian moves into his apartment he meets Katie. They are two hurting people who are struggling to move on from a difficult break up.
Will Brian and Marie get a second chance? Will Oliver return to Katie wanting her back? Will the friendship that Katie and Brian have started get a chance to bloom into something beautiful?
This is the first book I’ve read by Julieann Dove, but it won’t be my last. Unfinished is the story of how Brian and Kate meet and what happens afterwards. Brian moves into an apartment upstairs, after his wife, Marcie, kicks him out. Kate lives in the apartment downstairs and helps him move his stuff in. They become friends and he hopes to get back with his wife. Kate still has hope of getting back with Oliver, her boyfriend that went to Italy without her. Grab your copy and read this emotional read about learning to survive without the one you love and the child you have and the one you lost.
I received a complimentary copy of this book and this is my voluntary and honest review.
This is the first book I have read from this author. Wow. Gripping interesting heart wrenching. All the emotions in a great storyline. Brian doesn’t know what to do anymore. For the past two years his life with his wife Marcie has been a living hell. She finally tells him to move out. He moves not far away and meets Katie.
Katie is dealing with her own grief in a way. Her crap of a boyfriend left her for Italy. She ends up moving and taking on a new job.These two have issues all of their own. But together they are perfect. But will they realize it before it is to late?
This is about putting hurts behind and moving on. It was an amazing book from beginning to end.
4.5 Stars!
The first few chapters are difficult to read, and not because they aren’t good. They depict a marriage in shambles after a devastating loss so realistically that it made my heart break for Brian.
Brian is not just a “nice” guy. He is probably the ultimate good guy. My heart hurt for everything that he had gone through and continued to struggle with so selflessly. I honestly detested Marcie. She had no redeeming qualities in my opinion and she was brutal to Brian without any care to how he dealt with the loss.
I initially found Kate to be a bit spoiled and whiny, particularly during her last conversation with Oliver before Italy. However, I definitely softened towards her when she reached out to Brian.
I LOVED their friendship! I felt their chemistry and thought their personalities were the perfect match. The only reason this was not a full 5 star read for me was due to the lack of an epilogue. An epilogue dating a few years in the future and showing how the characters, yes, even Marcie and Oliver, moved forward in their lives would have been the perfect finish to a great story.
This is a friends to lovers story. Brian is having a hard time coming to grips with the end of his marriage following a tragedy. His wife is done with him and makes him move out of the house. His new neighbor is Kate, whose relationship also recently ended. I really like how their relationship really stays friends, even when they are having issues–especially him. There are some real moments of sadness and disconnect.
From the moment I started reading this book I was utterly charmed by the main couple and their sweet and slow burning relationship. I was charmed by their kind hearts and the comfort they found just by being with each other. Kate and Brian are just two average folks who were betrayed by love and who ultimately start over in a journey that had them finding themselves along with acceptance in each other’s arms.
Kate Moore grew up in a small town, embraced it because of the closeness to others as well as finding a safe place within her close-knit family’s arms, but being equally frustrated by wanting to stretch her wings. She’s a good girl with a big heart of gold that she wears on her sleeve. Her entry into the big city had her finding what she thought was love with a rich playboy who subtly changed her while keeping her separate from his affluent world. After his unwillingness to commit he walked away in search of fame which broke her heart, but allowed her to see the truth of him which in turn opened her eyes to the new neighbor next door. She’s instantly smitten with Brian but his slow break-up with his wife keeps them in the friend-zone until a moment of heartbreak for him has their true feelings come bubbling to the surface. Theirs isn’t an easy relationship though as a lie she told her parents leads to hurt feelings for everyone and could very well end the happiness she just started experiencing in Brian’s arms. Kate’s a likable heroine, almost too good to be true at times. She’s also a bit old fashioned when it comes to relationships and marriage as she thinks that one year of togetherness equals an engagement. These ideas definitely came from her family who seemed caught in the good old days and had trouble with her wanting something more from living on her own in a big city. Kate was very understanding and supportive which left her blindsided a time or two by the men in her life. I wish she’d been more concerned with self-preservation as she let herself be taken advantage of when it came to her feelings. Despite many frustrating moments when it came to her actions I still found her an endearing heroine more than worthy of HEA and I applauded those rare moments where she stood up for herself.
Brian Simmons is a bit of a nerd when readers first meet him, a good guy and a good father, but it’s clear that his marriage is in trouble. This is an obvious fact for readers to see but he’s desperate to ignore the truth as he doesn’t want his daughter to suffer and still strongly believes in the vows he once took. With his wife’s constant criticism, when she’s not ignoring him that is, the love he once felt though is slowly being snuffed out. Into all this sadness comes a bright light of joy the moment he meets his new neighbor Kate. Being with her is easy and together they become a solid support system as each of them deal with emotional hurts. They’re good friends from the start and it’s a slow and steady burn towards something more in a journey that has a few hiccups along the way. Brian too is a likable character, a true gentleman with a bit of old fashioned-ness when it comes to sex and marriage. His best quality though is being a loving father and the scenes with his daughter Ellen were further proof of what a great guy he was and further endeared him to me.
This was a heartwarming read on a whole with a main couple worthy of a HEA. They were great as friends, playful and supportive, but I longed for them to jump each other as the wait was frustrating and not as steamy as I’d hoped. Causing further frustration was him ignoring the truth about his wife wanting to end things, causing a lot of unnecessary heartache for Kate as well as himself. Kate too made me frustrated by having Brian pretend to be her ex when they went home to see her family as she didn’t want them to be disappointed which led to over-the-top melodrama. Along the way to HEA there were many heartwarming moments, many warm and fuzzy exchanges between Brian and Kate, which made these frustrating moments even more glaring. Despite that I enjoyed this book and recommend it to those looking for a romance full of heart and soul.
I’m going to start off with what I struggled with when it came to the story and that is I felt like most of the time I was being told what happened and not seeing it. There would be time jumps and then bam, we are told big things that happened during those time jumps. I found that it really annoyed me and made it to where I couldn’t really connect with the story. I liked Brian and Kate well enough and their romance was unique but being able to be in the story and just experience it with the characters is important to me.
Having a unique story is always important and the author did that with this story. New neighbors to love type thing but it was a lot different then that too. I guess what I’m trying to say is the overall plot was good, but it bounced around to much and left me not fulfilled because of being told and not just experiencing things. At this point, I’m not sure of this authors writing style works for me so I’m not sure I will read more. It was my experience when reading this book.
I’m still giving this book 3 stars because I really liked the plot. The characters were awesome and I was able to feel for them and what they went though. Just because the writing didn’t work for me doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good book, just means that it didn’t work for me. 3 stars #2OCCJD
She didn’t realize she lost her voice until a stranger gave her back her heart. There will be tissues, but out of heartache comes hope and Unfinished never gives up on that. Marcie thought she was living the dream, until her happy ending imploded all around her. A chance encounter could be the push she needs to begin anew. Yet when the pain of the past resurfaces, can her new beginning survive the fallout? Dove takes readers from angsty to inspired in the most captivating way.