Coming home is hard for Lane. Hard because her beloved uncle Harry has died suddenly, but also because of him. Kale.Kale Hunt has been her best friend since childhood. But it was never that simple. He was Lane’s reason for leaving home and moving to New York. Seeing him with someone else, in love with someone else, shouldn’t have hurt. But it did. It really, really did. So she upped sticks and … she upped sticks and left, started a new life and cut herself off from her past.
But now she’s back and all the feelings are right there. As if she had never left.
Emotions are running high, and tragedy has a funny way of bringing people together. But is Lane reading the signs right? Are they still just friends, or is there something more?
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I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book as it seemed different to the others that L.A Casey had written but being one of my favourite authors I would not question reading her work and as i suspected she did not disappoint.
The only thing i wish I had done was not read this in public. I may have been tired or emotional but I cried a lot in this book, I’m not sure if it was because I found this personal to myself but I was a wreck reading it (in the best way possible). On a flight for 24hrs i was tired and was scared I wouldn’t take in everything I was reading. All my fears were answered in the first chapter.
Loved this book from start to finish, I loved how different this book was to L.A Casey’s books.
The best friends to lover book with all the the in between of what happened and why they never got together kept my interest in every word the author wrote.
The characters were portrayed amazingly and the love for both of them from me were so strong.
The bond between Lane and her Uncle Harry was so awesome I loved this aspect of the book.
Until Harry was better than a 5 star read and would recommend reading this book and any other L.A Casey books she is an awesome author.
Sigh. I both liked this one and didn’t. There’s a lot of mistakes these two made AND our hero fell in love with someone else! And the reason is just hard to swallow. First, they have sex and he breaks her heart so badly AND he only admits his feelings when DRUNK. After the 1st time, of course she’s scared to admit it to him drunk a 2nd time!
HE was also the one aware of our heroine’s feelings while she wasn’t aware of his. He was only scared of losing her family? Wasn’t loving her more important?
So I’m frustrated at all the angst that could have been avoided AND that our heroine wasn’t the only one he loved. Though, their emotions were all consuming EPIC.
If only it wasn’t such a mess because for best friends, they did NOT talk to each other!
Read: 7/19/16
Until Harry is a standalone by L.A. Casey. I love Casey’s style of writing and Until Harry didn’t disappoint.
Kale Hunt was the fiercely protective and loyal best friend to Lane Edwards. He was three years her senior and they shared a bond from her birth that only got stronger through the years….until one fateful day in her twentieth year, it didn’t. Lane left everything and everyone behind and started a new life across the ocean, not returning until six years later for the funeral of her beloved Uncle Harry.
Casey created the storyline effectively through both past and present dialogue. It was important to understand the past before fully grasping the present. In reality, the story covered four days; however, through the backstory diving into the past with bits and pieces mixed into current day, it covered a twenty – plus year span.
The story was well written and captivating. It was also emotionally draining, sad and heartbreaking on many levels. Part of me wanted to rewrite the story with a different dialogue and direction; however, it was unpredictable and entertaining; thus making it a success.
The story was written from Lane’s point of view and I desired to have Kale’s view penned as well. His perspective would have brought additional depth and dimension to the storyline; which I was desiring. I needed more from him.
That said, I loved the characters. Kale, Lane and the entire supporting cast were sexy, funny, passionate, loyal, fierce and intelligent. However, I was continuously wanting a deeper dive and frankness between Kale and Lane. But that’s not necessarily a bad perspective as it kept me reading not willing to put it down until I saw what was next.
The only other real desire was that I wished for a longer ending or epilogue. I felt it ended a little too abruptly and would have liked more after they finally had their “big talk.” It wasn’t a deal breaker, but it left me craving more.
At the moment Until Harry appears to be a standalone; however, the cast of supporting characters sets the stage perfectly for a series, especially with Lane’s twin siblings. One can hope.
Intense topics!
Feisty characters getting into some serious issues, family, death, assault. How they handle the problems were confusing but also believable.
The characters in this book are tragically beautiful. The story is realistic and heartbreaking. I loved every minute of it. I read it in one day. I highly recommend this book to anymore who love a good romance with some real life mixed in. AMAZING!!!!
This was one of her best books. I love it when LAcasey eventuates out of series books because she writes tear jerker books so well. Happy ending though. Her characters are well thought out. Realistic and definitive. Each has their own voice. You get a mental image of them. I recommend this book.
Complex characters and family! Just may have found me a new fave author!…and my fave genre is historical romance to boot!
Okay, I’ve got mixed feelings about this book as I loved Lane and Uncle Harry, but I struggled to like Kale or Lane’s family as they didn’t always seem to care about her feelings or what she’d gone through. In fact, she ended up apologising to them when I don’t think she even needed to. It was Lane’s journey that made this book a 5 star read, and her story pulled my heart apart and then slowly put it back together again as she finally found herself and stopped putting her life on hold.
Unfortunately, I just didn’t warm to Kale and even hoped Lane would finally find someone who hadn’t repeatedly broken her heart. Tbh, I wouldn’t have been disappointed if she’d decided Kale wasn’t the guy she now wanted. I disagreed with how he treated Lane. And how he also seemed to use Drew.
The part of the story that stands out the most to me though is the ending. It literally destroyed me and left me crying my eyes out. I didn’t see it coming, but the words used allowed me to feel as though I was there witnessing what Lane was seeing. This part is so powerful and one that has me tearing up now just writing about it.
I do recommend this book even though I wasn’t keen on some of the characters. It’s worth reading just to see the journey taken by Lane. I’ll definitely be checking out the other books in this series.
I listened to this as an audiobook and it seemed to flow well. This was a solid second-chance, righting-old-wrongs romance and the end was satisfying for me. However, Kale frustrated me to no end once all the facts came out. There was really no reason for the long estrangement and it all could’ve been avoided so easily if he had just manned up from the get go. Still a good book to help you get your priorities straight when thinking about what truly matters.
Bestfriends to Lovers to ‘It Was A Mistake’ and Heartbreak Then A Second Chance At Love!
(Read using Kindle Unlimited)
A beautiful friendship is the basis for most of this book.
Kale is friends with twins, Lochlan & Layton. His bestfriend, & who they all adore & protect is the twins younger sister by 3 years, Lane!! On sleepovers it’s Lane’s room Kale stays in, he slays her wardrobe monsters & school bullies equally!!
Lane idolises Kale. As she gets older she realises she hates seeing him with other girls and finally it dawns on her she has feelings for him that aren’t anything like she feels for her brothers!! After her two friends turn on her, a few months before she turns 16, calling her fat, ugly etc She starts to hate herself!! She tells everyone off for lying to her saying she’s beautiful Its awful, heart breaking reading Her Mum gives Kale her private savings to take Lane to update her hair & wardrobe, to try to help her feel better about herself! Kale is effectively slapped in face with the very real evidence that his ‘Laney Baby’ is growing up, after seeing her in lots of different outfits that are more befitting her age!!
Once the 3 lads go off to University things start to change between our two bestfriends!! Thankfully Lane meets Lavender & they become the closest of friends & confidante’s almost immediately!! She pulls bookworm Lane out of her shell & Lane reins in some of her crazy Its at a party they attend when they’re 17 years old that everything changes for Lane!! Throughout it it all she’s always had the fabulous, safe & unconditional support, love & friendship of her Mum’s Twin Brother, her Uncle Harry
I really loved this book!! It’s my second time of reading it & enjoyed just as much as the first time!! It’s full of a huge range of emotions, I didn’t make it through without tears, again It’s chocker block full of wonderful characters and the storyline is wonderfully heartfelt!
Debbie, 1970, UK
I cried. I know you are shaking your head and snickering but I have no shame when it comes to books making me feel. Until Harry is a beautiful story.
It’s a second chance and a sad goodbye. It’s looking at all you lost but seeing all you have. I loved it. (And not just because I have a thing for accents! LOL.) I loved the raw hurt, the desperate confusion, and the shining love that couldn’t be hidden.
Until Harry is a whirlwind of the best kind- emotional and completely relatable. It is so easy to fall for all the characters in these pages.
It’s been a very long time since a book has made me feel so much. I genuinely laughed out loud and cried a lot. It was sweet and painful. As a woman and a mother I absolutely hated Ally and Anna. I understood the Edwards brothers and Kale. I didn’t like Drew, but could feel for her. I loved Lane but wanted to slap some sense into to her. And I loved Harry, so much. The book is a wonderful story about life at it’s best and it’s very worst. Told by the talented and incredibly funny L.A. Casey, Until Harry tells the tale of a young girl who meets the love of her life at birth. She adores him forever. Falls in love with him very young, but can never have him because in the eyes of every one she loves, he is family. He is her brother’s best friend and her parents’ other son. He might as well see her as a little sister. Then one night with enough liquor in them, the truth comes out and it changes everything. Life isn’t fair or easy and heartbreak seems inevitable. So much heartbreak. Lane couldn’t stay. Sure, she wanted him to be happy. Just not with someone else. So she left. For six years Lane stayed away. Until Harry. Casey has a way with words that touches the soul and truly lifts the spirits. I loved Until Harry and recommended it very much. There is a HEA. I’m positive you will like it too.
I love the other books by L.A. Casey but this one hit me differently. Unfortunately some people are dealt a life filled with a lot more loss than others. I thought that this book did a fantastic job not only showing that grief is messy and has no time limit but also that there is an art to living after loss.
Warning: this book does contain some topics that might be upsetting, such as an attempted rape and death.
With that being said – I am in the biggest emotional hangover that I have had in a while. This book is told in Lane’s POV from different times in her childhood and upon her return to York after being estranged from her family for six years. When her best friend and confidant Uncle Harry passes away, Lane immediately packs a bag and heads back home to York.
Upon her arrival home she realizes that she now must face her family and the love of her life Kale and deal with all the heart ache, love, loss, and possible rejection that would come about with her decision to leave six years ago. It was heart breaking reading and learning about the struggles that she and each family member has gone through during her absence, especially Kale’s.
Lane has been in love with Kale since she was ten years old, but he didn’t feel that way at first. Slowly over time feelings started to change. Kale started to love Lane, but his own dilemma of his current girlfriend being pregnant just put a new strain on their relationship. I cried my eyes out during different points in the story. Tip: don’t read this book while you are at work. Lane and Kale have to fight their through their emotions and bring their feelings out into the open in even the slightest hope of having a HEA.
The only thing I thought was “missing” from this story would be a few more chapters in regards to said HEA. I felt a little cheated on the happy ending. This is the first book I’ve read written by L.A. Casey, but it definitely will not be my last.