At ten years old, Kelly and I were two rambunctious boys who carved our initials into a tree in the forest. We promised to be best friends forever and bumped our fists to seal the deal. I never should’ve kissed him that summer before college. It was a day that buried me in shame, a day I spent the next twenty-four years regretting, a day I never told anyone about. At forty-three, depression was … depression was suffocating me. Not even my wife and two children could lift the heavy fog. I was riddled with guilt and self-hatred, and I was starting to realize that I would slowly fade away until nothing remained. Then one day, Kelly was back in town.
10% of the proceeds will be donated to Hope For Depression.
(All novels taking place in Camassia Cove are standalone.)
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A gripping tale of how depression can cause you to lose yourself and feel like there’s no escape. unattainable was the cusp of it all, or so he thought.
I loved this story and I loved Will & Kelly.
Cara Dee excels in writing painfully realistic romances.
You can tell this is when Cara was just dipping her toes into writing kink.
This is a first introduction into several of the characters she returns to later.
She masterfully handles the subject of depression, never implying that love is a cure-all or bandaid, as Will struggles with the turmoil in his life, and discovers there’s still hope for his friendship with Kelly, his best friend, and the guy who broke his heart.
I really enjoyed reading When Forever Ended.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This book is fantastic I’m amazed at how much depth and emotional torment one book can have. It is deep and pulls no punches but it is also well handled
I wish I could give it more stars
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A wonderfully emotional story. The characters were well-written and very engaging, their heartbreak and turmoil was easily felt. I really enjoyed following along with Kelly and William on their journey.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
*Spoilers* This story was very well written. It was a great personal growth and love story. The feelings that William went through with his depression were the same things that you think when you have it. You think that whatever you do is an inconvenience to any one that you put on people. And any little win is nothing. Kelly is so loving and supportive that he is amazing. He is helping William without forcing his help on him. It’s just a great story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
*Spoilers* This book is another great read from Cara Dee, this book deals with 2 friends who grew apart after an incident between them but neither has been able to forget or move on completely from each other, it’s deals with topics of depression and I feel like Cara managed to write about it in a way that as a reader really makes you realise what people with these mental health issues go through in their mind, I like that when they get to have their reunion it didn’t suddenly cure his depression, it felt like while he was getting better they still had to work everyday to get better. While I wouldn’t say it was over the top romance you can definitely feel that they 2 people loved each other and struggled to be apart even when there was a third person invoiced with one of the males before they had their reunion. I’m glad it didn’t contain the usual jealous ex’s, kids causing problems or any of the usual stuff you see in books when parents split and meet someone new, it felt like the biggest hurdle they faced was the mental health issues one of the men faced, it was a great read and something I would read again, it did feel like it left some questions unanswered, but as this book links to other books in her series I assume we will get more insight into the secondary characters once those books are released.
This story was fantastic!
I’m not usually a huge fan of second chance stories, but damn this was sooooo good.
When Forever Ended is a best friends to lovers, 24yrs later second chance romance.
Will and Kelly were best friends growing up, they were each others solace but fears and some cruel words separated them for 24yrs.
I love a good hurt/comfort story and this one did nit disappoint. This is one story you don’t want to miss.
Another stunning read by Cara dee. I always know when starting one of her boooks, that it will have an impact on me, and I have yet to te disappointed.
Thius is a beautiful second chances, best friends to lovers story: William and Kelly have grown up together and have been best friends for all of theitr childhood, untill the summer before college when Will kissed Kelly… and Kelly ran away.
Twenty-four years later, they are both parents and Will is drowning in his depression. When Kelly comes back to Camassia Cove they’re both faced with their past, and facing it is the only means to face their future.
There are a lot of emotions deep in this book. I love how carefully the issue of depression is handled, not just in passing but laying it all out, the bad and the ugly included, showing it does not go away easily, just because you find love again or have a somewhat better situation in your life.
Another difficult issue is the fact that William comes out while married; he has to do do it to start fighting his depression, but it’s hard on both him, and obviously, his wife.
A beautiful, poignant story of recovery and fighting for happiness.
Wow this was a very emotional story. Very touching and heart felt. Cara did an amazing job tell this story!!
I loved this book as I usually do with Cara Dee books but I felt this one was different, but not in a bad way. This book deals with a very sensitive and delicate issue of depression and she does a great job. Will and Kelly are childhood friends that had a falling out at a young age and haven’t seen each other in years. Will has lived Kelly all his life and the one time he acted on it his world was forever changed..so for him being with men was not even an option. So he went on with his life and was happy for awhile but the stress of hiding who he truly is takes it tole and he becomes very depressed at times trying to find balance. Then like a blast from the past Kelly comes back and Will can no longer hide himself and has to figure out how to live with his true self and still be an amazing dad. I absolutely loved their story and the past they shared as kids also their kids were amazing. This is a wonderful story about love and the struggle of living with depression. Amazing story with characters your heart will break for!!!
Cara takes on the hard subject of depression with this book. It is a love story that takes the reader thru very real feelings of depression and the difficulties in handling them. When Kelly comes back into William’s life he is in a bad head space, Kelly helps him to work thru the trials of depression and in the process they find that they are more then friends.
This book is incredibly heartbreaking, moving and the definition of romance. Cara Dee once again knows how to take a reader on a journey, one that isn’t always comfortable but is life always comfortable?
The character development is once again so realistic that I felt like I could interact with not just Kelly and William but the secondary characters as well. There is so much pain in this book, countless tears for many of the characters and overall a sense of what defines two people who seem to belong together–but are they able to overcome all the history and current struggles they both face? Life is full of hard choices…
The world building in Camassia Cove was already well developed to begin with and yet the author finds new ways to paint an even more vivid picture. The completeness of this world continues to engage me as a reader.
There are parts of this story that will make some readers uncomfortable. It can be messy at times. Cara Dee always weaves in topics that are important to discuss yet are rarely spoken about aloud. The characters have flaws, which makes them real. I am continually impressed that Cara Dee creates original romance that is based more on practicality than instalove. I want to see tension and buildup, I want to see imperfection because life isn’t perfect and Cara Dee delivers.
5 stars for realism. Highly recommend!