Award-winning romance that recently earned acclaim from the prestigious Next Generation Indie Book Awards!It’s been nearly a decade since Elle Sloan last saw Luke Hutchins. Close to ten years since she broke up with him over a single phone call, providing him with little explanation. Since the end of their relationship, Elle has done everything she could do to move on, marrying, proceeding … proceeding forward with her life, almost allowing herself to completely forget about Luke.
Almost.
Out of nowhere, Elle receives a phone call from Luke’s mother. Luke has been in a horrific car accident and, a month later, has just awoken from a coma. However, instead of celebrating, his family is stunned to learn that Luke is suffering from amnesia and only remembers his life as it was before his breakup with Elle. Not wanting to tell Luke that he and Elle aren’t together anymore for fear it may compromise his recovery, Elle is asked by Luke’s family to come to the hospital to see him. Their hope is that she will slowly be able to jog his memory and cushion the blow.
Guilt-ridden over how their relationship ended, Elle readily agrees, finding herself transported back in time with Luke to the life they once shared and the future they could have had together.
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A mega-dose of happy ever after – once Elle and Luke wade through some pretty darn big obstacles that have kept them separated for a decade. I really enjoyed this author’s writing style. Even the cast of characters in supplemental roles are well-developed and interesting. I would read more from Sara Furlong Burr, and I recommend picking up and enjoying ‘When Time Stands Still.”
I was given a copy of this book for an honest review. This book was truly a breath-taking five-star read. Isn’t it just so great when you find one of those books that completely drags you in, makes you fall in love with the characters, and demands that you sit on the edge of your seat for every nail-biting moment of it? This is one of those books for me. It’s a wonderful story full of healing, forgiveness, and grace. I LOVED everything about this book; the banter that literally had my LOL’ing while reading, the sweet swoon-worthy moments and the heartbreak that made me cry for them. I highly recommend reading this book!
An amazing love story covering over ten years to fulfill. There is heartbreak, anguish, self-loathing, manipulation, acceptance, first love and romance. Elle/Ellen Rae Sloan grew up with a functioning alcoholic mother. She did not know who her father was. She lived constantly in fear of her mother’s bitter condescending tongue. Elle grew up thinking she was not good enough for anything or anybody. Elle had grown up better than her circumstances. She was kind, thoughtful and loving. She was also insecure, afraid and full of bottled up anger. She excelled in school and received a full scholarship to college. Her roommate and best friend is Mena. Mena did not beat around the bush. She was a straight shooter. She did not filter anything she had to say. It did not matter to her if what she said hurt people’s feelings. She told the truth no matter how ugly it was. Despite all this, Mena did love Elle and always wanted what was best for her. It was Mena who introduced Elle to Luke Hutchins. Luke attended a nearby college. His best friend from childhood was Peter Monroe. Monroe as he was called, was always there for Luke. He was Luke’s roommate. He had a caustic sense of humor. If you did not get to know him, one might think he was not agreeable, unpleasant and sometimes thoughtless. But deep down he was a good man. Elle and Luke dated and one date lead to another and before you knew it they were boyfriend and girlfriend. However, Luke faced a challenge that Elle no longer had. After two years, Elle broke up with Luke for all the wrong reasons. Her mother was dying and did not want to die alone. Elle gave up college and her dreams to be with her unappreciative selfish mother. Her mother had convinced her that Luke was too good for her. That she was not woman enough to keep him. Elle believed her. Luke knew that Elle still loved him. So, he did not buy her excuse. But Elle never told him about her insecurities. Luke was devastated and eventually gave up trying to get in touch with Elle. Ten years later Elle was married to Eric, an attorney when Luke’s mother Candy called her. Candy told her that Luke had been in a serious car accident and was severely injured. Also, he had amnesia and lost the last ten years of his life. Luke still thought he was still involved with Elle and he had been asking for her nonstop. Candy asked her to consider coming to them and try to help Luke. She immediately agreed. When she told her husband about it, she expected him to be jealous and object to her going. But the opposite happened. He was agreed that she should go and help her ex. This surprised Elle as she expected him to be angry. So, Elle traveled eight hours to get to Luke. It was awkward for her and Luke’s parents. But they got into a rhythm. It was nerve wracking for Elle to see Luke after all this time in the condition he was in. She managed to hold off her tears. Luke was so happy to see her. Candy and Luke’s Doctor agreed it was time to tell Luke the truth about his condition. Before any of them were able to all heck broke loose. Lies were uncovered, bitterness was expressed and truths were faced. Luke was confused and angry. His anger had a focus and it was at Elle. She left drove home and caught her husband with another woman in her bed. She put an end to her marriage, she moved and went back to school. She started working on her self-worth and self-image. One day she met up with Mena for a visit. All of a sudden Monroe shows up and then Luke shows up. Elle did not know what was going on. This story was about soulmates meeting, breaking up and reuniting under difficult circumstances, rejection and moving on with life. It is a very good read. I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book via Hidden Gems and am voluntarily leaving a review.
When Time Stands Still is the story of Elle and Luke, which takes place with dual timelines. Luke has been in an accident and his memory has reverted to 10 years ago, before he and Elle broke up. The result is a genuinely sweet story that tackles some tough topics without making the book too heavy and sad. Sara does a great job of building her characters and creating a story where the reader is rooting for the good guy. I highly recommend this beautiful love story.
This read is poignant and has a great supporting cast. There are special moments between Elle’s friendship with Mena that make me want to call and bother my best friends. Right out the gate, I needed a HEA for Elle.
Elle has a pretty rotten childhood and meets the too-good-to-be-true Luke in college. She can’t help but feel undeserving of his attention. Fast forward and they aren’t together anymore. She’s married and hasn’t heard or seen him since their breakup. He suffers an injury and subsequent amnesia so Elle unexpectedly finds herself back in his life.
I’m not going to talk about how amazing the hero, Luke, of the story is (he is!) or how much I adore the way Sara used the dual timeline to push the story forward (which, of course, it’s great!) because you should just pick it up and read it for yourself!
In a very unique take on the amnesia romance, Elle is called back to her ex-boyfriend’s side after he wakes up from a coma because he can’t remember the last ten years of his life and still thinks he and Elle are together. The story is told entirely from Elle’s perspective, but in alternating timelines between present day and back when Elle and Luke first met and started dating through their ultimate breakup. It is extremely hard to do dual timelines well without it being confusing but the author does a masterful job. This story can be incredibly heart-wrenching at times, and made me tear up at a few points, but we get a wonderful HEA (and a little bit of a soap-opera-esque ending) that brought joy to my heart.
CW/TW: sexual assault, alcoholic parent
5 stars – 9/10
I didn’t want it to end; loved this book! It’s about second chances, self discovery, family dynamics, & the lengths you will go to help those you love. Highly recommend!
I received an advanced copy of this book for free. While it’s different than the books I tend to gravitate towards (I’m a more fantasy-driven reader), When Time Stands Still had me captivated from the start.
It isn’t the most original of storylines – amnesia and its grip on the relationships of its victim – but the book is so well-written, so descriptive, and so carefully driven in its storytelling that I plowed through it in a single evening. As a first-person account of both present-day and a decade prior, each glimpse of the past gives a further view inti who our lead is… and why she made the choice we’re alerted to at the very beginning of the book.
This was my first book from this author, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I love the plot and I love Luke’s personality. He was the best example of how every man should be. He’s very supportive, appreciative, faithful, sees the best version in everyone knows what he wants and how to get it. I don’t know what has gotten to Elle, why she left him.
WOW!!!! I am not sure where to start in order to describe how much I loved this book! The story line was so different from any other second chance romance and it really drew me in and had me hooked right away.
The characters were amazing and had such strong chemistry. I really enjoyed how the book goes back and forth between present day and the past to let us know what exactly happened between Luke and Elle. The suspense of Luke having amnesia and wondering what was going to happen when he did get his memory back had me on the edge of my seat. There were also some pretty dramatic moments and a few twists and turns thrown in that definitely kept me guessing.
Full of love, loss, heartbreak and drama this book had me feeling so many things from start to finish. Trust me, you will not be disappointed! – By Alisa
Elle Sloan Bell is married to Eric and content with her life but lately notices her marriage isn’t what is used to be. When she gets a phone call that her ex-boyfriend, Luke Hutchins, has been in a car accident and has retrograde amnesia, Elle goes to the hospital hoping to be of assistance in his recovery.
Will Elle manage to discover what she wants in her own life while watching Luke piece together his past/present? Will the reasons why Elle and Luke split in the first place come into play for Elle in the present?
When Luke puts together the pieces will he forgive Elle for her deception?
This was a good book and the first one I have read by this author.
I liked Elle and the more I got to know her things began to fall into place about why she let Luke go in the first place. There was limited information on Elle and Eric and how they got together but once everything was revealed things made so much more sense. There was so much growth in Elle in the book from when we first meet her in 2006 to where she is at the end of the book and I was so proud of her for not letting her demons and fears control her in the end.
I thought Luke was awesome through all of the flashbacks and knew he cared about Elle so much. I loved learning more and more about him as the book went on and seeing where his life was at. It was obvious how much his family and friends cared about him and how they were willing to do whatever it took to help him with his amnesia.
I didn’t like the way Eric treated Elle and I thought the end was great as it didn’t put Elle in a bad light!
The end was great and I loved how everything worked out the way it should have!
Incredibly sweet!
I can’t think of better words to describe this than incredibly sweet! Awww inducing.
The story is told completely from Elle’s pov and alternates between today and 10 years ago when she first met & dated Luke. Due to his major car accident, he has complete loss of memory of everything in the past decade including how she left him. We, the readers, get slowly filled in on the last decade as well.
I got kinda frustrated with how long the family wanted to prolong telling Luke about the present. I put myself in his shoes and figured I’d be upset that everyone lied to me for so long.
Overall, I really liked the story. Even tho I had to stop to dab my eyes a few times. Again, a very sweet story.
3 Cranky Stars
This story was a mediocre story. I had gone into this excited for a second chance love. I love rekindled romances but was sadly disappointed when I got through it. I had higher expectations that were not met with this. I wasn’t turning the pages with anticipation. There was no on the edge of your seat, heart throbbing tearjerker like I had hoped to get with this story. It was just… Meh
Main girl Elle was a really broken character, but honestly it wasn’t broken in the sense you would think. This character is a very flawed character. I didn’t quite click with her. If anything, I found her very whiny and immature. I don’t honestly understand how she goes from having this great relationship and seemingly confident to insecure and doubtful in the blink of an eye. I enjoyed the confident side of Elle, the Elle that was sure of her future, herself and what she wanted. She was making something of herself and wanted to be better than where she came from. But her bipolar personality threw me off and I didn’t care for it. I quickly lost interest in her when she started putting herself down and sulking about her past as if there was nothing she could do about it.
Logan was nearly perfect. Every girl’s dream. Blonde hair, blue eyes and just yummm. But his biggest flaw, he didn’t go after Elle. I swear. What is it about men and NOT going after the woman they claim to love unconditionally. If he loved her as much as he said he did, he would have dropped everything and showed up on her mom’s doorstep to fight for her. Not give up because of a hung-up phone call. Also, what male remains a virgin through college? That just didn’t seem real.
Which brings me to the next problem I had with this story. The breakup… It made no sense to me. Elle goes from having the perfect relationship to randomly breaking it off for her dying mother, a mother that has hated her, her entire life and lies to him about why she is leaving him. Come on… and why not find him after the mother dies to get her life back? Why leave everything she ever built for herself and all her friends and her education? It made no sense. The logic of the main character was just…. Idk. Odd. It didn’t seem realistic to me. Didn’t seem like it fit together flawlessly.
And who is Eric? Seriously this guy was mentioned in the beginning and then forgotten about until the end when it was convenient for him to appear for the finale. It would’ve been better for him to not have existed at all and for Elle to just be up front and honest.
All in all, this is a 3-star read for me. It could use some editorial reviews and some structure clean up, but it makes for a simple read if you are looking for something to get through quick.
Over a decade ago Elle Sloan left the love of her life, Luke Hutchins, without so much as an explanation as to the sudden end of their relationship. Over the years Elle built a new life for herself, has gotten married, and forced herself to forget all about Luke and the love that they shared.
One day she receives an unexpected phone call from Luke’s family stating that he has been in a terrible accident and has just woken from a coma. He has suffered amnesia and was transported back in time to when he was still in a relationship with Elle. They ask Elle to return to see Luke in the hospital in hopes that it will jog his memories and enable his mind to return to the present time.
Not able to turn down Luke or his family, Elle ventures back to see him out of guilt for how their relationship ended. She feels terrible about leaving Luke all those years ago and is both excited and nervous to see him again. Will Luke be forced to relive their tragic breakup and have to start over without knowing the last ten years of his life? Or will Elle be able to help bring back Luke’s memories and find herself falling for him once again?
(I received an ARC of When Time Stands Still from Sara Furlong Burr in exchange for my honest review.)
When Time Stands Still is the heart-felt story of two college sweethearts that are forced to relive their relationship after a tragic accident. The relationship between Luke and Elle is filled with hope and love. Together they experience many firsts and are able to face some of their fears. A love like theirs only comes around once in a life time. You’ll love this romantic drama if you believe anything is possible with true love.
This is a new author to me, but my word, I will certainly be looking out for her work in the future. Elle and Luke used to be sweethearts, until she broke up with him over the phone. Now 10 years later Elle has move on, and she received a phone call from Luke’s mother saying that he has been in a bad car accident, and is suffering from amnesia. Elle feels bad about the way they broke up, so she agrees to go and see Luke. No spoilers though; this is a definite must read, you will not be disappointed! This is a beautifully written story, which is emotional, and with tad angst, which all had me captivated throughout. I recommend this novel to all lovers of a second chance!