Forever is a heartbeat away . . .Kerris Moreton knows how to make things work. Bounced from foster home to foster home as a kid, she adapted; when opportunity arose, she thrived. Now, about to open her own business and accept a marriage proposal, Kerris is ready to build the life she’s always wanted. The only thing missing? A passionate connection with her would-be fiancé, Cam. Kerris wants to … Kerris wants to believe that sparks are overrated-until Walsh Bennett lights her up like the Fourth of July.
. . . but what about love?
As one of the East Coast’s most eligible bachelors, Walsh enjoys financial independence, fulfilling work with his family’s nonprofit, and plenty of female attention. But lately he’s been distracted by the one woman he can’t have. Lovely to look at and even sweeter to know, Kerris is the soul mate Walsh never thought he would find. The problem is, his best friend found her first . . .
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Freaken Amazing!!!
I need to start a “Why Did I Wait So Long To Read This?” list.
When You are Mine will definitely make the list.
This story is written beautifully, it’s unputdownable, it’s unpredictable and it does not disappoint at any turn. Kept me guessing and wishing for things NOT to happen and I wished other things DID happen and everything I thought “should be” wasn’t. My feelings and emotions going wild. At the end of it all I was soo in love and it hurt bad but it also hurt good.
I seriously didn’t know what to expect when I picked this up -as I didn’t even read the blurb- what I got was everything!
Note- I don’t think I make any sense right now!! So to put it simple. I LOVED THIS BOOK
QUOTE His kiss was a feather and a flame, raising goose bumps and heating her skin. Something blossomed in her chest, unfurling and straining toward him. She pressed closer, defenseless against sensations she’d never experienced with anyone before.
As I finished, I went straight to book 2 ~ Loving You Always
When You Are Mine is Kennedy Ryan’s debut novel and is the first book in The Bennett’s Trilogy. I started this book with the idea that it was only about a love triangle filled with lots of angst but it was truly so much more than that. WYAM revolves around wealthy Walsh Bennett, who is intelligent, handsome, and a humanitarian. He not only works with the Walsh Foundation helping children all over the world but his father is grooming him to take over his company as well. His best friend is Cameron Mitchell who he met and became like brothers at one of the foundations camps when they were young teens. Cam is a good-looking, talented artist, who came from foster care and built a good life for himself with the help of Walsh and his mother. The woman they both fall for is Kerris Moreton. She also came from foster care and was helped thru the foundation. She is smart, independant, beautiful, hard working and compassionate. She lives to help anyone who needs it. The book starts out with Walsh giving a toast as Cam’s best man at Cam’s wedding to Kerris. Kerris is nervous about what Walsh will say and Walsh wishes it was his wedding to Kerris. The book takes off from there with how it all began. You learn how Cam and Kerris are drawn to each other because of their similar past and hope they can build a family together that they never had. They have known each other for 6 months when she meets Walsh for the first time. They find that they are kindred spirits in their passion to help others, but also have their own passion and chemistry that is missing from her relationship with Cam. There are many tender moments along with many miscommunications, and misunderstandings. I liked how Kennedy takes the time to build the foundation of the different relationships of all the characters and makes you feel all the happy, sad, love and angst along the way. I also love all the great secondary characters and storylines that make this a believable, relatable story. There are many layers to these characters that you get glimpses of that cannot be drawn out in one book. This is a beautifully written story about love, loyalty and loss and I can’t wait to see what happens in the next books.
I loved this intro to the story between Walsh and Kerris. Such a gut wrenching tale of two soulmates that have their timing wrong. The emotions felt better Walsh and Kerris are beyond words. I wanted to scream at them both at different times throughout. Can’t wait for the next step in their story.
What can I say about Kennedy Ryan’s prose. It’s flawless, intoxicating. I need it like I need air. I’ve read her Souls series and I loved every book in that series. So I decided to try the Bennett series. The writing style is different from her Souls series. The story is told in third person but I loved this POV here because every character is important and how their lives intertwine with one another is what really makes this story shine.
When You Are Mine created so many emotions inside me and it’s all because of Ryan’s talent for fabulous storytelling and compelling characters. Yes, the story revolved around Kerris and Walsh but I connected with Cam, Jo and Sofie too. This ensemble was perfectly constructed and their dynamics intense with emotions.
Kerris and Walsh’s connection and chemistry gave me goosebumps. Especially their first kiss. When they tried to hide or neglect their feelings because of their current circumstances created some angsty, heartbreaking and powerful scenes.
The story was fast paced but with a well developed story and depth to every character.
When You Are Mine isn’t a standalone and is part of a duet. It didn’t end with a cliffhanger but it definitely made me want more. Not just more of Walsh and Kerris but of every character from the Bennett family.
5 BadAssDirtyOrchidStars
Let me say straight off…I do NOT like love triangles, at all. I will avoid a book if I know there is going to be one. This all stems from the Kathleen Turner series by Tiffany Snow. Inevitably I will fall for the wrong (read BEST) guy and my heart will be broken, crushed, trampled. I did not seek out this book, but I was lucky enough to win a copy from Kennedy Ryan at a takeover she did on FB. And yes, I’m saying lucky because even though this book put me through the ringer I loved it.
When You Are Mine is part one of a heartbreaking love story…prepare your heart and mind. I was overwhelmed with the emotions I felt reading this book…frustration, heartache, anxiety, all things I like to avoid in a romance novel. But yet I couldn’t put it down.
The writing in this novel is beautiful. The story is told from both Walsh and Kerris’ points of view. Walsh, the golden boy of the Bennett family who was born with every privilege imaginable, but who takes nothing for granted. Kerris, the foster child who’s fought through her awful childhood and come out a strong, yet vulnerable, determined woman.
I understand the frustration some may have with Kerris, and with Walsh, but I also completely understand why each reacts and does the things they do. My heart ached for both of them. When they are together you can just feel the connection. I couldn’t help wanting Kerris to “see the light” and be with Walsh, damn the consequences, but that’s just not the kind of person she is.
This book is just not about Walsh and Kerris, and the will they or won’t they be together. It’s a story of family, of friendships, of loyalty. There are many intersecting stories in this book, to show who these people are and how they came to be. The supporting cast of characters play important roles here, they just aren’t there as the sidekick, the best friend, the parent. They help bring to life Walsh and Kerris. Walsh has firmly cemented himself as one of my favorite book boyfriends.
Thank goodness the second part of this book is out, I don’t think I could have handled the wait, to see what how this story will be brought to a conclusion.
STAR-CROSSED LOVERS vs SOUL MATES – Review of “When You Are Mine” by Kennedy Ryan
As I stare at this page preparing to review “When You Are Mine” I’m overcome with ambivalence. As a romantic, this hit some high notes but the push/pull between the star-crossed couple and the soul mates is like watching a train wreck in action. It’s an unmitigated disaster but you can’t look away. Cam, Kerris and Walsh are a classic love triangle. Cam and Walsh have been best friends since summer camp so many years ago and are as close as brothers. Problem is, they both love Kerris, but Cam staked his claim first. And to Cam, “staking his claim” is pretty much the same as a title of ownership. “She’s mine!” he says, as if Kerris is his property. (Eye roll at the ‘me Tarzan, you Jane’ attitude.) Walsh, being the good friend and gentleman he is, steps aside and grinds his teeth to nubs during the nuptials. The torch he carries continues to burn brightly and even though she has the best of intentions, Kerris is drawn to Walsh as the moth is to the flame. Someone is bound to get burned.
“When You Are Mine” is the first book in The Bennett’s series by Kennedy Ryan and she highlights the dichotomy between the backgrounds of, let’s call them our three musketeers. Cam’s mother was an addict who turned to prostitution to support her habit to which he was an unfortunate witness. Kerris is a mixed race beauty who came up through the foster system. And Walsh grew up in luxury and has established a foundation that supports orphans and orphanages worldwide. He’s a veritable poster child for good citizenry. So Cam and Kerris feel some kinship and despite his more advantageous circumstances, Walsh is no society snob. But even with the brotherly bond between the two men, Cam harbors an underlying resentment that surfaces when he catches his wife and his best friend in an unguarded moment. It was only a kiss but…..
Author Ryan’s prose is more flowery than I recall from other books of hers I’ve read. It was so extravagant in places I had to check and make sure I hadn’t accidentally picked up a volume of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. While on the subject of prose, author Ryan should consider upgrading her Copy Editor to the 2.0 version. 1) “……nervous as a cat ready to be spaded.” The females of domestic animals get SPAYED (not spaded) to prevent unwanted litters. 2) “…..a glorious male animal in heat.” This I believe is a physical impossibility since the males of mammalian species do not experience a heat cycle as do female dogs and cats. I’m dismayed that these faux pas escaped notice. Was someone sleeping on the job?
That said, even considering my critical comments I still enjoyed the story and have already started reading Book Two in the series, “Loving You Always”. Fair Warning: Book One is a bit of a cliffhanger. Three and a half stars.
Wow. What a complex, deep, and emotional love story. It was so raw, beautiful, and utterly sad. I very much look forward to the next book in this series.
I think this was Kennedy’s debut novel and I also apparently got this from Netgalley YEARS ago and never read it (OOOPS!) so that’s why I picked this one up.
It was slow and wordy and I skimmed a lot of the internal dialogue because it was repetitive. The author never convinced me of this instantaneous connection between Kerris and Walsh. It seriously sprung from very little IMO, but now that they’ve made a mess of things I’m interested to see how it plays out, although I have a pretty good guess. Her writing has definitely improved since this novel but it wasn’t a bad start, especially since she tackled something as controversial as a love triangle (which I happen to enjoy.)
Wow, I was not expecting this to be a triangle and or for this book to ended the way it did! From what I read at least their story continues on in book 2. This was really good!
I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.