Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to spend a few months on a concert tour traveling the country? Did I mention that the famous musician headlining it is the ex-husband who walked out on you?
When I met Levi Truin, we were young, rich, famous, and beautiful. Nothing could go wrong, we had the world at our fingertips. Except millions of dollars, marriage and a baby all before twenty two isn’t all fun and games. And when my indiscretion caused it to come crashing down, we were just another Hollywood couple on the cutting room floor.
Seven years later, Levi and I are the poster-children for exemplary co-parenting. Attending red carpet events in support of each other, Sunday night dinners for the sake of our daughter, and her private school functions where we save seats and make polite conversation. The articles paint us in the healthiest of lights, because none of them know the truth.
So when he wants to take our daughter on tour, I have a decision to make. Let her traipse around venues with a nanny, or tag along and somehow survive sleeping in a bunk below my ex for months.
We go on the road, taking our demons and heartbreaks with us. And as we spend nights together with the highway lights flashing past the windows, that familiar spark reignites. Old hurts are discussed, wounds I guard tight are exposed, and my ex-husband makes confessions I’ve been waiting years for. Against all odds, he might just be able to love me again.
But then the dirty details of our long ago breakup get leaked to the press, and the newly fledgling relationship might be doomed from the start.
Lies, silence, and miscommunication are the things that ripped us apart. Can we push past our scars to reunite our family after everything we’ve been through?
I love a good second chance romance, especially when trying to reunite a married or formerly married couple. This one was great and had the added benefit of being first love/soulmates, but of course that just added to the angst. Sophie and Levi met when they were young and famous, with the world at their fingertips. Everything about them seemed destined in the stars and life was good. She saved him from himself, making him want to be a better man and he loved her unconditionally. Life was perfect, until it wasn’t.
It was a whirlwind romance but these two lived a full lifetime in a few short years, since she was the world’s most famous supermodel and he was taking the music world by storm. Married with a baby at twenty-one didn’t feel rushed at all. It’s clear from the first page that Sophie and Levi are still in love but suffering apart. Fame is fickle and difficult, so it’s complicated their lives in every way. They struggle to co-parent their daughter and keep one another at arms’ length despite still being in love and filled with regret. They’re both suffering but blame themselves so they don’t think they deserve a second chance from one another.
Sophie made a bad decision that blew up their life together. She’s regretted it every day since but Levi made it clear he could never forgive her. She’d do anything to have their old life back, to still be married to her one true love, but she respects the fact that she hurt him and doesn’t expect him to change his mind. This is the new normal so she needs to get used to it. No matter that it’s been seven years since they split and she can’t move on.
Levi blames himself for failing his wife when she needed him the most. He hates himself for ending things so quickly, for reacting instead of thinking things through, for putting his ego ahead of his wife. He will never get over Sophie, he knows it for sure, but he still can’t stand the thought of her with another man, so he struggles to maintain their co-parenting relationship when she decides to start dating again.
When the opportunity of a lifetime presents itself, they have to take it, even if it means uncomfortably close quarters and more togetherness than either one can probably handle. Their marriage blew up in tragedy and darkness, but every other moment they’ve shared has been full of light and love. They’re determined to put it all on the line because they know they belong together, but things are never that easy. I adore these characters so completely; I’d give this book ten stars out of five if possible. They’re just so raw and real, I loved everything about them. Their story is poignant and emotional but in all the best ways and ultimately brought me joy.
One of the things I love most about this book is how the author weaves in an important topic and shines a spotlight on an issue that so few understand. She handles it beautifully and this story will educate people so she should be proud. I received an ARC from Grey’s Promotions in exchange for an honest review.
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