e-ARC provided by Valentine PR and the author
Author: Jennifer Hartmann
1995. Chicago.
When Reed goes to a party to see if his teenage daughter has snuck to a party, he’s not expecting the chance encounter that will irrevocably change his life. His daughter isn’t there, but Halley, like the comet is. Sitting on the lake, looking lost. He’s mesmerized by the young woman, the conversation, her wit…Yeah, he’s 34 but he asked and she said she’s 21. She looks 21. She acts 21. But in a turn of events, he finds out she’s 17, still legal, but hell no. The surprises are not over yet, because he will soon find out that she’s his daughter’s best friend who his ex rescued from a horrible family situation and now lives with them. Whatever they shared, however monumental and life changing it felt, it’s now become clear that it was not meant to be. The forced proximity now that Halley lives with Tara and her mom makes things harder and harder.
Halley’s body and spirit are broken when her best friend’s mom took her in. Reed was only a beautiful blip in time, a snapshot in time she keeps in her heart. Now he’s there, everywhere and he’s such a good man. She’s Halley, like the comet, and they are set to crash into each other and burn their entire world.
You know you’ll have your heart broken when you are all choked up in the prologue of a book. Jennifer Hartmann brought us two souls that are fated to be together, but whose destinies seems to have taken them to a path where they were never supposed to belong to each other.
This is a very slow burn (which I appreciate, considering the ages and the relationships between the characters) and it’s written in a way where you learn things without actually seeing them happen. It took me a bit to get into but then I was invested. They truly love each other and I loved how Jennifer developed the story. I was confused as to why she chose to set this in the nineties, but I enjoyed the references to things that I lived. Jennifer never disappoints.
Thanks to the author for letting me read this early.
Possible triggers: physical/emotional abuse of a child, child abandonment, panic attack on page (mentions of grooming and SA)
