Summary-
Five years ago, tragedy brought Jared and Mia together. A tragedy that was the start of an unlikely source of support, a true friendship and eventually, deep, heart-stopping love. Until the day something pushed them apart, forcing one of them to let the other one go.
Now, over the course of a day and a night, Jared and Mia will finally talk about how it all went wrong. How something which seemed so perfect and true, was so easily broken. And just when they think they’ve found their way back to each other, their love, will once more be put to the ultimate test.
Sometimes, you never realise how much you can hurt the one you love.
Sometimes, you never realise the lengths you’ll go to, to help someone you love.
And sometimes, you never realise just how stubborn love can be.
Because it’s impossible to let somebody go, when you never stopped loving them in the first place.
Review-
I was a HUGE fan of Natalie Ward's I Love You To Death. Stubborn Love is a companion novel to I Love You To Death which overlaps the time line. Its the story of Mia and Jared. Mia is Luke's sister who is the hero in I Love You To Death. I can't say that I loved Stubborn Love. It was a good read but not as the first book.
The biggest problem I had with this book was Mia. I hate it when I can't like or understand the main character. It just takes the fun out of reading the book and that is what happened here. Mia has been in love with Jared since she has known him. Jared is also completely in love with Mia but still Mia denies them. What I really found stupid though was the basis on which Mia decides that they can't be together.
Jared has seen how difficult life has been for Luke and Mia. All he wants to do is protect and love Mia. I really liked Jared. His anger towards Mia was justified. She just couldn't trust him in spite of him never giving her a single chance to doubt his love for her. But I did think that there could have been more to him than shown.
The book moves from both Jared and Mia's point of views. Mia's pov is in the present handling the current situation between her and Jared. Jared's pov is in the past showing how he and Mia met. I liked the romance. Natalie Ward writes really well. I especially liked how the intimacy was portrayed between Mia and Jared.
There were times I got bored reading the same scenes first from Mia's pov and then Jared's. It dragged out the story a bit for me. Stubborn Love lacked the emotions and depth which I found in the first book. But still it was not all bad. I had just expected more. Stubborn Love was an okay read.
Summary-
When Ash loses her boyfriend, she is consumed by grief, loneliness and an overwhelming sense of guilt for her role in not only his death, but the deaths of everyone she has ever loved. Refusing to let anyone in for fear of losing them too, she becomes withdrawn, spending her days reliving the nightmares from her past.
Until she meets Luke.
Initially scared by his intensity and interest in her, Ash tries to push him away. But as Luke slowly starts to chip away at the walls she’s built, Ash finds herself doing the one thing she swore she’d never do again — falling in love.
When the familiar feelings Ash had hoped were long buried with her past begin to resurface, she is forced to ask herself if falling in love again is really worth the risk.
Review-
I picked up I Love You To Death on a complete whim. I went in without any expectations or preconceived notions and I'm so glad to have found this gem of a book. It took me completely by surprise how good the book actually was and how uncommon the whole theory behind the book is.
Ash is a girl who by the age of 25 has lost 12 people closest to her. She doesn't know if its just some cruel twist of fate or if something's wrong with her which causes the people she loves to die. In one way or another all of their deaths somehow link back to being her fault and she is left to bear the devastating pain and loss with the guilt. Having already been through so much she decides to keep to herself and just get through her life without love or affection.
Then comes in Luke, with his patience and kindness. He is so completely smitten by Ash and yet he gives her space and time. He never gives up, respecting her needs. He never pushes her. He sees the struggle and pain inside of Asha and does all he can to help her heal and believe in herself and them. Luke was a genuinely good character whom I won't be forgetting anytime soon. The romance was slow burn, which I loved.
The book moves from Ash's point of view from the present to her having flashbacks of each of the deaths in her life. I loved the scenes between Luke and Ash. Their love story was beautifully portrayed. It was sensual without being graphic. You actually start feeling protective of Ash while rooting for Luke to make her his. Ash's story breaks your heart while giving you hope and you can feel yourself going through a wide range of emotions.
Natalie's Ward's writing style was extremely unique. Ash's voice is filled with melancholy but you understand and connect with her perfectly. The story is simple but it still completely manages to enthrall and captivate you. I loved that each chapter number was in the form of a quote. Also, each chapter had its own playlist so I found a number of new for me artists which I shall be looking into. This book was deeply entwined with music. It was intense and simply I devoured this book.
X5
Janhvi
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