Review: Enjoyable...extremely sweet!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 24, 2014
This was a great story and a good example of how we can be our own worst enemy.Plagued with a heart condition for most of her life, and sheltered (READ "forbidden") from doing the things girls her age do, Ava finally gets fed up with being careful and cautious and hearing about how she's DYING, and decides to do some "real living" - which leads her to a one week tropical vacation.Enter wealthy, self-made millionaire,Andre Rockwell. He's also taking a week off from life after spending more than a decade achieving his dream - building his company into an industry leader. Andre is super hot. Andre is also more than a little cynical about matters of the heart.A chance meeting on the beach leads Ava and Andre to drinks, dinner, drinks, drunken sex, and more drinks. Oh, and they end up married - which neither seem too overly concerned with at the time, but by the end of the week, they are in love. Andre freely admits to wanting to continue the relationship when they return to the states. Ava...not so much. She feels she has nothing to offer Andre but heartache and sadness because she is DYING. So, after agreeing to getting together when they return home, Ava engages in just a bit of deceit about her personal details, which hinders Andre's desperate search for her.Here's where my "Ava-issues" begin. First, she's hiding and avoiding Andre, but SHE DOES NOT CHANGE HER PHONE NUMBER! And he calls several times a day for months. Soooo...she doesn't want to be found, and doesn't even block his number, much less change hers; and he hires people to track her down, but no one can trace her phone number? Even Gus & Sean from "Psych" would have figured this out! Heh-heh!Next "Ava-issue" - as a result of her time with Andre, Ava does get pregnant, and despite everyone reminding her she's DYING, she gives birth to little Andrew. Ava is determined to be a good mother and care for her son on her own, which leads her to move out of her Mom's home and relocate to another city. All very commendable and maternal. But, she still refuses to contact Andre to tell him about his son, even though she's looked him up online and finds out exactly who and where he is. I became angry with her because of all the talk of staying away from Andre because she is DYING, what about her son? If she's so convinced she can't live long enough to have a lasting relationship with the father of her son, what's going to happen to Andrew when she DIES? Shouldn't his father be informed of the "matter at hand"? (You know, she's DYING!) This made her pity party a bit disingenuous, but I won't call her on it because she is DYING.The inevitable "meeting" happens and everything blows wide open. Ava's afraid, Andre's pissed off, and no one's talking in complete sentences. It was awesome! I thought Andre was overly mean, but again, I'll back off because he didn't know yet about her heart condition.My favorite scene is when Michelle gets the big kiss-off! Read the book - you'll love it too - although it seemed she went too easily and quickly. I don't trust her.Ava's Mom seems overbearing...and she is...but you'll grow to love her, and she is key to their story.Do Ava and Andre make it? Does Andre's Mom make Ava cry? Does Ava die? Read-the-book! It's a great ride!