Review: Beautifully Heartbreaking
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 8, 2014
Real Rating: 4.5 starsIn a way, I feel like all contemporary romances are the same. Even the ones that are different are the same. Does that makes sense? But regardless of that, I feel like this brought up an interesting scenario and an even more interesting way of dealing with loss.I felt like it had a message about soul mates and those mythical happily ever afters. I loved every second of it.CharactersLike with most books where romances are involved, I loved the guy way more than the female protagonist. Sure, I felt for Sawyer. She's 25 years old and she's been through some crazy stuff. When it finally revealed how her husband died I was shocked. Shocked.She really isn't so bad of a person. She's relatable, like any good female protagonist. She provides some insight, like any great female protagonist.When she's confused, so are you a bit. When she's wrong, you want to yell at her. When she's right, you're fist pumping.Now. Dean. Sa-woon. I'll admit I was conflicted for a while. He's trying to move on with another woman, just like the summary says. Lily seems nice enough. She knows all his secrets. But what about Sawyer? What matters more? I felt like the book was trying to say something about that, but I couldn't figure out what. But either way, Dean was great. And I LOVED reading from his POV. It was such an amusing and thought-provoking perspective. He's loyal and funny and weird at times (in a good way, of course).PlotHere's where I was surprised: Every contemporary romance ends the same, right? They end up together. I mean, DUH. What's the point if they don't end up together? Even if something tears them apart, something else will bring them back together.That being said, I was so afraid they wouldn't get together. NOTHING was going right. Everything went wrong wrong wrong. I tried to convince myself that it didn't matter. They'd end up together. They have to. Right?This I was sure of. And I won't say whether or not they did because the fact of the matter is that I CARED. I wanted them to end up together. Clearly they were perfect for each other.There are other themes here, too. Besides the romantic love, there's also loyalty and friendship, family and dealing with loss. Dealing with betrayal and trying to start over. Maybe it's been done before, but I like how Mindy Hayes handled her story.Rating: 4.5 starsWhy: Thought-provoking and deep. I was hooked.Recommendation: it's not ALL romance, but it is certainly there, whether it's a flashback or present day. I would recommend this to those who like contemporary, romance or not.