Review: This is more than a romance novel, it is a truly touching and beautiful story.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 14, 2014
This is probably one of the most beautiful and moving books I have read this year. I was so overwhelmed by this book; it took my breath away. Carey Heywood needs to be commended on this book. It is such an amazing story of love: learning to love, learning to be loved, holding on to love and letting go of love. It was powerful and touching and I know I will be re-reading it again.Loving is hard when all you know is that you have been left behind more times that you can count. Sawyer doesn’t think she can be loved. She doesn’t do relationships, she certainally doesn’t do the whole “making love” thing and when things get uncomfortable, she runs. This is who she is, this is what she knows.Losing her parents at a very young age, her life would change forever. Faced with an even bigger reality, her grandmother doesn’t want her and ships her off as quickly as she can to her Godmother, where she will spend her summer. But that is the last time she sees her grandmother. She never returns to that house. It was hard for her to even be there. She was only ten when her world shifted off it’s axis. Nothing would ever be the same. She lost the only people that loved her when she lost her parents.The silver lining… had none of those events occurred, she would have never met Jared. That boy on the boat who became her friend. Her constant through it all. He was her everything and now that her best friend is married, Jared is also her roommate. They share a condo but after the wedding, they begin to share a lot more than just room and board.Of course there is a downside to their perfect friendship, they are so physically attracted to one another but he knows he can’t push her for anything because he knows she will run. She knows that she can never been good enough for him and would rather continue on with her sex is just for fun routine than take a chance and losing him forever. But it is there. And just a few simple words whispered during a wedding reception and all bets are off. That is the beginning of the end of the world as Sawyer knows it.But this book is so much more than just a relationship between a guy and a girl. It is an entire process of learning to accept the past, staying in the present and looking forward to the future. When Sawyer gets the call that her grandmother dies, she knows she has to help settle the estate. But the things she discovers while cleaning the house only lead to more questions. But there is no one left to ask. Unless you start looking to the people that were there before and after Sawyer said goodbye to her parents.In the blink of an eye and the turn of a page, everything Sawyer thought about her life is different. Suddenly the story needs to be re-written. Suddenly there is a story behind everything that Sawyer grew up believing. What would you do if everything you have believed about your life, about your family about who you are and what you are capable of is suddenly not that way?This book moved me to tears over and over again. But by the end I was bawling like a baby. Please don’t misunderstand, they were not tears of sorrow or even tears of joy. They were tears of pride and such a gentle reminder of how much of our own lives we take for granted. This book just sparked something in my heart that I know I will not be able to let go of.Jarred was a no brainer. How could you not love a guy who only wants you to be happy? Throw in his extreme hotness factor and that seals the deal. But what I loved about him was that even though he didn’t always know if his decisions were the right ones, he always did what his heart told him to do. Good or bad, win or lose, he always followed his heart and that made his character not only hot, but a bit sappy too.Sawyer just tugged at the heart strings all the way through the book. She wasn’t broken, but she grew up believing so many things were one way that her entire life shifted when she found out the truth. She had so much strenght and courage that she could get through so much. But she never needed to do it alone. She always felt obligated to do it alone. Taking care of people is what she does but being on the receiving end of that is a much bigger pill to swollow.Carey Heywood has written one of the most beautiful books I have read and even though I cried a lot in the book, each tear was worth it and a gentle reminder of the power of love. How it can change your life. Sawyer’s journey to the end of the book was just inspiring and touching. It really moved me to watch her character grow and accept who she was then and who she is now.I am looking forward to reading this book over and over again, as I know I will be. Five fabulous stars for Carey Heywood’s Sawyer Says.*I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.