Review: An emotional roller coaster that will stick with you long after it's done.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 16, 2013
If Only is an emotional story about a woman named Bree who has just divorced her abusive husband. Marrying him was a huge mistake, but an even bigger mistake was leaving the love of her life for him. Scott was the man of her dreams, but she fed into the lies Bryan told her and paid dearly for it. After celebrating her divorce, she happens to run into Scott and finds her feelings for him have never diminished. Sadly for her though, Scott is married with a baby on the way. Feeling more depressed than ever, she leaves the bar and hit her head on the concrete, hard. She wakes up, however, with Scott. She finds that they are married and happy. Has she been given a second chance or is this all just a dream?Wow, talk about a roller coaster ride. Goodness gracious! You will feel every emotion imaginable reading this book and it is only a little over 100 pages! Our main character Bree was great. You will instantly click with her. She is a woman who has been through with her devil of an ex-husband. Bryan was physically, mentally, and sexually abusive. His violent outbursts caused her to have three miscarriages. He controlled what she wore and who she was with. She can't believe she fell for the nice-guy routine when she was already engaged to her high school sweetheart, Scott. Scott was perfect and she regrets the stupid decision she made of leaving him.I love Scott and Bree's relationship. One could only pray to have a marriage like theirs. Bree would have moments that remind her of Bryan's viciousness and I love that Scott was there for her and did his best to let her know he was there. It was so sad to see because sometimes he didn't know what to do and Bree wouldn't confide in him when she should. I kept yelling at the book, "Tell him! Tell him so he can kick that guy's a**!" Trust me, you will be yelling that and more reading this book.I loved this story a lot. Now even though Bree is in some alternate universe, that doesn't mean Bryan won't make an appearance or he would be any different. She finds that Bryan is her and Scott's boss. They are authors for his publishing company. Bryan is there and he wants Bree no matter what. He will destroy any and everybody to get what he wants. But Bree knows he is still just as evil and this time she will do what she can to save herself and whoever else he has in his crossfires.What would happen if you made the biggest mistake of your life and could go back to fix it? What a wonderful concept Owens has played with here. I loved it. Although I will say, this book will take a lot out of you. It was depressing. Not that it was the story in itself, but Owens had some pretty terrifying scenes of when Bree and Bryan were together. I had a few tears in my eyes during some of these scenes. I myself have witnessed abuse and it scared me that much more. I wanted to just reach in the book and go bats**t crazy on Bryan. If you are a woman, you will be wanting some justice, preferably with a baseball bat or any other blunt instrument.This was a quick read that I really loved. It has loads of sexy scenes (did I mention Scott is mouthwatering?), sad moments, and intense moments? I really enjoyed it. There were some scenes that had me scratching my head though. Bree's mom, Karen, was a bit unnecessary especially given that she is walking piece of sh**. Also the second to last chapter in the book (chapter 16 I think) felt a little out of place. I feel like it should have been a few chapters back instead of where it ended. That may be me nitpicking, but it just felt misplaced. When you get to it, you might see what I am talking about. But overall, this is a beautifully written story that will have you bouncing every which way. This is one of those reads you have to prepare for. Like I said, you will feel every kind of emotion reading this and it is worth it.