After his mother’s death, David distanced himself from his siblings, determined to hide a devastating family secret. Now, he’s brought a new girlfriend along to his homecoming—one who’s pushing for a serious commitment. The last thing he needs on his growing list of problems is his budding attraction to Vivi.
With tensions running high, David’s behavior triggers a series of events that might cost him the love he’s always taken for granted and Vivi the only real family she’s ever known.
MY REVIEW:
Our first crushes are sometimes the
hardest on our hearts. Especially if you
are in constant contact with the person of your affection. Growing up is hard enough but when you feel
mixed messages on top of friendship it’s hard to gauge what is real. When the person you are crushing on is your
best friends older brother who has always defended you against all the
bullies.
Vivi LeBrun lost her mother and brother in
the car accident the three of them were in when she was six years old. She was left to be raised by a father who
could not handle the grief well and turned to drinking instead of being a
responsible loving parent. Leaving Vivi
to manage on her own. Caring along and
fending for her own well-being most of the time. Which is why she had either cheap mismatched
clothes or old clothes on and was teased so very much.
Vivi also became a parent to her own
father. Cleaning up his messes when he
got drunk. Putting up with his
embarrassing moments when he got his drunk on.
Cat St. James her best friend in the world knew what she was up against
and invited her over to her house. A few
things became very clear to Vivi when she was there. One, that she missed her family
terribly. Two that the St. James home was
so homey, even with all the things going on there. There was true love, respect, and true sense
of family.
Mrs. St. James saw a wounded soul but yet
a beauty within who could heal and love also.
She knew in the future she would come to only embrace these traits and
nurture them but look forward to how they could heal, help, and embrace her
family one day. She love Vivi a great
deal. Like one of her own. She taught her, her ways.
The object of her affections is David who
is the oldest son of the St. James family.
He is 5 years older than Vivi is.
He has always just looked at her as just a good friend. Yet, in some ways more than that also. Which was hard because as it was his younger
brother Jackson teased him about the crush Vivi had on him all the time.
To him Vivi was one of the bravest girls
he ever met. She never backed down from
anything she never showed fear. In fact
when he went off to college he found a love letter she sneaked into his
computer bag. Which took guts. Even if he did ever want to move to a
different level with Vivi, Cat and Jackson would have a problem with it. They did have a lot in common museums, exhibits,
secondhand stores, and other things to spend time together.
But when their mother passed away things
blew up with David and his father. You
see he held a very hurtful secret about their father that their mother asked
him to keep from his siblings. Before
she passed. Being so angry with their
father he knew he couldn’t keep quiet so he accepted a job in Hong Kong for the
past year in order to not tell but it caused a huge gap in the closeness that
they all had and bad feelings that may take a very long time to heal even
between him and Vivi. Pretty much
dropping all contact will all
of them. Causing great pain to all of them but especially
Vivi. So, when Cat invited her to the
sibling vacation at the beach house she was so excited. Because Cat has known about her mad crush on
David and tells her not to get her hopes up but that David is back and is going
to be there but he is still not talking all that much and is still angry.
When the ferry docks they look around to
finally find David. As they all get to
see him it is what they hope all smiles and kiss on the cheek and
excitement. Until…they start to get to
the car and Cat asks where Jackson is and he says back at the house with Hank
and Laney. Then Cat is like Laney like
from Hong Kong Laney? Vivi freezes to
her spot right before she reaches the car and all the blood rushes to her
feet. Her heart gets the message last
when it hears, “Once again he did not pick you and he will never pick you.” So, it was time to get in the game of cutting
David loose from her heart.
When they get to the house Jackson comes
out to greet them. He grabs Vivi like he
always does gives her his full body bear hug and big sloppy kiss. From that moment on Vivi decides to work it
with Jackson and Hank be flirty and relaxed with them. And to avoid eye contact or any contact with
David for the whole week if possible. David
is dumbfounded. What happened what did
he do? What did he say? Something wrong? Let’s just say life becomes interesting…
This book was a coming of age, a first
love, and family saga all in one. I
really enjoyed it. I can’t wait for the
next one. I loved the characters and all
their antics. I love how the author
takes Vivi’s character full circle. I
give this 5++++ stars. Provided by
netgalley.com. Follow us at:
www.1rad-readerreviews.com
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