Synopsis:
He found me in blood and tears.
I stayed with him through darkness and fire.
We loved each other in the moment between innocence and bitter truth.
We were the kids easily ignored, who grew into adults we hardly knew.
We weren’t meant to last forever. And we didn’t.
He ran away.
I tried to move on.
Yet I never stopped thinking about the boy who had fought to keep me alive in a world that would have swallowed me whole. He was the past that I buried, but never forgot.
Until the day I found him again, years after believing I had lost him forever.
And in cold, resentful eyes, I saw the heart of the man who had been everything when I had nothing at all. So I vowed to hold onto the second chance that was stolen from the children we had been.
Sometimes fate is ugly. Life can be twisted.
And who we are can be ruined by who we once were.
For two people who had survived so much, we would have to learn how to hold on before we were forced to let go.
REVIEW:
AMIE'S 5 STAR REVIEW
WOW the feels in this story - My emotions ranged from pure heartache to disgust to gut wrenching pain. I was really lost in the world of the homeless and all the things they have to do to survive. This story is really 2 pieces being told side by side - we have Imi and Yoss 15 years ago when they first met as homeless teens and then we have the here and now - after a 15 year separation they are brought back together by fate but will they get there One Day Soon - their HEA ??
Man if your heart doesn't break for Imi and Yoss as homeless teens it will most certainly break for them as adults face to face after years of suffering without each other. When they first meet Imi is 16 and recently run away from home. She meets up with a crew of friends under a bridge and they become her new family. Through cold nights in the Pit and long days stealing or rummaging for foods these 6 months of time are rough. It was devastating to read what they went through and being as OCD as I am I found myself cringing thinking of how they lived without clean clothes or showers. Luckily for Imi she found Yoss and he took care of her and protected her. They fell in love and had promises of a great future once they ran away from this mess. As we all know promises are made to be broken and life never goes how it seems. Although Imi goes home and does find her place in the world she has never been fully happy. 15 long years have gone by since she last saw Yoss. Her smile comes back when she takes on the hospitals newest social work case in the form of a homeless man beaten almost to death. Reconnection , second chance romance , time to right wrongs... all these scenarios come into play. Yoss has never caught much of a break and we come to find his years of living on the streets have left him with some serious issues. It is sad to read their present day story , for me it was filled with uncertainty and I was scared for Yoss and scared for the choices he may have made. I was on the edge of my seat just wishing for some peace , wishing for a miracle and an HEA. This is mainly told in Im's POV but then we get a peek into Yoss's POV and wow it told a story in itself that was bittersweet. As the story ends there is a sense of wait - what do you mean - but then we get this great epilogue and my heart was happy !!
EXCERPT:
Yossarian Frazier wasn’t an overly complicated person. He was smart. He was thoughtful. He was generous and kind. He was loyal to a fault.
And he was someone who had been forced to make choices that would shatter most people. I could see the fragments being chipped away little by little as he struggled to hold on.
Yet he still sat beside me, with concern on his face, wanting to know if I was all right. When it was obvious he wasn’t.
So I wouldn’t add my baggage to his overburdened shoulders. I couldn’t do that to him.
“I’m fine. Just wanted some alone time. It was getting a little loud over there,” I said with as sincere a smile as I could muster.
Yoss glanced over my shoulder towards where his friends were hanging out and nodded. “I get that.”
We both stared up into the sky—red, orange, purple, vibrant, violent colors.
“Did you ever read fairytales as a kid?” I asked him suddenly.
Yoss frowned and gave me an amused smile. His too red lips stretching uncomfortably. “Yeah, I guess so. Why?”
I shrugged. “I always liked the idea of a happily ever after. That no matter what horrible things happened to people, everything ended up exactly how it should. With the perfect kiss. The fancy wedding. The evil stepsisters being forced to work as maids in the castle.” I laughed self-consciously. “I think maybe now more than any other time in my life, I could use a fairytale ending.”
I startled at the feel of Yoss’s hand on mine. He carefully, so gently, laced our fingers together.
Palm to palm.
“Tell me a story then, Imi. I want to hear a happy ending.”
A happy ending.
What did one of those even look like?
I continued to stare into the sky and I felt something inside of me shift.
With Yoss’s hand in mine I knew something with a certainty that came with being young and crazy about a boy who was crazy about me.
My happy ending was Yoss.
Yoss’s happy ending was me.
So I gave him the story I wished we had. The one that was full of fantasy. Improbable. Unrealistic. But there was truth in it as well.
The best kind.
“Once upon a time there was a girl from a happy family. She was loved and adored and never wanted for anything. She spent her days surrounded by friends and family. She smiled all the time, never having a reason to cry.” Yoss squeezed my hand and I took a deep breath.
“One day she met a boy who was just as happy. And together they realized how wonderful life could be. He wanted to take care of her. She wanted to stay by his side.” Yoss rested his chin on top of my head, and I leaned into him.
So close.
The closest yet.
“The girl had never been to the beach.”
“Neither had the boy,” Yoss added in a whisper, his lips moving against my hair.
“They decided to run away to the shore. Where they could dip their toes in the water and walk on the sand. Because everything was always better when they were together.”
“Did they live happily ever after? On the beach? Always together?” Yoss asked, his voice breaking.
I couldn’t look up at him because I knew what I’d see.
And I wasn’t prepared to see his doubt.
“Of course they did. Always together,” I murmured, shivering as the sun disappeared.
Yoss ran his thumb along the inside of my wrist. Slowly. Carefully. “We’ll walk on the beach, Imi, and we’ll dance on the sand. Because one day soon, I promise you that all this ugly will become something beautiful.” Did he believe that? How could he given where he spent his day? Where he sometimes spent his nights? How could he afford to dream the impossible?
But I wanted to dream with him.
I had to.
“I know, Yoss. One day soon,” I agreed.
We stayed like that for a long time, neither of us moving. I wasn’t sure if it was out of fear. Or out of contentment.
Whatever it was, it kept us still.
Lost in dreams neither of us really believed would ever come true.
About The Author:
The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Contemporary and Paranormal romance including The Find You in the Dark and Bad Rep series as well as the upcoming stand alone romance, Reclaiming the Sand, and a dark new adult series for Gallery Books.
A. Meredith spent ten years as a counselor for at risk teens and children. First working at a Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault program and then later a program for children with severe emotional and mental health issues. Her former clients and their stories continue to influence every aspect of her writing.
When not writing (or being tortured with all manner of beauty products at the hand of her very imaginative and extremely girly daughter), she is eating chocolate, watching reality television that could rot your brain and reading a smutty novel or two.
A. Meredith is represented by Michelle Johnson with the Inklings Literary Agency.
A. Meredith spent ten years as a counselor for at risk teens and children. First working at a Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault program and then later a program for children with severe emotional and mental health issues. Her former clients and their stories continue to influence every aspect of her writing.
When not writing (or being tortured with all manner of beauty products at the hand of her very imaginative and extremely girly daughter), she is eating chocolate, watching reality television that could rot your brain and reading a smutty novel or two.
A. Meredith is represented by Michelle Johnson with the Inklings Literary Agency.
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