How can two people that are so different feel so right together? Riley and Sophia go beyond complicated. So young, so in love, so naive. Ms. Bell painted a beautiful picture of a storybook romance that proved to be anything but. Riley chose career over love and that was the beginning of the end for these lovebirds. Sophia has settled into her life. She is content if not completely happy. A surprise return and a hot pursuit send her right back into the spin cycle that blew up her happiness the first time. Forever with You is a second chance romance plain and simple. There are no frills just straight forward pure storytelling. Had fun with this cute story.

Engaging second chance love story. 4.5 stars.

This was an engaging and enlightening read about the challenges of military relationships. Riley was gorgeous and his love for Sophia was beautiful. Sophia’s journey to accepting and overcoming the risks associated with Riley’s choice of profession was moving and bittersweet. While I did start to get overly frustrated with Sophia towards the end, the HEA was sweet and satisfying.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Repetitive even within a few pages. Cute but predictable and repetitive

This is book six of the Starling Hill series and the main characters are Sophia Abella and Riley Jacobs. Sophia hasn’t had much luck with men over the last six years, having gotten married to a young Marine when she was twenty one and had only known Riley for some four weeks. The marriage lasted less than two years as he chose his life as a Marine over being married to her and keeping her feeling safe. She has had lots of internet online dates and is due to see her current online beau Bruce, for the first time ever in her Italian restaurant this evening. He lets her down yet again, but the restaurant gets an unexpected visitor in the appearance of her ex-husband Riley! He has returned to the small town to be with her at last and also to take on the role of Chief of Police, after finally leaving the Marines. It has been some six years since Sophia last saw him and she thought she was over the heartbreak he had caused her, but the attraction is still there, no matter how much she says she hates him still.
They are both twenty nine now and Sophia runs a pretty successful Italian restaurant now, her dream of running the family restaurant and taking over from her father, who she calls Daddy-o, now a reality. Riley has the job he always wanted as a police officer, but it still could come with danger, as he still goes out on patrol even as the police chief. The danger that could occur when he was a marine, was too much for Sophia when the reality of loss came really close to her and Riley. Now she wants to change Riley and keep him safe, something he isn’t willing to do. No matter how electric they are together and the fact they both still love and haven’t really gotten over each other, they are still having issues in communicating their own needs and desires, out of the bedroom that is! Going forward with their marriage will take time and work from both of them. It’s not going to be as easy as it seems, for these two to come to an agreement of what they want from each other and marriage. It takes a bit of time for the real reasons behind their initial split to reveal the truth from both sides, as you start thinking one thing and finally find out the full story and how each coped in their early days. They are more mature now and don’t have the same pressures on their relationship, but real life will still throw in a curve ball or two. Sophia has had to live through all her relative’s children, when she wants children of her own. She needs to figure out if Riley has changed his previous stance on children and if their list of wants for marriage, can truly align. A longer read than maybe needed, but you get to see the story from both sides and see how things should work out in their second chance at marriage. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.

Not much to say on this one. I had to work to continue reading. I wish I could say something other than that, but I cannot.

Rating: 2.5-3/5
Recommend: +/-
Audience: Adult
Status: R, M, C
Chemistry/Intensity: +/-
Conflict/Drama: +/-

2:5 Stars Mild spoilers.

I listened to the audiobook version of this story. I think this is a book I would’ve preferred to have read but I needed something that I could listen to while driving or walking or multitasking. I struggled with not being irritated by the narrator’s voice for Sophia. I found the voice to be whiny but then I also found the character to be insufferable towards the end of the story. I found Angie the chef to be also self-centered and a bit narcissistic about her occupation. It’s rare though that I actively root for a character to not have the HEA with the main love interest. In this case, I was hoping Riley would head for the hills.

Sophia was 29 years old and while I could understand her immaturity as a newlywed in the backstory, by the time in which she had started her reconciliation with Riley, her wanting her husband to have a different occupation just to make her feel more secure seemed incredibly self-centered and immature. Her father implied this, her friends and her sister-in-law basically came out and said it to her face and yet she seemed to be clueless about the inappropriateness of her stance. And there was some internal monologue line where she thought they’d eventually get back together once he finally came around to her way of thinking. That’s when I was yelling at the audiobook. I didn’t think I could take one more whiny minute of whiny Sophia. ENOUGH! Sophia, you’re not a victim. Put on your big girl panties and be grateful that somebody actually loves you when you’re forever on speed dial for wahmbulances!

This was my first time with a Heatherly Bell novel. I can’t say that it will be my last but I’m also not in a hurry to hear the other love stories in Starlight Hill.

I also found it a bit implausible for Lucy, Riley’s sister, to be an addict who was not doing more wreckage to her brother’s life. Knowing a lot of people in Al-Anon recovery, I have heard multiple stories of how people who abuse drugs (and meth specifically) as tending to put their addiction above EVERYTHING (meaning they steal...from everyone!) Lucy didn’t seem quite sick enough.