Rating: 2 stars out of 5
You never forget your first love … especially when they cause you pain. Chase thought he was doing the right thing when he left Liam years earlier, but when he finds out he was wrong, it might be too late. The trust they once shared may be past the point of repair.
The Forever Kind of Love is a story of second chances that asks the question — is a good reason enough to wash away the years of hurt it caused? Chase comes home from the military ready to start his life with Liam. But he discovers Liam’s life has already started without him. Is there a place for him in it? Is the possibility of more pain worth the risk for Liam?
If that isn’t hard enough, they only have the week Chase is on leave to come to terms with their future. Can they find forever in seven days?
First off, the blurb is a little misleading. “…when he finds out he was wrong, it might be too late.” A bit inaccurate, since Chase’s plan from the beginning was exactly what he did. He never thought he was wrong, he just never bothered to consider things from Liam’s point of view.
I was worried when I started this book due to the length. While I love second chance tropes, I also need enough time and detail to make me want them to get back together and to really understand why they were apart. Forever Kind of Love is only 44 pages long and I didn’t get what I needed to make the story work.
Chase and Liam were in love, telling each other they were in love, and then Chase just up and leaves with no word, no message, no nothing for four years. Now he’s back and expecting Liam to open arms wide, take him back and then move the life he’s built in Chase’s absence to be with Chase, because Chase hasn’t left the military, which is where he went. It’s not really clear why the first four years were a turning point because even though Liam works for Chase’s mom at her art gallery, where he also shows his own art, Chase has never asked about Liam. We know this much because he was surprised Liam was showing his art work at the gallery, as well as not knowing that Liam no longer lived with his dad. No one knew about Chase and Liam back then, so Liam didn’t discuss it with mom either.
“And now it was time to finally go home and get his man.” He just shows up at his mom’s, where they happen to be throwing a party for Liam. He didn’t even do the courtesy of a phone call, a message, nothing. Then he is so shocked with Liam’s reaction because really, he didn’t bother with how Liam would have felt. “Just what? Explain what you were thinking? You didn’t think enough of me to explain at the time.” “Chase took a deep breath. This wasn’t going the way he planned.” There were so many WTF moments for me but I continued on, waiting for the groveling to happen. Which didn’t.
“Again, he’d known Liam would be mad about him just leaving, but he’d hoped that after four years some of that pain would’ve subsided.” What??? How does the pain subside when now Liam is faced with Chase, who has done absolutely nothing to make things better. Add in that it is really Chase’s mother who does the explaining to Liam and Chase gets no respect from me. Let’s also mention that throughout the book, Chase NEVER ONCE says he is sorry to Liam. Liam says sorry a few times but never Chase. Liam is still expected to give up his job, his house, his friends, his relationship with Chase’s mom as his boss, and with a day or two to decide, just move on. Chase doesn’t grovel at all during this time and for two days just mopes but makes no effort to clear up the mess he made.
The ending, which is supposed to make us feel good about them, just made me more aggravated with it. This is where the length of the book really worked against the author. We don’t get the sense at any point that Chase really loved Liam. Yes, the high handed reason for leaving (who knows why in four years he couldn’t be bothered to reconnect) is supposed to be for “Liam’s sake” but communication is more important and there is none. We are told that he loves Liam but nothing shows that he does. There needed to be more time between his return and the inevitable magical rekindling. “Did he really have a picture of Liam jumping up and proclaiming his undying love? Even after all Chase had done to hurt Liam? Yep, Chase did. Maybe I also needed to see how they were four years ago to make it seem like Chase really did love Liam and wasn’t just claiming him, as he says.
This is my first time reading this author and while this story absolutely was not for me, I would give her another try with a different type of story line.
Cover art, showing a naked male torso with dog tags, is simple but effective.
Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | JMS Books
Book Details:
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 