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penguins_save_lives's review
4.0
Another great one by Roni Loren, and a great conclusion to this series. I always appreciate how Loren can write a romance with lots of tension, but where the adults consistently make good, realistic decisions. There are no "convenient" plot twists or scenarios that only happen in fiction. This one is no different; two best friends from childhood have lost touch in the wake of a terrible tragedy, and reconnect years later. The chemistry is great, the plot moves along naturally, and the overall message is meaningful but not heavy-handed. The supporting characters from previous books in the series are great, but don't pull focus from the main characters. I will be recommending this one to anyone who isn't convinced about the romance genre.
mistysreads's review
5.0
This story is a tear jerker and a new beginning story between two people that survived a tragedy. Kincaid and Ash were best friends until that fateful night. Kincaid Breslin wasn't supposed to survive the night of her school's prom night shooting. Her best friend Ashton Isaacs stepped in and saved her life.
Ash had been in love with Kincaid for as long as he could remember, he put aside his feelings and helped her get the guy she wanted by writing secret admirer card and left them in the book store she was working at after school. The night of the prom, Ash confronted Kincaid about her boyfriends behavior, but she wasn't able to remember what actually happened until he began to retell the story. Kincaid thought her boyfriend was everything she had ever wanted and that her soul mate had been taken away from her. Not realizing her soul mate was right in front of her the whole time. Ash is everything that any woman would want.
I love the second chance these two get. While they were best friends, they were able to share things with each other that they wouldn't normally share with anyone else. I loved that these two were able to get everything they ever wanted by laying it all on the line. Kincaid was the cheerleader for all her friends through the rest of the series, I loved how they were able to get together and try to put the tragedy behind them and continue to build the future together with their families and together. I couldn't get over how Kincaid was able to show the other girls just how much they meant to her. The Epilogue was so touching and I couldn't keep a dry eye as she made dedications to each of her friends that were there for each other throughout the years. I couldn't imagine a better ending to a series that started with such a tragedy bringing these girls together.
Received ARC in exchange for honest and voluntary review from NetGalley.
Ash had been in love with Kincaid for as long as he could remember, he put aside his feelings and helped her get the guy she wanted by writing secret admirer card and left them in the book store she was working at after school. The night of the prom, Ash confronted Kincaid about her boyfriends behavior, but she wasn't able to remember what actually happened until he began to retell the story. Kincaid thought her boyfriend was everything she had ever wanted and that her soul mate had been taken away from her. Not realizing her soul mate was right in front of her the whole time. Ash is everything that any woman would want.
I love the second chance these two get. While they were best friends, they were able to share things with each other that they wouldn't normally share with anyone else. I loved that these two were able to get everything they ever wanted by laying it all on the line. Kincaid was the cheerleader for all her friends through the rest of the series, I loved how they were able to get together and try to put the tragedy behind them and continue to build the future together with their families and together. I couldn't get over how Kincaid was able to show the other girls just how much they meant to her. The Epilogue was so touching and I couldn't keep a dry eye as she made dedications to each of her friends that were there for each other throughout the years. I couldn't imagine a better ending to a series that started with such a tragedy bringing these girls together.
Received ARC in exchange for honest and voluntary review from NetGalley.
amym84's review
4.0
The One for You is the final book in Roni Loren's series following the survivors of a school shooting who reunite for a documentary roughly twelve years after the tragedy.
Prom Queen Kincaid Breslin wasn't supposed to survive prom night. So many lives were lost including her boyfriend Graham. But Kincaid, along with her best friend Ashton Issacs were among the lucky few who survived. But how they've survived is another matter. It's easy to imagine that living through something like they did will have a huge impact on life going forward. For Kincaid, she doesn't take anything for granted. She lives life to the fullest she possibly can. She chases opportunities and maybe even makes impulsive decisions - like buying a dilapidated old house to turn it into a B&B.
Ash, on the other hand, ran. He left Long Acre almost immediately after prom night and barely looks back. Becoming an author and using a pen name he's been able to disassociate himself with the tragedy as much as possible.
But now Ash is back in town. Trying to keep a low profile while he gets back on his feet after a breakup. In a town the size of Long Acre it's not surprising that Ash and Kincaid run into each other again and they certainly have a lot to work through. But Ash has been keeping things from Kincaid, things about what really happened on that frightful night that changed their lives. Things that could ultimately alter the tentative friendship they've started up again, but for Kincaid Breslin, Ash will, and has done, everything. After all, he's been in love with her from the beginning.
Full disclosure: I am not up to date on this series. I've read the first book [b:The Ones Who Got Away|34569847|The Ones Who Got Away (The Ones Who Got Away, #1)|Roni Loren|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495322156l/34569847._SY75_.jpg|55715670], but I've been a little lax on reading the other two books. While I'm promising myself to get on that, I was fine going into this book minus knowledge about the previous two. However, I do think it's important to have read the first book because it is a setup for the overall tone of the series. Where the characters are coming from in regards to their experience with the tragedy. Then the individual books break it down a bit more individually in regards to how each has moved forward with their lives.
Roni Loren has really taken an issue that I think we can all agree is something that strikes fear in the hearts of the majority of people: school shooting. She's taken this issue, and while still honoring the severity of it, has given readers a survivor story. I imagine it's not easy to balance this serious topic which has impacted so many people, with the fact that it's ok to move forward, it's ok to continue living even if that living also equally means that someone else is not. It's something that Kincaid still struggles with twelve plus years after the tragedy. The fact that she survived and her boyfriend, whom she dearly loved, did not. What happens often when you're the one that has to move forward is that you put that person on a pedestal. Kincaid has done that with Graham. No one else she's tried having a relationship with comes close to her memories, and now seeing her friends all paired off and starting families, Kincaid is lonely.
When Ash shows back up in town, Kincaid is both elated, but also that sense of loss is exacerbated because she lost him too, in a way, because he left after the shooting and their friendship has suffered in the intervening years. Seeing Kincaid and Ash find themselves, first, back to friendship and, second, into a romance was the most satisfying thing because one doesn't suffer in order for the other to thrive.
Their friendship continues to heal even after their attraction to one another is revealed, but Ash knows things about the past that have eluded Kincaid up to this point. At the time of the shooting Kincaid was unconscious and only remembers bits and pieces, and I think she's filled in a few areas, but not objectively. Ash keeping the past from Kincaid was probably not the smartest thing to do, but I think his heart was in the right place overall. It's a tricky, sticky situation, but I believe in this instance that the way it's been handled speaks more about the healing process - and how that process is different for each individual - than anything else.
I've really enjoyed this series. The heartbreak, moving forward from the past. How tragedies don't have to change who you are, but certainly influence your life, and sometimes something good can come from the pain. How they can bring you closer to people that you may not have normally thought of as a friend or lover.
This series and obviously specifically this book is perfect for the friends-to-lovers trope in that taking that scary step to alter a wonderful friendship with romance has always been a risk just as it's a risk to put yourself out there and pick yourself up after tragedy. This time, Kincaid and Ash will do it together.
Prom Queen Kincaid Breslin wasn't supposed to survive prom night. So many lives were lost including her boyfriend Graham. But Kincaid, along with her best friend Ashton Issacs were among the lucky few who survived. But how they've survived is another matter. It's easy to imagine that living through something like they did will have a huge impact on life going forward. For Kincaid, she doesn't take anything for granted. She lives life to the fullest she possibly can. She chases opportunities and maybe even makes impulsive decisions - like buying a dilapidated old house to turn it into a B&B.
Ash, on the other hand, ran. He left Long Acre almost immediately after prom night and barely looks back. Becoming an author and using a pen name he's been able to disassociate himself with the tragedy as much as possible.
But now Ash is back in town. Trying to keep a low profile while he gets back on his feet after a breakup. In a town the size of Long Acre it's not surprising that Ash and Kincaid run into each other again and they certainly have a lot to work through. But Ash has been keeping things from Kincaid, things about what really happened on that frightful night that changed their lives. Things that could ultimately alter the tentative friendship they've started up again, but for Kincaid Breslin, Ash will, and has done, everything. After all, he's been in love with her from the beginning.
Full disclosure: I am not up to date on this series. I've read the first book [b:The Ones Who Got Away|34569847|The Ones Who Got Away (The Ones Who Got Away, #1)|Roni Loren|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495322156l/34569847._SY75_.jpg|55715670], but I've been a little lax on reading the other two books. While I'm promising myself to get on that, I was fine going into this book minus knowledge about the previous two. However, I do think it's important to have read the first book because it is a setup for the overall tone of the series. Where the characters are coming from in regards to their experience with the tragedy. Then the individual books break it down a bit more individually in regards to how each has moved forward with their lives.
Roni Loren has really taken an issue that I think we can all agree is something that strikes fear in the hearts of the majority of people: school shooting. She's taken this issue, and while still honoring the severity of it, has given readers a survivor story. I imagine it's not easy to balance this serious topic which has impacted so many people, with the fact that it's ok to move forward, it's ok to continue living even if that living also equally means that someone else is not. It's something that Kincaid still struggles with twelve plus years after the tragedy. The fact that she survived and her boyfriend, whom she dearly loved, did not. What happens often when you're the one that has to move forward is that you put that person on a pedestal. Kincaid has done that with Graham. No one else she's tried having a relationship with comes close to her memories, and now seeing her friends all paired off and starting families, Kincaid is lonely.
When Ash shows back up in town, Kincaid is both elated, but also that sense of loss is exacerbated because she lost him too, in a way, because he left after the shooting and their friendship has suffered in the intervening years. Seeing Kincaid and Ash find themselves, first, back to friendship and, second, into a romance was the most satisfying thing because one doesn't suffer in order for the other to thrive.
Their friendship continues to heal even after their attraction to one another is revealed, but Ash knows things about the past that have eluded Kincaid up to this point. At the time of the shooting Kincaid was unconscious and only remembers bits and pieces, and I think she's filled in a few areas, but not objectively. Ash keeping the past from Kincaid was probably not the smartest thing to do, but I think his heart was in the right place overall. It's a tricky, sticky situation, but I believe in this instance that the way it's been handled speaks more about the healing process - and how that process is different for each individual - than anything else.
I've really enjoyed this series. The heartbreak, moving forward from the past. How tragedies don't have to change who you are, but certainly influence your life, and sometimes something good can come from the pain. How they can bring you closer to people that you may not have normally thought of as a friend or lover.
This series and obviously specifically this book is perfect for the friends-to-lovers trope in that taking that scary step to alter a wonderful friendship with romance has always been a risk just as it's a risk to put yourself out there and pick yourself up after tragedy. This time, Kincaid and Ash will do it together.
geisttull's review
3.0
Another good story - the last in the series. Looking forward to her next one.
books_and_more_books_byt's review
5.0
This was a heartwarming book for second chance love. The storyline was were great and I couldn't help but love the characters. Can't wait to read the rest of the series
cassandra67b07's review
5.0
I received an eARC from edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
The One for You is the conclusion to this powerful series and before I review it, I should express how much I appreciate and respect what Loren has done throughout the series. By focusing on the aftermath of a mass shooting, an event which in the US at least is not as uncommon as it used to be, she is able to explore the many different types of PSTS and trauma experienced by the survivors and even by the relatives of the shooters. Loren's background as a counselor and social worker informs these books, but the romance and healing elements are front and center even while she shows us all the ways economic, social, ethnic, and gender differences can fracture a community.
Kincaid and Ash have gone their separate ways after the prom night shooting despite their history as best friends and confidants. The flashbacks give us a window into the trauma of high school and adolescents and the ways that boys compete, the economic divides between families, the hidden secrets and abuses, and the way that Kincaid and Ash become each other's safe refuge from all of that. Yet, like most adolescents, they miss or misinterpret much of what they are seeing. It's only as adults that they can re-establish their friendship/connection and finally start communicating about all the secrets they have kept hidden.
This was my favorite book of the series partly because of the "friends to lovers" trope and the breadcrumbs leading us to the "he has always loved her" trope. Their connection goes back years and once they finally come together it is explosive. Both take risks with each other and with their careers and the payoff is so worth it. Because at the end they are honest with each other and with their pasts and because of that honesty the HEA is utterly earned.
The book also brings together the original core group of women who wrote their time capsule letters and have been each others' support through it all. The strand of female solidarity and friendship through the series comes full circle here and is not neglected. And THAT is how you write contemporary romance!
Highly recommended for the whole series but this book was my favorite.
The One for You is the conclusion to this powerful series and before I review it, I should express how much I appreciate and respect what Loren has done throughout the series. By focusing on the aftermath of a mass shooting, an event which in the US at least is not as uncommon as it used to be, she is able to explore the many different types of PSTS and trauma experienced by the survivors and even by the relatives of the shooters. Loren's background as a counselor and social worker informs these books, but the romance and healing elements are front and center even while she shows us all the ways economic, social, ethnic, and gender differences can fracture a community.
Kincaid and Ash have gone their separate ways after the prom night shooting despite their history as best friends and confidants. The flashbacks give us a window into the trauma of high school and adolescents and the ways that boys compete, the economic divides between families, the hidden secrets and abuses, and the way that Kincaid and Ash become each other's safe refuge from all of that. Yet, like most adolescents, they miss or misinterpret much of what they are seeing. It's only as adults that they can re-establish their friendship/connection and finally start communicating about all the secrets they have kept hidden.
This was my favorite book of the series partly because of the "friends to lovers" trope and the breadcrumbs leading us to the "he has always loved her" trope. Their connection goes back years and once they finally come together it is explosive. Both take risks with each other and with their careers and the payoff is so worth it. Because at the end they are honest with each other and with their pasts and because of that honesty the HEA is utterly earned.
The book also brings together the original core group of women who wrote their time capsule letters and have been each others' support through it all. The strand of female solidarity and friendship through the series comes full circle here and is not neglected. And THAT is how you write contemporary romance!
Highly recommended for the whole series but this book was my favorite.
nellesnightstand1's review
5.0
I'm sad to see this series end but these ladies deserve their happiness. Throughout the series we get this wonderful friendship born of tragedy. It warms the heart.
Kincaid was the cheerleader of the group, aways peppy ad so talkative. It waa nice to get to see under that facade to see the feelings beneath. I felt heartbroken for Ash, to love like that, be still my heart, even as an 18 year old he was the best freaking man!
This was the perfect ending to this series.
Kincaid was the cheerleader of the group, aways peppy ad so talkative. It waa nice to get to see under that facade to see the feelings beneath. I felt heartbroken for Ash, to love like that, be still my heart, even as an 18 year old he was the best freaking man!
This was the perfect ending to this series.
booklover1974's review
4.0
I read the first installment of this series but not two and three, so I was curious to see if I could get in to this forth installment as a stand alone, which worked very well.
Kincaid and Ashton were best friends through the school years until high school ended... With a school shooting at prom. After this horrible event Ash left their hometown and Kincaid. Now, after more than ten years, he's back. Can they be friends again?
•
This is a romance but with very serious events which makes you feel a bit more, it's not all light fluff. I recommend this if you want a love story with heartbreaking, real problems. What happens to the people who survives a mass shooting? Can you ever leave this behind you?
•
Fair warning; some scenes are rather steamy
Kincaid and Ashton were best friends through the school years until high school ended... With a school shooting at prom. After this horrible event Ash left their hometown and Kincaid. Now, after more than ten years, he's back. Can they be friends again?
•
This is a romance but with very serious events which makes you feel a bit more, it's not all light fluff. I recommend this if you want a love story with heartbreaking, real problems. What happens to the people who survives a mass shooting? Can you ever leave this behind you?
•
Fair warning; some scenes are rather steamy
jen286's review
2.0
I'm so sad that I didn't love this story. I have been on a kick of reading this author's books (this series and the Say Everything series) and LOVED all of them, but this one...was just meh. I wanted to love it so so much, but I didn't.
Kincaid kind of annoyed me in this book. She is trying so so so hard to stay in denial and not think about anything, not feel anything, just be happy happy everything is fine mode and it grated on me. That and she is still hung up thinking her boyfriend who died many years ago in high school was the one and so she cannot have a happily ever after. And how she has lots of sex with men, but is still embarrassed by that? When she is confronted with one guy who she slept with once she is embarrassed that her friends know she has a sex life. Which...I want a Samantha if you are going to enjoy your life. Own it. You have nothing to be ashamed of. If both parties are consenting then have fun! It just...she has major issues, most of these characters do, but in hers I felt like she really needs some therapy before she can try and work things out with a man. Like...ugh. I wanted more!
Ash was fine, but kind of annoying at times as well. He knows everything that happened back then, how Kincaid's ex wasn't all that and a bag of chips, but keeps things from her because....well because he has always been in love with her and he is sure there is no way she will ever love him like that. So...at times I was just like dude! Grow a spine and do something! Use your words!!! Writing this I now am seeing I think this is why this was so disappointing. In the author's other books I loved that the characters used their words and communicated and did unexpected things, but in this one everyone kept everything bottled up inside. Which is disappointing when I love the characters talking! I love resolving things with words and not just assuming everything. Yeah, this didn't work for me.
That and the whole pretext for why these two were pushed together was not great. At least to me. In the other stories I loved how natural everything was, how the characters worked things out, but this one was....eh. And the ending? The last chapter? Ugh no. Somehow that cheaped everything for me. Okay I will leave it there. This was not for me and disappointing, but you don't always love them all.
Kincaid kind of annoyed me in this book. She is trying so so so hard to stay in denial and not think about anything, not feel anything, just be happy happy everything is fine mode and it grated on me. That and she is still hung up thinking her boyfriend who died many years ago in high school was the one and so she cannot have a happily ever after. And how she has lots of sex with men, but is still embarrassed by that? When she is confronted with one guy who she slept with once she is embarrassed that her friends know she has a sex life. Which...I want a Samantha if you are going to enjoy your life. Own it. You have nothing to be ashamed of. If both parties are consenting then have fun! It just...she has major issues, most of these characters do, but in hers I felt like she really needs some therapy before she can try and work things out with a man. Like...ugh. I wanted more!
Ash was fine, but kind of annoying at times as well. He knows everything that happened back then, how Kincaid's ex wasn't all that and a bag of chips, but keeps things from her because....well because he has always been in love with her and he is sure there is no way she will ever love him like that. So...at times I was just like dude! Grow a spine and do something! Use your words!!! Writing this I now am seeing I think this is why this was so disappointing. In the author's other books I loved that the characters used their words and communicated and did unexpected things, but in this one everyone kept everything bottled up inside. Which is disappointing when I love the characters talking! I love resolving things with words and not just assuming everything. Yeah, this didn't work for me.
That and the whole pretext for why these two were pushed together was not great. At least to me. In the other stories I loved how natural everything was, how the characters worked things out, but this one was....eh. And the ending? The last chapter? Ugh no. Somehow that cheaped everything for me. Okay I will leave it there. This was not for me and disappointing, but you don't always love them all.
nellesnightstand's review
5.0
I'm sad to see this series end but these ladies deserve their happiness. Throughout the series we get this wonderful friendship born of tragedy. It warms the heart.
Kincaid was the cheerleader of the group, aways peppy ad so talkative. It waa nice to get to see under that facade to see the feelings beneath. I felt heartbroken for Ash, to love like that, be still my heart, even as an 18 year old he was the best freaking man!
This was the perfect ending to this series.
Kincaid was the cheerleader of the group, aways peppy ad so talkative. It waa nice to get to see under that facade to see the feelings beneath. I felt heartbroken for Ash, to love like that, be still my heart, even as an 18 year old he was the best freaking man!
This was the perfect ending to this series.