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fresholivebread's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-paced
4.25
Ex-Marine returns to his hometown and the best friend he left behind when murder strikes. They're both strong, determined characters with baggage. I loved their romance - there's a lot of hurt and inner turmoil for them to work through, yet neither could deny the deep-rooted affection and love for the other.
It's a journey reading them going through it, even the angst of failure to communicate felt realistic given their past and his pining. His fierce protectiveness of her is endearing, and it's lovely when they finally moved past the past. Solid, fast paced suspense, and his gang of brothers in arms is fun to read about. A great end to the whole series!
It's a journey reading them going through it, even the angst of failure to communicate felt realistic given their past and his pining. His fierce protectiveness of her is endearing, and it's lovely when they finally moved past the past. Solid, fast paced suspense, and his gang of brothers in arms is fun to read about. A great end to the whole series!
carleneinspired's review against another edition
5.0
Find this and other reviews at Carlene Inspired.
Talk about descriptive and suspenseful, The Final Goodbye is Brittney Sahin's final novel in the Hidden Truths series and the best one yet. That's coming from a huge fan of the previous novels and a lifetime Jake and Alexa ([b:Surviving the Fall|35262229|Surviving the Fall (Hidden Truths #4)|Brittney Sahin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1496074777s/35262229.jpg|54770520]) supporter. We follow handsome, charming Ben as he seeks to protect his former friend, Riley, from the hands of a murderer in a small Alabama town. Riley and Ben have 17 years of friendship behind them and several more years apart, each hurting from loss and unable to find forgiveness for each other or themselves. The murderer brings them together and even though it's a terrifying time it forces them to finally work through the buried resentment and pain. Ben would do anything to protect her, even allow her into the walls he's held up so long, and Riley is finding her walls were always willing to be lowered for him.
"His words were hard around the edges, like an uncut diamond scraping against her skin, leaving a mark."
The Final Goodbye, in my opinion, is the most suspenseful of the five books in the Hidden Truths series. The small town atmosphere, the secondary characters involved, and unpredictable murderer made this the kind of book I had to read in one sitting. It's incredibly highlightable and I could picture every scene as they played out on the pages. Plus, we get to see a second-chance romance unfold at the same time; who can say no to romance and suspense? Not me. I loved the storyline, I think it was the perfect mix of romance and suspense. In the midst of being scared the two lean on one another, blurring the lines of their hurt and anger and finding that the love they once shared as friends hadn't changed. I thought I had the novel predicted, then it changed on me, and then it changed again, so by the end I wasn't sure what was going to happen, to the couple or in the case with the murderer. The mix of the whodunit along with Ben and his friend's detective skills was entertaining and exactly what I like to see from the Hidden Truths men.
"'You guy need to back off. Passing blame around won't help us find the killer ... '
'Unless we're looking at him ...'"
I loved Riley and her strength. That girl is determined and stubborn, but also clearly hurt and realing from present and past losses. She's my favorite type of heroine, the kind who owns her life and her choices, even if one of those choices is choosing the one who at one time didnt choose her. She and Ben have so much heavy between them and highly doubt they would have ever worked through it all had they not been forced together by death and Ben's desperate need to protect. Ben is the kind of guy who gives the shirt he's wearing to you, because you need it more than he does. It's impossible not to like him and even more impossible to not fall for him alongside Riley. He's a daredevil, and a bit gruff, but he has a heart of gold that happens to beat for the girl he once hurt in his youth.
"So, he still had a heart. She hadn't been sure until now."
Those who haven't read Brittney's previous novels will really enjoy this as their first and longtime readers will be very happy to know we get to see a bit of our favorite past characters as well. I love when an author can make a book in a series a true standalone, but the little easter eggs are a nice treat, especially when your favorite book boyfriend pops up. ;) I'm sad to be saying goodbye to the series, but it will be one I revisit again in the future. Plus, I'm lucky, I have a spot for every single handsome Hidden Truths man on my bookshelf.
"The look in her eyes matched what he felt on the inside: regret."
ARC provided.
Talk about descriptive and suspenseful, The Final Goodbye is Brittney Sahin's final novel in the Hidden Truths series and the best one yet. That's coming from a huge fan of the previous novels and a lifetime Jake and Alexa ([b:Surviving the Fall|35262229|Surviving the Fall (Hidden Truths #4)|Brittney Sahin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1496074777s/35262229.jpg|54770520]) supporter. We follow handsome, charming Ben as he seeks to protect his former friend, Riley, from the hands of a murderer in a small Alabama town. Riley and Ben have 17 years of friendship behind them and several more years apart, each hurting from loss and unable to find forgiveness for each other or themselves. The murderer brings them together and even though it's a terrifying time it forces them to finally work through the buried resentment and pain. Ben would do anything to protect her, even allow her into the walls he's held up so long, and Riley is finding her walls were always willing to be lowered for him.
"His words were hard around the edges, like an uncut diamond scraping against her skin, leaving a mark."
The Final Goodbye, in my opinion, is the most suspenseful of the five books in the Hidden Truths series. The small town atmosphere, the secondary characters involved, and unpredictable murderer made this the kind of book I had to read in one sitting. It's incredibly highlightable and I could picture every scene as they played out on the pages. Plus, we get to see a second-chance romance unfold at the same time; who can say no to romance and suspense? Not me. I loved the storyline, I think it was the perfect mix of romance and suspense. In the midst of being scared the two lean on one another, blurring the lines of their hurt and anger and finding that the love they once shared as friends hadn't changed. I thought I had the novel predicted, then it changed on me, and then it changed again, so by the end I wasn't sure what was going to happen, to the couple or in the case with the murderer. The mix of the whodunit along with Ben and his friend's detective skills was entertaining and exactly what I like to see from the Hidden Truths men.
"'You guy need to back off. Passing blame around won't help us find the killer ... '
'Unless we're looking at him ...'"
I loved Riley and her strength. That girl is determined and stubborn, but also clearly hurt and realing from present and past losses. She's my favorite type of heroine, the kind who owns her life and her choices, even if one of those choices is choosing the one who at one time didnt choose her. She and Ben have so much heavy between them and highly doubt they would have ever worked through it all had they not been forced together by death and Ben's desperate need to protect. Ben is the kind of guy who gives the shirt he's wearing to you, because you need it more than he does. It's impossible not to like him and even more impossible to not fall for him alongside Riley. He's a daredevil, and a bit gruff, but he has a heart of gold that happens to beat for the girl he once hurt in his youth.
"So, he still had a heart. She hadn't been sure until now."
Those who haven't read Brittney's previous novels will really enjoy this as their first and longtime readers will be very happy to know we get to see a bit of our favorite past characters as well. I love when an author can make a book in a series a true standalone, but the little easter eggs are a nice treat, especially when your favorite book boyfriend pops up. ;) I'm sad to be saying goodbye to the series, but it will be one I revisit again in the future. Plus, I'm lucky, I have a spot for every single handsome Hidden Truths man on my bookshelf.
"The look in her eyes matched what he felt on the inside: regret."
ARC provided.
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