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A review by amym84
The One for You by Roni Loren
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.