A romance by L.T. Smith about how decisions made out of fear of what might happen affect our destinies forever…
When Lou was a kid, she met Ashley, a friend that made her smile and feel amazing without knowing exactly why she felt that way. Lou and Ash are destined to ebb and flow around each other as they enter and leave each other’s lives time and again.
After her parents divorce, Lou loses her childhood friend, though she never stops missing her. Years later, they meet again. Lou’s feelings toward Ashley have evolved, but she won’t acknowledge or accept them until Sarah—a lesbian coworker—comes into her life and shows her what she truly feels whenever Ash comes near. Fate throws the friends apart again, only for family drama to pull them back. And sparks fly.
What I enjoyed most about this book is that we witness how their relationship starts, grows, pauses…and how the love Lou felt since she was a kid accompanies her through her life. We experience the most important moments of it with her. And we discover, as does Lou, that what she felt for Ash developed from a childhood friendship to a deep love—one that prevents her from loving another person and from allowing someone else to occupy the place in her heart that the perfect and always out-of-her-reach Ash once filled.
In the same way, we get to see how Lou realizes and accepts the true nature of what she feels toward her friend, and how the decisions she makes, based on the fear of losing such an important person, bring painful consequences that will affect her not only as a confused and scared teenager, but later on, when she’s a grown woman.
And there resides the beauty and lesson of this story: decisions made out of fear of what might happen affect our destinies forever, changing us deeply and making us what we are. Just when we think we are completely lost and what we wanted isn’t possible anymore, destiny comes and delivers what was meant to be, despite ourselves.
Something you don’t usually get to see in a romantic story is how the characters evolve and mature after their sweet, childish hopes become dust. We see this clearly in Lou, as the story is from her point of view. Though the most shocking evolution is Ashley’s, given that we lose sight of her, as does Lou, when she is all smiles and happiness. Later we see that cheeky, hopeful woman is lost behind a hard façade; the need to know what happened to her is overwhelming.
L. T. Smith has written a beautiful story that makes you want to know more about these characters. The fact that Lou talks to you like a friend as she shares her wisdom and her story with you is, without any doubt, a plus!