Where We Belong by Eve Connell Review

4 Smooches!

Synopsis

One man diving into the past.

One woman emerging from the depths. 

At the age of seventeen, Amelia Baide won silver at the Olympic Games and was the second-fastest woman in the pool. Then one tragic night she crashed into a lake and was dragged out without a pulse. Now twenty-four, she is still haunted by it and hasn’t swum again. Until this year’s anniversary of the accident. It is a day unlike any other and a strange turn of events finds Amelia back at a swimming pool.

Harry Jamieson had eyes for one girl while women and the media had eyes for him. As a trainer of Olympic athletes, he was an in-demand man. Until one boozy morning after … But from bad luck to pure chance he runs into his old flame, Amelia, at a swimming pool no less. She doesn’t remember a thing from the night of the crash. 

And Harry knows every single secret.

The pair joins forces—a comeback for Amelia and Harry’s ultimate coaching opportunity. But dodging waves is hard to do, and even the strongest swimmer may sink.

Where We Belong is a second-chance love story for young and old, for swimming enthusiasts and romantics at heart.

Review

Amelia Baide was on the cusp of greatness at the tender age of 17. She was a talented swimmer of nearly historical proportions poised for the best that was undoubtedly yet to come from her. She harbored a crush on another swimmer on her squad, Harry Jamieson. Unbeknownst to her, Harry reciprocated those feelings, but in their youthful immaturity, neither spoke up and a friend of Harry’s, Kristopher Siddall, made a move instead. Harry, the golden boy of the team, was relegated to friend. That is, until the night of the accident.

At a party, events unfolded causing Amelia to leave distraught and angry. She sped away, with Harry and Kristopher hot on her heels. Amelia’s car flipped over an embankment and submerged into a lake. Long minutes passed until Harry dragged her lifeless body to surface. They didn’t speak again for 6 long years, Amelia trapped in her memories of that night, and Harry, caught up in his love for Amelia, is overcome with guilt and drowning himself in booze and women.

Six years to the day after that night, Amelia and Harry run into each other in the most unlikely of places. The connection between them is still there, but can they overcome their history to make a new future – one they both so desperately want and need?

Amelia and Harry have much to overcome. She remembers nothing of that night; Harry knows everything. Neither one of them has swum since that night, but Harry is now a renowned swimming coach. Harry, seeing his chance to redeem himself in her eyes, convinces her to train with him, and Amelia, wanting a chance to overcome her past, agrees.

Amelia is engaged to Kristopher, but that relationship has been all but over for her for a while. Kristopher is harboring his own secrets from that night, and her renewed friendship with Harry threatens them. He does not want Amelia to swim again, and he certainly doesn’t want her to spend time with Harry.

Amelia had so much to overcome, so much to get through, both in the pool and out of it. She handled each wave, and used them to feed her determination to face the next one. Such a strong and focused woman, she was perhaps the most driven heroine I have ever read. Harry was anchored to his guilt. He recognized his chance at redemption in Amelia and he took it. But that wasn’t all. Harry loved Amelia, and his soul cried out for her. He only ever saw the greatness in her, and he wanted, more than anything, to return her to her former glory.

While they worked hard in the pool, they also worked through their issues and their past. Connell doled out their tragic history to her readers in bits and pieces. This, actually, was my only issue with the book. I wished that the revelations of their past and what happened that night were given to us in larger chunks. By the time I had the entire story of what happened that night, I had difficulty recalling all of the details.

Overall, this was a phenomenal book, and I enjoyed it immensely. Clearly Ms. Connell did a tremendous amount of research into competitive swimming as the attention to detail on this aspect of the story was incredible. I found myself on the edge of my seat, tapping my Kindle furiously to turn pages, during Amelia’s meets, such was the excitement that Connell created around them. She made my heart ache for all the pain this young couple had to endure before they got the glory of their happy ending. Beautifully written, equally devastating and inspirational, Connell has given her readers a very poignant story about the strength of the human spirit, perseverance and true love in her debut novel.

A solid 4 smooches from me!

~ Danielle Palumbo

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