Never Let You Go by Monica Murphy Review
3.5 Smooches
Synopsis
The second novel in this darkly sexy contemporary series from bestselling author Monica Murphy wraps up an emotionally powerful two-part tale of forbidden love.
The truth hurts, they say—and my pain cuts deep. While I was falling for Ethan, he was deceiving me the entire time. He held a huge secret, protected by his lies. When I discovered what he was hiding, the truth shook my world, threatening to ruin us forever. Ruin me. But I soon realized that what we share can’t be destroyed.
The connection between us is too strong. It always has been. I can’t deny him any longer. And I can’t deny my truth: I’m in love with Ethan.
I don’t want to let him go.
While we’re trying our best to make this relationship work, other forces are fighting against us. My family, who wants to keep me safe. The media obsessed with my tragic past. The public that feeds off of it. Even Ethan’s father—the man who nearly destroyed me all those years ago. He’s doing his best to finish the job.
Despite my love for Ethan, the doubts creep in, clouding my mind. Is he worth the pain? Will our love survive, or will we have no choice but to end it—end us—once and for all?
Review
‘I can’t change who my father is. I’m stuck with that burden no matter how much I try to ignore it. I can change my name, change my looks, and move to another country, but the fact still remains. I’m the son of a monster.’
As a follow up to a book I loved I was real excited to start Never Let You Go, and while there were quite a few parts I really enjoyed overall my love for it just is not as strong as it was for the first book, Never Tear Us Apart. After being left with a giant cliffhanger of Katie finding out Will and Ethan are one in the same I anticipated a lot more resistance than we got from her. Sure she starts out wanting to be only friends but I really expected it to be even harder.
‘Katie reenters my life and she’s like a bright light I can’t resist. Her warmth, her sweetness, the way she made me feel like a goddamn hero every time she so much as looked at me, I’d never experienced anything like it. I began to crave her. Need her. And once I lost her . . .’
I do like Will and Katie’s story as a whole though. Their relationship is not easy or traditional but through out all they go through together I did feel a pull and connection between them. The hardest part I had with this book was getting a POV from Will dad, the serial killer who raped Katie as a child. Every time his POV came up it pulled me out of the romance. This might be just an issue for me but it did make it personally hard to get back to the romantic aspect of the story. I did like the suspense that built and the way it all came together in the end for the most part but even in that some things were almost too convenient. But one thing that never waivered for me was that I did love Will and his sweet and protective nature for Katie. Together they fit and that part of the story held strong for me.
‘I’m lost. Lost in the feeling, lost in him. Ethan. Will. The boy of my past. The man of my future. The one I can never, ever let go.’
Monica Murphy is a great writer and while certain parts of this conclusion to Will and Katie’s story didn’t work for me personally I did still enjoy their journey and I do look forward to reading more of her books in the future.
~miranda
