5 Smooches!
Synopsis
I need you, Ava.
I am desperate. For you. For touch. For a kiss. For the scrape of your hand down my stomach. For the slide of your lips across my hipbone. The sweep of your thigh against mine in the dulcet, drowning darkness. For the warm huff of your breath on my skin and the wet suck of your mouth around me and the building pressure of need reaching release…I am mad with need.
Wild with it.
I cannot have you. I have lost you, as I have lost myself.
And so I go in search. Of myself, and thus the man who might return to you, and take you in his arms.
I loathe each of the thousands of miles between us, but I cannot wish them away, for I hope at the end of my journey I shall find you. Or rather, find myself, and thus…you. Myself, and thus us.
I am taking the long way home, Ava.
***
Christian,
I’m losing my mind, and I don’t know how to stop it. I shouldn’t be writing to you, but I am. I’m friendless, loveless, and lifeless. You’re out there somewhere, and still you’re all I really have. I hate my reliance and dependence on you, emotionally and otherwise, and that reliance is something I’m coming to recognize. I hate that I can’t hate you as much as I want to. I hate that I still love you so much.
I hate that there’s no clear solution to our conundrum. Even if we could forgive each other, what then?
I hate you, Christian. I really do.
But most of all, I don’t.
It’s complicated.
Complicatedly (still) yours,
Ava
THE LONG WAY HOME is the story of a married couple, Christian and Ava, both writers, as they cope with the loss of their son and the damage that loss causes to their marriage. This moving story, alternately heartbreaking and heartwarming, is the first in a brand-new contemporary romance series by bestselling author Jasinda Wilder.
REVIEW
Christian and Ava are married but after they suffer a terrible tragedy they both struggle to cope and in the end Christian sees no other way out than to leave and travel the sea to try with the grief but this separation rips them further apart bit by bit. Ultimately Christian and Ava must try to find a way to overcome the tragedy and the sadness but also be able to forgive themselves and each other. Will they be able to find their way back to each other again or will what happened keep them apart forever?
“Ava, my love: you have always been the best part of me, and through you we created Henry, our son, and in him I found completion and strength and purpose. Now that he is gone, I have lost those things, and I have lost you, and thus I have lost myself.”
I honestly can’t find the words to describe this book. It was so utterly heartbreaking and yet utterly beautiful at the same time. The grief, sadness, anger and bitterness literally breathed from the pages into me. I could feel Christian’s and Ava grief through their words. At the same time there was also a story of courage to move forward, fight to not let go and determination and love to never give up hope of the one you love.
“I hate you. But I also love you. If I saw you right now, I’d probably punch you straight in your perfect Roman nose and then kiss your stupid perfect lips. And then ugly cry, snot and all. And then rip your clothes off and ride you like a stallion. Or maybe all of those at once. Kiss you, punch you, and f*** you, all while ugly crying.”
I’m not sure how others will think but I honestly liked both Christian and Ava. I couldn’t be angry at Christian for leaving because I understood how much sadness he was feeling and that he truly couldn’t see another way out of it and I understood that Ava was angry at home for leaving and also trying to deal with her own grief. Their emotions made them so realistic and what we really saw with them was just two people trying overcome tragedy in their own way.
“The tug of war between needing you, wanting you, loving you, and hating you, loathing you, reviling you…is just too strong and too painful.”
I loved the way the story was done with the journal entries, letters and emails. It made me connect even more with the characters, as if they were writing to me. The plot itself wasn’t easy going at all, it is a hard read but it is also so rewarding once you do. The ending really surprised me and I am desperate for the next book to find out what happens next. I am praying there is happiness at the end of Christians and Ava’s story but I know that it might not be possible or maybe the happiness will come in a different way I am hoping? Who knows- what I do know is that this book will make you cry and want to shout your anger at the unfairness but it will capture you and hook you and you won’t want to put it down.
BETHANY
