5 SMOOCHES!
SYNOPSIS:
In sickness and in health, to love and to cherish . . .
It sounds so simple, to love someone unconditionally.
To give them your heart.
So why is she slowly eating away at my soul with every unanswered phone call, every unread text, and every door left unopened?
She said yes, and yet, in order for her to be with me . . . I need to let her go.
REVIEW:
As a longtime fan of Meghan Quinn, I think it’s safe to say that I can no longer refer to her simply as one of my favorite romantic comedy authors. With this book, the fourth intensely emotional military romance this year, she’s demonstrated a depth of skill that far exceeds one genre. I was impressed by her writing before these stories, but now I’m giddy at the prospect of what is yet to come from this immensely talented author.
I was absolutely wrecked when I started The Right Side of Forever. Eyes swimming with tears, a lump in my throat and broken-hearted, I immediately started this story not knowing where it would go. My trepidation was warranted given what happened in this duet’s predecessor, The Blue Line Duet. I wasn’t sure how much more heartache I could take, but as it turned out, I could, in fact, take more, and more was exactly what I took. Continuing down the road on this journey, readers were paused at despair at the end of The Left Side of Perfect, and that emotion largely colors The Right Side of Forever.
I was enthralled with the details and storytelling in The Left Side of Perfect, and Quinn develops her characters further here, digging deeper into their personal histories and emotions. Where she laid a foundation in the first book, she build a structure here. Further down the road in their journey, the characters are in a much different place than where they began. Everyone gets to a point in their lives, whether it be personally or professionally, where realization dawns and a choice or a decision must be made—Oprah called this point in a person’s life their “a-ha moment.” Quinn takes readers inside the a-ha moments of her characters, when oblivion becomes obvious. Finally, the cloud of heavy emotion began to lift, and for a brief moment, my heart soared with hope and raced with possibility. There was still road on this journey to travel, though. In order to give and accept the love they both deserved, these characters needed to confront their demons and heal, and therein is where the pain in this book stems. Once again, Quinn has readers pondering how much you would sacrifice for the person you loved.
One of my favorite parts of this duet is where Quinn eloquently explains the meaning of titles, leaving me floored by their relevance. Where The Left Side of Perfect was the beginning of something huge and life-altering, The Right Side of Forever is where the transformations took place in this unselfish journey to true love. The beauty of this love story was in the pain and then the healing from it. Meghan Quinn did a phenomenal job of capturing this emotion on the page for her readers to experience along with her characters. It was an absolutely incredible love story, and it will stay with me for a long time to come. Five smooches from me for The Right Side of Forever by Meghan Quinn!
~ Danielle Palumbo
