WITHOUT YOU
(Love Wanted in Texas #1)

Without You is the first book in the Love Wanted in Texas series which is a spin-off of the Wanted series.  Below is the official FAMILY TREE showing grandparents and  parents that we have met in the  previous books and the new generation featured in this series and how they are related. 

I heard a knock on my bedroom door, and I flew up out of bed. I threw open the door, hoping to see Will.

“Libby…” I walked back to my bed and sat down. The tears began falling again. “Please tell me where he is.”

Will hadn’t come home for Thanksgiving break, and no one knew where he was, not even Luke.

She walked up to me and dropped to sit on the floor. “I swear to you, Alex, I don’t know. We’ve all been trying to call him. My parents are so worried about him.”

“He wouldn’t let me explain.” I cried harder as I put my hands up to my face.

“Alex, I have to ask you something, and you have to be honest with me. I talked to Grace.”

I dropped my hands and looked her in the face. “What did Grace tell you?”

“The truth—that you’ve been spending a lot of time with this Blake guy. Do you have feelings for him, Alex?”

“No! Well, yes…I mean, no. Damn it!” I shouted as I stood up.

Spinning around, I looked at Libby. “I don’t know. I don’t have feelings for him like I have for Will, but something is there. I just keep hearing these voices in my head. I don’t know what to do, Libby. I love Will. I want Will, but when I’m around Blake, I…I want…”

“Him?”

The tears were pouring down my face. “I don’t think so. Sometimes, Will sends me these text messages. They drive me insane with lust, and then I’ll see Blake, and I get these weird feelings. I’m not sure if I’m just missing Will, or if I…if I…”

“If you have feelings for Blake.”

“Alex?”

I looked up and saw my father standing there. This was his fault. It was his damn voice in my head that I’d kept listening to.

“This is your fault,” I said.

My father looked shocked. “Excuse me?”

“You made me go to UT when you knew I wanted to go to A&M. I hate UT! I hate it! If I had been with Will at A&M, none of this would have happened. I hate you!” I pushed past my father and ran down the stairs.

“Alexandra Eryn! You stop right now!” my mother called out.

I ran past Colt and out the back door. I needed to find Will. I needed to get fresh air.

I ran into the barn, and Banjo poked his head out of his stall. I grabbed a lead rope, and then I walked into his stall, clipped it on, and led him out. I jumped up on him and began riding him bareback. I let Banjo lead the way as I sobbed and fought to catch my breath.

I wasn’t sure how long I had been out riding Banjo. I just sat on him, feeling numb. When he made his way to the river, I jumped off and stood there. I watched him graze on the grass. I dropped his lead, and I walked over to a tree. I slowly slid down it and stared out at the river. I had no tears left.

I leaned my head back and replayed the whole thing over again in my head. I thought of every single thing Will had heard and how it must have sounded to him.

I closed my eyes and whispered, “Will, please come back to me. Please.”

I felt something hitting my boot, and I opened my eyes to see Banjo. I smiled and looked up at my giant beauty. “I can always count on you, boy. Isn’t that right?”

He began bobbing his head up and down, and I let out a giggle.

I stood up and began running my hands along his side and back. “Oh, Banjo, I really messed things up.” I buried my face into my horse and softly cried.

“Alex? You feel like company?”

I looked up and saw my father. I walked over to him, and he pulled me into his arms. I completely fell apart. My legs gave out on me, and we both slowly hit the ground. He pulled me onto his lap and held me while I cried.

“Alex, please don’t cry, baby.”

“Daddy, he’s gone. He left me.”

He began rocking me while I attempted to settle down.

“Shh…baby girl. Please, please don’t be upset.”

I pulled back and looked into my father’s eyes. “I didn’t…I didn’t mean it when I said…when I said I hated you. Daddy, I didn’t mean it.”

He pulled me back into him. “I know, Alex. I know.”

“I love him, Daddy. I love him so much, and I hurt him so bad.”

He pulled back and placed his finger under my chin. “Alex, from what I understand, Will didn’t give you a chance to explain. Just give him time to cool down, sweetheart.”

I tried to smile. “Daddy, I kept hearing your voice over and over in my head. I tried liking UT, Daddy.

This is the first book in a spin off series from the Wanted series focusing on the children of the original characters who are all now teens/young adults.

Alex(Gunner and Ellie's daughter) and Will (Josh and Heather's son) have grown up together, crushed on each other since they were ten, and fell in love as teens getting ready for college. But once their parents found out their lives are changed as decisions are taken out of their hands. 

"I can't be without you, Will."
"I promise you, Lex, I'll love you forever."

Will and Alex make such a sweet couple and it was obvious to everyone that they were meant to be. They share a true love connection and chemistry. But they are young and vulnerable and have been isolated in the small town ranch  life. The parents' goals were for them to experience new things, life outside of the ranch, and meet new people. They do meet some new people, some with positive results and some not so much. But they are growing and learning how to make their own mistakes and think for themselves. But the process also includes drama, angst, disappointments, and frustrating miscommuncation and misunderstandings.

"If our love is meant to be, then...it will be."

This story is told in Will and Alex's points of view and is predominantly their story of love, separation, and figuring out if their love was strong enough to survive distance and challenges. It is the sweet and often heartbreaking story of first love, changes, growing up, and strength of commitment.

But the other characters were a large part of the story as well. I will admit that at first I had a hard time keeping straight who belonged to who and how they were related, but I caught on quickly. I enjoyed more with the original characters from the Wanted series in their new roles as parents.  And these apples do not fall far from the tree. They are a lot like their parents and you can see shared personality traits. The guys are romantic and swoony for the most part, and they are fiercely protective. The girls are sweet, smart, caring, but also sassy and spirited. And like many young adults, the opposite sex occupy much of their thoughts.

Their lives are like a  soap opera. You have Will and Alex in love and dealing with separation. Then there are Luke, Grace, Libby, Lauren, Colt, Maegan, and Taylor. They have all been friends since infancy, but hormones and feelings are bringing some closer and tearing some apart. Then throw in the fact that the boys are all overprotective of the girls and they are all up in each other's business. So there is all kinds of fussing fighting, hurt feelings, avoidance, and drama going on. Sometimes they are fighting feelings, sometimes they are just fighting, but they are also a very tight knit group that loves each other and supports each other when they can. There are just a few of them circling around each other that have strong feelings but they are either afraid to admit it or circumstances keep getting in the way. 

Without You is a spin-off from Kelly’s Wanted series. The kids are all grown up and moving on to college and their own relationships. This is their story. More specifically, this is the story of Alexandra (Alex) Matthews and Will Hayes, with the beginning threads of the next few stories also being laid. 

Alex and Will have always been aware of each other, from the time they were 10 years old. When they dating, they keep it a secret from their parents as they are afraid of what they will say. When the secret comes out, they have a whole new set of challenges to face as they move to different universities and deal with the bumps and bruises of young love. 

As the Matthews family has established, timing of the adults walking into a situation could not be more hilarious. I loved it when Garrett did it in the Wanted series, and I loved it when Gunner, Josh, and Jeff continue the tradition (or coincidence as the case may be) here.

I had a bit of trouble in the beginning remembering who was who and how everyone was connected. But a bookmark placed on the family tree page made it easy to flip back and forth when I got mixed up, and soon I had it all sorted in my mind. 

This is as much an ensemble story as the original series, except rather than having the ensemble build with each additional book, this one starts with a giant cast already in place. No, the future pairings are not all clear. Some will ultimately have to find partners outside the group, as there is not an even number even if they were all compatible.

At times the story was sweet and cute, and at others it was emotional and painful. Between the challenges of a relatively new relationship, long distance, and miscommunication, Will and Alex faced many challenges of a new adult relationship. And as things looked like Will and Alex had sorted their issues and could move on happily, a left field twist and nightmare events entered the plot line. I should have seen a twist coming, as it was still early enough that I shouldn’t have felt comfortable with their happiness, but it got me. 

This was very much in keeping with the original series. It has a great family dynamic and great friendships that should stand the test of time and strain. It feels like you’re out in the country with them, at the barn dances, field parties, and doing chores with the kids. It was great to watch Emma and Garrett guiding yet another generation, hearing the Wanted characters (now parents) influencing their kids by sharing bits and pieces of their own stories to help guide the children.