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I am not sure how Colleen Hoover does it. But even though I always expect something special when I open one of her books, she still always manages to surprise me. This is another one where you just need to go in blindly, get pulled in, and go with the flow. Colleen takes you on another journey with amazing characters and an original story line that will touch your heart and keep you guessing.

Auburn Reed fell in love with a young man in her teens, but their time together was cut short to due to circumstances beyond their control. But it had a profound effect on her future choices. Years later, now she is making a new life for herself in a new place. She answers a Help Wanted ad and meets Owen Gentry, a quirky artist who owns an exclusive, yet different type of art gallery.

Owen is funny, endearing, protective, passionate, and truly interested. He is immediately drawn to her and is more affected than he should be. And he in turn touches her in ways she had forgotten could exist. But he has his own set of issues and a past that seems to keep hurting him and has shaped most of his decisions. 

She is devoted, determined, and strong, but has been conditioned to believe she is not. She lacks self confidence and still strongly affected by the pain from her past. Owen sparks something in her.  But even as she begins to feel truly alive again, Owen brings more complications to her life that she does not need.

They both have secrets, and put up smoke screens with omissions and some straight up lies. Their lives do not mesh. So it is a confusing, heartbreaking, and frustrating situation for both of them. And it only gets more complex and difficult the more their secrets are revealed. It is hard to tell who to trust and who has hidden agendas. Along with the secrets and mysteries, there are also plot twists that kept me guessing. 

There is so much going on under the surface both from their pasts and the present. The confessions come slowly as the story unfolds. I was completely enthralled and mesmerized. I kept trying to figure it all out and piece together connections. I kept trying to come up with any way there could the ending I wanted. I was so invested in these characters and this story that my heart was squeezing in my chest. I was felling everything--their deep connection, need, fear, anger, hopelessness, and frustration. I wanted them to be okay. I needed them to be okay.

And then the plot turned more suspenseful and made me even more nervous and tension filled. And the surprises just kept coming and the secrets and confessions kept rolling. It was so intricately layered  and created an intense, thought-provoking, emotional story.

This was a beautifully woven story about love, fate, hope, perseverance, and healing. It was a complete roller coaster of emotions and secrets. But it was engaging, powerful, and moving. But it also had humor and bursts of joy. I loved the main characters and getting both of their points of view even if they did not divulge their secrets to us any earlier than they did to each other. I felt for them. I hurt for them. I hoped for them. I hated the antagonists and they made me so angry. I enjoyed their friends that added a bit of humor to some tense situations. I loved how "confessions" were weaved into the story in so many different ways. And all of it together took me on a really unique, complex, and compelling journey that I will not soon forget. So in summary, I must clearly confess that Colleen Hoover freaking did it again...and it really should not surprise me!

I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.

The down side of loving a book as much as I loved Confess is coming up with words at the end. Because I loved it, but without spoiling giant pieces of it, I am at a loss for words right now. This is the type of book that is best to be relatively blind going in. 

There are people you meet that you get to know, and then there are people you meet that you already know.

Auburn is new to Dallas, though she has ties in the city. A second job lands in her lap when she needs it most, but behind the wall filled with confessions is more than she imagined when she took the job. Her backstory had me in tears from very early on, and when the story moves to the present day I couldn't help but be sympathetic to her struggles and curious as to the motives behind her actions. 

Owen Gentry has a string of bad decisions behind him, but as he is drawn to his new gallery assistant he wishes he could take them all back. Or at least his most recent few. It is clear early on that he is hiding several things from Auburn, some things readers learn early while others take nearly the entire book to be revealed. 

If I had known you would show up at my door one day, I’d have done everything differently.

Their connection is immediate, though for very different reasons they fight it. Or rather, Auburn fights it, Owen isn’t quite sure what to do with it. I loved the way they worked through their secrets, their relationship hangups, their lives in general. 

One of the most innovative and creative things about this book is the collaboration with an artist to create the artwork that is actually referenced throughout the story. As I read an advanced copy, the artwork was not included. I cannot tell you how excited I am to see the artwork in conjunction with the scenes from the book. Just as with Maybe Someday and it’s soundtrack, I imagine the sensory experience that Confess brings will make reading the story even more compelling. 

Hello, book hangover! It’s a good thing I started reading this earlier in the day, because it was the kind of book that hurts to put down. There story is filled with so many secrets, assumptions

This is exactly what I hope for when I hear Colleen Hoover is releasing a new book. Tears, laughter, surprises. Fate, serendipity, beauty. 

I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

Colleen Hoover