Never Goodbye: Kerri Williams
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If you had one chance to be with your soul mate, would you fight for it?
Stalked by the shadow of a foreboding disease, seventeen year old, Harper Kennedy finds herself starting a new life in Albany Missouri. With a ticking time bomb, a wall of quotes, a shell of a father and a brother who has no one else, Harper tries to get life in order for those she may be leaving behind.
But fate is cruel when it delivers temptation in the form of Vaun Campbell into her life; Vaun who is kind and sweet and completely out of her league on so many levels. How can Harper find love only to have it ripped away so soon? How can she put Vaun, who has faced more than his own fair share of loss and grief in the past, through all that again?…How can she not?
Vaun Campbell has been to hell and back again after losing his mother. He has seen the way disease destroys the ones he loves…has seen them fade before his eyes. He never thought he’d find someone to bring the sunshine back to his life until he laid eyes on Harper; the graceful girl he watched float across the dance floor, who stole a little piece of his heart forever.
So Harper must fight for more than just her life, she must fight for her little brother, her father and for Vaun; who promises her a future.
EXCERPT:
I want him to. I want it so bad I almost scream it. What I do is pop on my tip toes and shatter any remnants of a line I had drawn with a kiss to end all kisses.
My fingers drive into his hair and his into mine. His tongue sweeps across my lips and I let him in and, holy shit, I’m on fire. I have kissed before and never had this feeling. Vaun is constantly breaking my nevers and, at the rate we are going, I won’t have any left before I die.
And that one thought is the cold bucket of water I need and hate because I want to keep kissing this boy until he’s had enough of me. But I’m dying. While I’m kissing him, I’m dying. While I’m thinking about dying, I’m dying and that just isn’t fair on a boy who has already faced that kind of loss. I pull my mouth from his and sit on the edge of my bed with my hand over my mouth.
“Blue, don’t.” He squats on his knees in front of me, his hands on my hips and he’s looking at me with sad, brown eyes. I shake my head. I don’t want to see him. “Don’t deny us this. Whatever it is that you’re not ready to tell me, we’ll work through it with time. Just let us get through tonight and take each day at a time.”
But we don’t have the luxury of time. We have the ticking of a clock and an undeniable need for each other that’s so unfathomable and so unfair. I close my eyes, unable to look at him anymore. It hurts too much and I feel the waver.
“Harper, I have been carrying such a heavy load of life, I need this. I promise you that if there comes a time where you feel we can’t do this, then I will give it to you. No fight, no pleading. I will give you up if you want, but right now, give us tonight and we can take it one night at a time, one day, one hour, one minute … every second.
Learn more about Chase
4 to 4.5 stars
What if you found your soul mate at the worst point in your life?
Seventeen year old Harper is in a new town, facing a health crisis, and still suffering from tragedy in in her past. Vaun is plagued by ghosts too, feels isolated, and adrift. He has used random sexual encounters to numb his pain, but does not really feel anything.
They meet and form an immediate connection that defies logic. Soon they are immersed in each other lives and harboring strong feelings. But even as Harper tries to pull away to protect Vaun from her secret and uncertain future, it all is exposed.
Will their love be enough to help her in the fight for her life or will Vaun face his biggest loss yet?
I have to say that the insta-love in this book was really fast. However, I will admit that even though insta-love usually annoys me, I found their relationship sweet and heart felt. They were both broken before they met from family issues and traumas, but their meeting truly was the beginning of their new lives and new attitude. It did really feel like they had a soulful connection. And they were so consumed by their feelings and were so good for each other that I kind of just went with it.
"I love you infinity."
"I love you infinity plus one."
"I think I beat you. There is nothing higher than infinity."
"I loved you first."
"I love you infinity plus one."
"I think I beat you. There is nothing higher than infinity."
"I loved you first."
"You win."
Harper was sweet, loving, caring and has an inner strength. She had faced so much in her young life and was facing the hardest battle yet. But even though she had so much going on in her own life, she could still have empathy and concern for Vaun and his struggles. And her care and concern for her little brother was admirable.
I know I should be embarrassed and I should be worried that I could bare such sorrow to a stranger when I keep it closed from the ones who love me most, but Vaun doesn't feel like stranger. He feels like an old friend. One I had once and lost and found again. A friend who understands my tears aren't a moment of weakness but of love. Vaun and I share a kindred spirit of pain, in so many ways different, but heart altering all the same.
Vaun was simply amazing. He was funny, protective, loving, and devoted. From the minute he saw her, she pulled him in. And he jumped head first into wanting more with her even as she tried to pull back and not let him in. From the beginning, he saw their connection for what it was, never fought it or denied it. In fact, he pushed it. And when things were difficult, he pushed them both through it and found way to make a difference in her life. And she had a positive effect on his too by giving him someone to truly care about and also helping him deal with his own feelings of loss and family issues. Since they had been through so much, they both showed much more maturity than typical seventeen year olds.
"I love you, Blue. I love you more than anything left here on this earth and I think we were meant to find one another. You saved me and now... I'm going to save you."
"Will you fight? I need to know you'll fight, Blue. That you'll fight so damn hard so we never say goodbye...God and Heaven can't have you you because you're mine, because I loved you first."
There was pain, heart break, sweetness, and love. It was difficult, challenging, emotional, and moving. There were parts where I lost my breath, teared up, and wanted to throw my kindle. Knowing that the author has first hand experience of this topic, made it even more meaningful. But this was ultimately a story of love, redemption, and hope against terrible odds. There were twists and turns. And it will keep you wondering, hoping, and in suspense til the very end.
Thanks to Kerri Williams for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.
I'm an addict to all things awesome, books, coffee, anything series, coffee, music and lets not forget coffee!
People call me Batman-okay so I started that rumour and once spread means it's got to be true right.
Proud Australian who wishes there wasn't such a huge pond between me and my friends and readers- USA especially.
Why I write? Because I love reading and have been extremely lucky in life to experience true love. At 16 I met my now husband and since had our wonderful children known as 'The Lollies.'
I'm not afraid to say my writing gets better with every book so keep reading and growing with me. I am afraid of sharks, snakes, clowns, spiders or anything that wants to fly at my face or crawl near me...with the exception of maybe a ladybug. They're pretty innocent until proven otherwise.
I write Young (YA) love novels, New Adult (NA) and contemporary romance because lets face it, I'm a genre whore and if I had the imagination I'd write paranormal and more,
Yes I have a day job and write because I like stuff and stuff costs money. Dang it!
So I keep writing and run this site and An Indie Affair for readers because one day I'll earn enough to write full time, be able to travel, buy lots of stuff for me and my girls because they love stuff too & provide for hubs who deserves the freaking world for putting up with such a nutty dreamer like me.
Follow my blog where you can find all my novels and all my rambles.
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