Every Little Piece of Me

It’s time to return to Orchid Valley and remind the bride-to-be that I promised her forever. And I’m a man who keeps his promises. 

After reading the prequel novella, I was excited to get more from Marston and Brinley. I should have known the ride on their emotional rollercoaster was not done with more twists and turns.

Brinley Knox was the pampered princess growing up but it came with a price. Parental expectations and family dynamics ultimately kept her in line. But it came with such loss. 

Marston Rowe was the troubled orphan and hired help. He saw the real Brinley and their connection was everything...but forbidden. He and everyone else knew he was not good enough for her and eventually she sent him away breaking both of their hearts.

Ten years later, they share a night in Vegas that has consequences...she just does not remember all of it. Months later as she plans to settle down and move forward on some of her life goals, Marston realizes Brinley must have forgotten one very important detail from their Vegas trip. Let the games begin!

I absolutely adored Marston. He is determined, supportive, loving, and honest. He has never stopped trying to prove himself and be more than enough. But his way of showing that sometimes gets unexpected reactions from Brinley. Her life has been a series of being controlled, making poor choices, getting over her head, and needing to be bailed out. She wants to be independent but seems to self-sabotage. So she is also strongwilled, prideful, and hates not being in control of her own life. 

The role reversals are hard. They both have fears, insecurities, and issues stemming from their rocky past and public perceptions. Their situation in the present is complicated and concessions and sacrifices would need to be made to give it a chance. Both have triggers that can easily be set off. But these two have amazing chemistry and a connection that just keeps rebounding back from almost being broken. I was rooting for them the whole way but seriously wanted to shake some sense into the stubborn but unassertive Brinley at times. 

This is an angsty, emotional, second-chance romance told in dual points of view and some flashbacks. Their love story past and present is a long and winding road towards finding their way to happiness requiring a lot of personal growth.  I enjoyed the Orchid Valley crew that is such a great support system for them...Stella, Kace, Smithy, Abbi, Sav, and his friend, Alec. They are a self-made family and all have fun and dynamic personalities and history. I am looking forward to more of their stories in this series. 

The prequel pulled me into the story of Brinley and Marston, so I was happy to be able to continue their story here.

I loved Marston. He felt like he had to prove himself even as an adult to a community that judged him harshly as a teen. He may have left Orchid Valley, but he couldn’t forget Brinley even after all this time. He has never had the same connection with anyone else, but has stayed away from OV at Brinley’s request. But now that they’ve reconnected, he may need to make a trip back and fight for Brinley.

Brinley was a little harder for me to love. She wants to own the Orchid, the spa she manages, so badly and is close to being able to purchase it. She is comfortable with the direction things are going, if a little hesitant to take those final steps. She wants to do things on her own, to the point that she pushes away the people around her when they want to help. Her actions had me shaking my head at her, recognizing the why behind her actions, but also recognizing that she could have made things so much easier for herself with a little more open communication.

This is a dramatic second chance with a lot of heart. I did finish with the thought that this was a lot of angst for fully adult characters (there was actually less angst in their teenage relationship than there was in the present day), but I was fully invested in their story. I loved their past -- it had me rooting for them hard in the present. The side characters were a blast, even some of the ones I thought I didn’t like in the beginning. (But yes, there are a couple characters who couldn’t redeem themselves in my eyes based on their actions.) I am looking forward to seeing where this series goes, as I loved the group of people in OV surrounding Marston and Brinley.

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