Cassie and Josh have been in love since they were 6. Now they are in high school and Cassie gets pregnant. They get married and are planning to love each other forever no matter what...well no matter what gets complicated. Josh's Dad and Cassie's sick grandmother both play the part in sending Josh off to Georgetown University so he can have his life back.Lies. Lies and more lies play a part in getting him to do that without looking back and breaking his heart along the way. Six years later everything changes for Cassie and she needs to tell Josh everything. She makes it to England where he is a Rhodes scholar in Oxford and meets his new fiancee. Did I mention that he is still married to Cassie? Yeah, so that is where this heart twisting story really kicks off. No spoilers but the events are a predictable. I needed a stronger declaration of love from Josh in the final pages and while I will keep reading to find out how this plays out. I felt Cassie deserved more. She deserved the grand gesture, the fall all over yourself to prove how much I love you and only you move. That has not happened YET? Maybe book 2 will redeem Josh. Hope so. I see in the previews of the series that both Lenore and Sam will be getting their own books so I know Josh and Cassie are in it for life. I just want Cassie to get ALL of Josh and I have not seen that happen yet. ( )

No Reverse by Marion Croslydon is the first book in the series.

I love when a book plays out like a movie, but in words. Oh I could just see this whole thing playing out in my head as I read. The drama, the betrayal, the longing, the sadness, the difficulty of being torn between two people. WOW!

Cassie and Josh are the IT couple in high school until Cassie gets pregnant and they have a shotgun wedding. Josh is accepted to georgetown and Cassie tells him she wants to have an abortion.

Five years later Josh is successful, engaged, and has to tidy up one little thing - the fact that he's still, technically, married to Cassie.

Cassie is served her divorce papers on the same day another set of documents arrive - both things knocking her sideways. So she carts herself off to England to confront Josh and try to salvage what she can of the wreck her life has become.

Any more details and I'll ruin the best bits. A must-read book for sure. ( )

Josh MacBride loved Cassie O'Malley with everything that was in him, and Cassie returned that love wholeheartedly. When Cassie got pregnant, she and Josh got married. Josh's dad was not happy about it at all. He considered Cassie to be "white trash." Josh, on the other hand, had a future, a big bright future ahead of him - one which Cassie didn't want to stand in the way of - one which Josh would have easily and willingly given up for her. Cassie thought she was doing the right thing, the best thing for Josh, but wound up breaking his heart. Fast-forward 5 years. Cassie is still in Steep Hill Kansas. She's been waiting tables and taking care of her sick grandmother for the past five years and she and Josh are technically still married. She has just buried her grandmother when she receives divorce papers from Josh. She also receives another letter, a letter which changes everything. She knows she has to talk to Josh, to come clean and tell him everything, which requires her to go to England, spending what little money she has left, but...when she gets there, not only is he not happy to see her, he has moved on and is engaged to someone else.....someone who is worthy of him........someone from an important and wealthy family, someone better than Cassie, someone who can fulfill his dreams, or can she?

I really did enjoy this story, but it was also so heartbreaking. Josh and Cassie, pushed by forces that were against them and not for them, each made choices that they thought were the best thing for the situation they were in at the time. Josh neglected to tell Cassie before they got married that he had been accepted into Georgetown, and she in turn fabricated her own web of deceit, thinking she was doing what was best for Josh. He was angry, hurt, and did everything he could to forget Cassie, and then moved on. Cassie on the other hand, was sort of in limbo. She loved Josh, but she knew she couldn't be with him. Nevertheless, she was going to have to face her demons and do what was best for everyone involved, and to do that she had to travel to England, where Josh was finishing up at Oxford. The series of events that transpires after she arrives is intense and emotional, to say the least. To be honest, Josh was kind of a jerk, and in his defense, he thought he had reason to be, but a jerk nonetheless. Even though he tried, he couldn't deny his feelings that were still there for Cassie, feelings he had tried to forget with alcohol and women, until finally he found a woman he thought he could move on with. "Lenor," bless her heart, was a rich bitch that had her sweet moments to, which made it hard to totally dislike her. Cassie found a temporary job and some new friends, who wind up playing a role in her future. She can't deny her love for Josh anymore than she can deny the fact that she needs air to breathe. I really liked her, but I got aggravated with her, because she believed the lies about herself - that she wasn't worthy or good enough, and because she loved Josh, she was willing to sacrifice whatever was necessary, including her own happiness, in order for him to be happy, but there was one thing he had to agree to, and that my friends, I can't talk about. I liked Cassie, felt bad for her, got aggravated at her, got upset with her, and my heart ached for her and what she was going through.

I continually rooted for this couple throughout the entire book, despite Josh's jerkdom, because he does begin to redeem himself before it is all said and done. I have a feeling I will fall in love with him in the next book though. Their relationship felt like this couple was on an emotional roller coaster that kept changing directions, highs, lows, to the left, to the right, backwards, and forwards. Then, there was a turn I wasn't happy with, another turn when it looked like things were finally going to work out for these two, and the author switches tracks again and leaves us with a bit of a cliffhanger, which sets things up for the sequel. Despite that, I was happy with the point these two found themselves at, and I am excited to find out what Marion Croslydon has in store for these characters in the next book. This story is not easy for these characters. They go through a lot and find that love is something you have to work for, there are consequences and repercussions that result from bad choices and lies, broken hearts and hurt feelings take time to mend, and finally, that honesty and truth are the glue that holds love together. If you enjoy New Adult Contemporary Romance, then No Reverse is something I would recommend checking out. ( )