3.5⭐ ( )

Holy hell

Every time I think that this author cannot get any better, she proved me wrong. EVERY. TIME. Each book she writes is different. No characters are the same (unless it is a duet) and all are powerful. She evokes a maelstrom of emo in her stylistic choices, the story, and the outcome. There is always a twist, one that I never see coming, and more often than nought even forget that she is going to put it in the story. That is how good she is.

Thea and Ramsey. My heart hurts for these two. Every interaction made me either smile or I felt my heart physically ache for them. They reminded me why I dreamed of love. They were truly an example of why love is precious, and fragile, and ugly, and moreover, priceless. ( )

I will start by saying I like alot of this author's work, she can pack a real emotional punch in her books.
For me this one was okay.
I think second chance is always tricky, this one has the perfect excuse as he went to prison.
From the blurb it's not difficult to see that the Hero will be pushing the heroine away, for her own good, eye roll....
As it's second chance we have a portion of the book dealing with them meeting as kids and the events that led up to him going to prison.
During the initial events of their meeting I found some of the conversation between them childish and this is to expected as I think the heroine is 10 years of age.
When she is an adult I felt the heroine tried to make her have a snarky side but to me it still felt childish.
It lacked emotional punch that I thought I'd get.
There is more to the story that them simply recovering from returning from prison.
HEA.
Epilogue. I didn't read the epilogue I didn't care enough. ( )

First of all, that cover, wow! I am a big fan of Aly Martinez and this book did not disappoint me at all. I loved all the characters, even the secondary ones. So much heartache and angst throughout the story, but so much love. Ramsey is definitely a new favorite of mine. ARC received for an honest review. ( )

Second Chance/Friends to Lovers - Ramsey and Thea meet as children who are both dealing with heavy issues at home. They come to be best friends and then more until they are separated by tragic circumstances. Ramsey goes to prison for 12 years and after his release we wait to see if he and Thea still have something left to save.

This is my first book by Aly Martinez. I liked it. I enjoyed the section where they relate in dual points of view how they came to meet and fall in love as children. I felt more connected to the characters knowing this back story. I wish there would have been a little more development of the second part of the story where they are re-united after 12 years apart. That part of the story seemed rushed. There is a twist in that part that I didn't predict and I'm usually good at seeing what is coming. I loved they idea that they never loved anyone else and stayed true to that while apart. I also appreciated the side story of how Thea and her father were able to come back together after years of mourning her mother.

Overall, this was a solid romance for me with some unique aspects to the writing that I enjoyed. Trigger warning for sexual assault. There is also some mature content and language, but not nearly as much as seems to be the norm these days. ( )