This author is one of those that I could talk and recommend until I am blue in the face and it still wouldn't be enough towards getting her the recognition that she deserves. That doesn't stop me from trying though. This book is an example of why. When I say that there is something special about the way that this author writes, there is. Every word she chooses is deliberate for the very moment that she has chosen it. She is proof that words hold power and in the grand scheme of things she is the magician. It can be the simplest of things that I might have read a million other times, yet, it is how she frames it and retwists it into being unique and fresh that leaves me beguiled time and time again.

I didn't think that there was anything that could lure me away from Heath and Polly from the Greenstone series as being my favorite couple. However, as different as Jay and Stella were from those characters, there was something that captivated me when it came to them. I liked that I got to see a cameo appearance of those characters in this book too, so that was a bonus that I was not expecting.

Jay was an interesting character. He did not let his warmth shine through. He purposely made himself that way. It was the aforementioned Polly, that let me into him not being what he appeared because Polly is my compass in regards to other people and if she liked him then there had to be more than what meets the eye. Insight is given with his point of view chapters but he still remained aloof, only occasionally letting his mask fall. Stella on the other hand was definitely a what you see is what you get type of girl. I liked that about her. I liked that her being drawn to Jay went against everything feminist about her. She is proof of allowing the heart to dictate one's desires. I loved her friendships and want each of those friends to have their own story because they were that special. I loved her fears and her strong devotion to her dad. In a nutshell, I just loved both of these characters individually and together.

It will be interesting to see how these two navigate the course of their lives in the second part of this story. Both of these characters have some soul-searching to do, mainly Jay, and I do not see that going as smoothly, or in the direction, that these two intend. What I do know, is that this author will write it in a way that has me gobbling up her words as if they were air and will, ultimately, have me losing a large chunk of time as life ceases to exist as I devour their story. I am looking forward to it.

Off-topic, this cover is STUNNING and one of my favorites that this author has ever used which says something because she has some amazing ones. ( )