I admit I was a little bummed when I realized the Boston Classics series was ending. Bummed for about two paragraphs into I’ll Stand by You and then I realized we weren’t losing Kate and Will, Ben and Lucy, Alice and Steve, Jessica and Cal, Henry and Bella but instead gaining Violet, Danielle, Whitney, Ford and Sully and another decade. I am so excited to read the new Carolina Classics series and to immerse myself in what I know will be five more fascinating characters, great locations, and another trip back down memory lane. This novella is the perfect bridge from one decade to the next and from one group of front and center pals to the next. Just when I was thinking maybe I needed to do another run through Boston (which I do periodically anyway) up pops Handsome Handsome Handsome Groom Henry. I was happy to see him and the gang, including Ribsy, but I was also already fully engaged with the graduates, wanting to learn where their lives, dreams and adventures will take them and what unexpected events and people will jump in to disrupt their plans.

Author Karen Grey is so talented and such a joy to read. Her characters are so real: they have faults, make mistakes and bad choices, suck at relationships sometime, but they also have giant hearts, sensitive souls and fierce loyalty - and they all feel so real. The laugh-out-loud funny situations they get themselves into feel real, too. As do the tender, sweet moments. And those sexy, spicy, scorchy times? They might have you fanning your face (or wishing you were there!) but they feel real, too. And the trip to the past? I relived my own memories of those times, that hair, those clothes, just the way people were. Grey captures all of that flawlessly. You aren’t just reading about it. You are there. You might cringe a bit, but you’ve time-travelled.

I’ll Stand by You gives us just enough backstory for each character to understand that while college held them together life is going to pull them apart a little, or maybe a lot. They have different personalities, of course, but also different opportunities and different things holding them back. I was thrilled to be at the beginning of their all-grown-up adult lives and while a little sad about it, equally thrilled to be at the truly satisfying closure of the Boston Classics storyline.

Thanks to author Karen Grey for all the wonderful stories to date and for the promise (guarantee, really) of many more to come. I received an advance copy of I’ll Stand by You in exchange for an honest review. If you haven’t already figured it out, I can’t say enough good things about this author and everything she writes. Dive into the Carolina Classics. You’ll be glad you did. All opinions are my own. ( )