Review: Between Hello and Goodbye by Emma Scott #NewRelease

BETWEEN HELLO AND GOODBYE

by Emma Scott

Publication date: June 26, 2022

Format: eARC

Source: Valentine PR

4.25 Stars

She’s a city girl in Seattle. He’s a firefighter in a rainforest. This is never going to work…

Faith Benson isn’t your emergency contact, she’s the party-girl friend you call for a good time. The gal-pal who loves mimosas at brunch and martinis at Happy Hour. But her carefree lifestyle threatens her job at a top Seattle ad agency. There’s no one better at landing big accounts (when she shows up) but her boss demands she take a leave of absence to get her head on straight.

Faith heads to the remote Hawaiian island of Kauai, far away from the vices that get her in trouble. But a twisted ankle on Day One requires rescuing by a man who is vice personified—a gorgeous firefighter who awakens feelings in her heart she never knew existed.

Asher Mackey doesn’t get involved with beautiful tourists beyond taking them to bed and then watching them leave his tiny island. He’s devoted his life to the safety and care of everyone around him…except himself. Until he meets Faith Benson, the city girl whose vibrant, inner beauty shines a light on the dark corners of his life, showing him how safe—but empty—it truly is.

Despite their best efforts to keep their distance, Faith and Asher fall hard and fast, but there’s an ocean between them. Both are building their lives on opposite sides of the Pacific while their feelings for each other grow more profound and undeniable by the day.

Something has to give.

When Asher receives devastating news, he and Faith have to decide once and for all to entrust their hearts fully to the other or return to their safe—but separate—worlds. Because neither can endure much longer, living somewhere between hello and goodbye.

Between Hello and Goodbye is a contemporary romance about love, loss, and experiencing life in all its facets. It deals with sensitive topics that may be triggering for some readers.

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Party-girl Faith Benson is at a crossroads. The talented advertising executive can clean up her act and accept a partnership at her firm, or they’re ready to cut ties. When her boss demands that she take some time off to reevaluate, she heads for the island of Kauai, ready for self-reflection and enlightenment – on her own terms, of course.

Asher Mackey is all about control. Since childhood circumstances forced him to act as parent and sole support to his younger brother, Asher is always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Determined to control every potential outcome, and protect his small circle of loved ones, he lives constantly with the fear that he will lose that control and fail the ones he loves the most.

"We're not even sleeping together. What are you getting out of this deal?"

"You."

I sat back in my chair. "Me."

"Yeah, Faith." His gaze grazed over me, then met my eyes with an intensity that was full of depth and heat. "I get you."

 

When Asher and Faith meet in Kauai, the attraction is instant. But Asher doesn’t do relationships, and Faith has sworn off men while on her Hawaiian exile. But they can’t seem to stay away from one another and by the time Faith leaves to return home to Seattle, they are faced with impossible decisions. Their lives are polar opposites: Asher is a firefighter and has no intention of leaving the secluded island and the brother he adores; Faith craves the big city and her high-powered career.  Time apart makes them both question what they really want, and what they’ll sacrifice to have it.

"I can't help myself around you. I know, rationally, we're different people. There's a literal ocean between us, and yet... " He reached across the table to take my hand. "I don't see how this can go anywhere, but the last fucking thing I want to think about is saying goodbye."

 

As with all of Scott’s characters, Faith and Asher are complicated and flawed. The journey and growth of both characters was written so deftly and felt so realistic. Theirs was a complicated love story that traveled a bumpy road. It showed that falling in love is only half of the story. When that love was tested, it was impossible not to feel the turmoil and the heartache right along with Asher and Faith.

Emma Scott has her own brand of emotional story telling and it’s done to perfection in Between Hello and Goodbye. Scott does not shy away from tragedy and its aftermath. While there is devastating loss and grief, Scott also provides a reminder that even after the darkest of days, there is still light, love, and joy. With an epilogue that provided many happy tears, I highly recommend this remarkable story.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary advance copy of this book for review. This does not impact my opinion of the book or the content of this review. 

MEET EMMA SCOTT

Emma Scott is a USA Today and Wall St. Journal bestselling author whose books have been translated in six languages and featured in Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, New York Daily News and USA Today's Happy Ever After. She writes emotional, character-driven romances in which art and love intertwine to heal, and in which love always wins. If you enjoy emotionally-charged stories that rip your heart out and put it back together again, with diverse characters and kind-hearted heroes, you will enjoy her novels. Visit www.emmascottwrites.com

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