Always by Sarah Jio
Series: No
Genres: Women's Fiction
Release Date: February 7, 2017
Format: Audio
Narrator: Brittant Pressley
Source: OverDrive
Find it here: GoodReads | Amazon
While enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner with her fiance,
Ryan, at one of Seattle's chicest restaurants, Kailey Crane can't believe her
good fortune: She has a great job as a writer for the Herald and
is now engaged to a guy who is perfect in nearly every way. As they leave the
restaurant, Kailey spies a thin, bearded homeless man on the sidewalk. She
approaches him to offer up her bag of leftovers, and is stunned when their eyes
meet, then stricken to her very core: The man is the love of her life, Cade
McAllister.
When Kailey met Cade ten years ago, their attraction was immediate and intense everything connected and felt "right." But it all ended suddenly, leaving Kailey devastated. Now the poor soul on the street is a faded version of her former beloved: His weathered and weary face is as handsome as Kailey remembers, but his mind has suffered in the intervening years. Over the next few weeks, Kailey helps Cade begin to piece his life together, something she initially keeps from Ryan. As she revisits her long-ago relationship, Kailey realizes that she must decide exactly what and whom she wants.
Alternating between the past and the present, Always is a beautifully unfolding exploration of a woman faced with an impossible choice, a woman who discovers what she's willing to save and what she will sacrifice for true love.
When Kailey met Cade ten years ago, their attraction was immediate and intense everything connected and felt "right." But it all ended suddenly, leaving Kailey devastated. Now the poor soul on the street is a faded version of her former beloved: His weathered and weary face is as handsome as Kailey remembers, but his mind has suffered in the intervening years. Over the next few weeks, Kailey helps Cade begin to piece his life together, something she initially keeps from Ryan. As she revisits her long-ago relationship, Kailey realizes that she must decide exactly what and whom she wants.
Alternating between the past and the present, Always is a beautifully unfolding exploration of a woman faced with an impossible choice, a woman who discovers what she's willing to save and what she will sacrifice for true love.
I’m a sucker for a second-chance romance so Always seemed
like one that would be right up my alley. I really enjoyed the dual timeline
that portrayed Kailey’s present but also shared, in bits and pieces, her past.
In 1996 Kailey met Cade, a music executive with a talent for finding the next
big thing in Seattle’s indie music scene. They clicked immediately, their
romance was passionate, and they planned a future together. So why, a decade
later, is Kailey planning her wedding to another man?
I was so drawn in by Kailey and Cade’s story, wanting to
know what happened to them – what happened to Cade. I appreciated the way their
story was told in snippets from the past and I found myself waiting anxiously
for each “past” chapter. Kailey was a mostly likable character, loyal and
determined, but it was Cade who captured my heart and had me wanting to take
him by the hand and help him myself. Kailey’s fiancé’s reactions to her seeing
Cade and her insistence in helping him rang true and I couldn’t help but
empathize with him. This second-chance romance with a touch of mystery was an
entertaining and sometimes emotional read.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:
While I was invested in Kailey and Cade’s story, Jio’s heavy
handed narrative covering the homeless issue became preachy and off-putting. The tone throughout the sections where homelessness was addressed made the pacing feel clunky. Additionally, some
pretty significant plot holes that were never resolved or revisited also
tampered my overall enjoyment a bit.
3.5/5 STARS
HAVE YOU READ ALWAYS?
