“I can’t break your heart without breaking mine, and I’m terribly fond of my heart.”
This book was everything and nothing like I expected!
I read book “I can’t break your heart without breaking mine, and I’m terribly fond of my heart.”
This book was everything and nothing like I expected!
I read book 1 of the Winston Brothers a few months ago and liked but didn’t love it. I skipped book 2 because I was really interested in Cletus/Jenn’s story and I’m so glad I did.
I went into it thinking maybe it’d be like The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie… I wasn’t sure if Cletus is autistic but he had non-typical behavior in the first book. Then I started reading and almost immediately he meets the new hire for the auto shop, Sienna, and thinks “she’s the one for me.” So then I was like, CRAP - is there going to be a love triangle?! (There’s not.) Ultimately this book didn’t go any way I expected but I loved it.
Jennifer is such a special heroine. Raised in a very sheltered, verbally abusive household by parents who want to control her, she was homeschooled and has never had real friends or life experiences. She works 70-80 hours a week, has to wear a “costume”/uniform in public, has 1 million followers on Instagram… but is lonely and alone. She’s heartbreaking, really. Because she knows people in town gossip about her, laugh at her, make fun of her, call her simple. And she just tries to spin it positively and be kind to people.
She’s cunning, in her own way. She watches people since she has such a hard time in social situations, and is one of the few who knows Cletus Winston is dangerous. Her journey was so wonderful, and I loved her relationship with Cletus.
“Oh, honey.” I gave him a small smile of compassion, then kissed him again, wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing my body to his. “You take your time. Anything you want to share, I want to hear. But something you taught me over these last few months is that no one can control who you are—fundamentally, who you are in your heart—except for you. The decision is always yours.”
His arms came around me tightly, holding on as though I might disappear. Or I might leave.
“No matter what happened in your past, what ghosts might lurk there, the road you take is ultimately up to you,” I squeezed him back, “but—selfishly—I hope it’s always the road I’m on.”...more