Blurb:
Pain trapped me in this house. Can love set me free?
Death had been chasing me my entire life. I survived the horrors of war, but it was the aftermath that truly destroyed me.
People called me a recluse, but the only time I didn't feel like I was suffocating was inside that house.
For my daughter, I kept some semblance of normalcy by implementing a rigid routine. Once a week, I forced myself to walk to the diner at the end of the block—a ritual I despised but relied on as my last anchor to the real world.
Until the day a "Closed" sign on the door shattered my fragile existence. Worse, the new owner was the most haunting ghost from my past.
It had been years since I'd laid eyes on Gwendolyn Pierce. She hated me—and rightly so. But when a film crew arrived in town to dig into my past, she became my only ally.
With my secrets threatened, I leaned on Gwen, forging a connection neither of us could deny. But with a past as dark as ours, I feared it would eclipse any hope for a future.
I always said that when Death finally came for me, I would be ready, eager, and alone.
Always alone.
But for Gwen, maybe I could face the world again as long as it meant I could be alone—with her.
My 5* Review:
"There is nothing—and I mean nothing—I won't do to hold onto you. I want this with you. I need this with you. I will never let anything or anyone—including myself—take you away from me again."
Alone With You by Aly Martinez will pull every emotion out of you as you read it.
This is a stunning and intense story about how the past can take a hold on someone, body and mind, and they can't find a way out.
It is a second chance romance for Truett West and Gwendolyn Weaver with twists and surprises you won't see coming. It is set in the present and eighteen years ago when everything changed for them. A complex look at regret and guilt, pain and anguish, grief and sadness, anger and resentment. The heartbreaking tale of soulmates surviving life after a tragedy and trauma, then finding a way to move forward and heal through forgiveness and understanding.
The story revolves around Truett and his Wednesday routine of love and pain, which ends with him entering The Grille at 6pm. Always alone. This is the only time he ever leaves his house and he fights a panic attack every time. He is a veteran who suffers from PTSD, survivors guilt and mental health issue. He feels he has failed everyone he loved so opens up old wounds every week for an hour as knows he doesn't deserve to heal.
Pain trapped me in this house. Can love set me free?
One Wednesday Gwen is at The Grille with her friends when her son knocks over Truett's water. It is four years since she'd seen him so memories and emotions flood her. She has bought The Grille for a fresh start after her divorce from her narcissist ex but his agony at finding it shut down for refurbishment is heartbreaking.
This starts a series of events and each facet of the story is slowly and cleverly revealed. It is amazing as all the puzzle pieces come together. Truett hates being a burden as feels his issues are his to deal with. He keeps referring to all he's put her through so how interwoven were their lives?
She can't resist him as never really stopped loving him. She's shocked by how much he still affects as hating him was easier then remembering. Had he changed, could he be the man she needed. Will she get the answers she has always wanted from him ?
Will he finally be able to fight for the life he wants, in the here and now, not stuck in the past. Live the life he put on hold all those years ago and find a future with her.
Lucille aka Cooter was hilarious and brought some light into the dark, especially when she called him the hot gargoyle! Loved finding out the real reasons for his actions and decisions. Brilliant scene in the Courtroom. One of my favourite reads this year and Truett has a place in my heart forever.
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