I'm here for round two of sharing my thoughts on the books that I read in January. As February is just about over, I kinda need to get moving on these posts a bit faster or I will be months behind before I know it. Luckily (or unluckily - depends on the day and how I look at it) I've only finished two books so far in February so I may not be as behind as it feels like if I don't end up finishing at least one more book. That remains to be determined but here are my thoughts on two more of the books that I read in January.
The Forever Girl by Jill ShalvisSummary from Goodreads:
"When Maze returns to Wildstone for the wedding of her estranged bff and the sister of her heart, it’s also a reunion of a once ragtag team of teenagers who had only each other until a tragedy tore them apart and scattered them wide.
Now as adults together again in the lake house, there are secrets and resentments mixed up in all the amazing childhood memories. Unexpectedly, they instantly fall back into their roles: Maze their reckless leader, Cat the den mother, Heather the beloved baby sister, and Walker, a man of mystery.
Life has changed all four of them in immeasurable ways. Maze and Cat must decide if they can rebuild their friendship, and Maze discovers her long-held attraction to Walker hasn’t faded with the years but has only grown stronger."
Chloe Lockhart walked away from a busy street fair and vanished into the crowd. Maybe she was fleeing the suffocating surveillance her parents put on her from the time she was born, or maybe the evil from her parents’ past finally caught up to her. For Chloe, as Ellery learns, is not the first child Teresa Lockhart has lost.
Ellery knows what it’s like to have the past stalk you, to hold your breath around every corner. Sending one kidnapped girl to find another could be Chloe’s only hope or an unmitigated disaster that dooms them both. Ellery must untangle the labyrinth of secrets inside the Lockhart household—secrets that have already murdered one child. Each second that ticks by reminds her of her own lost hours, how close she came to death, and how near it still remains."
I am so completely hooked on this series at four books in! I really cannot get enough of it and these characters! Every book in this series has been a page turner that I could not set down and this book was no different. Let's start off with the fact that this is book four and a bit hard to share my thoughts on without sharing spoilers (but I shall do my best). I do think that this is a series best read in order if possible. The author does a good job of catching you up if you haven't had the chance to read the earlier books but I just feel like you would really be missing out - especially when it comes to understanding Ellery as a character. Everything that she has gone through in her life has led her to where she is "today" as this book begins. And she just cannot run from her past and how it still effects her life which makes the case she gets drawn into investigating that much more personal for her. I flew through the pages of this book. I just needed to know how it was all going to end. I like that Ellery's world is opening up a bit even if she doesn't feel like she is ready for it. We saw more of characters from previous books and I hope that continues because it means Ellery is finally starting to move on more from her past. The ending made me a bit sad (but I understood) until it didn't because I was like WHAT?!? And now I'm just sitting here pining away for the next book in this series....because gah! Yep, it that ending left me with no words and I NEED book five ASAP! Do yourself a favor and pick this series up soon but start with The Vanishing Season because reading them all in order is completely worth it!