Love In Between (Love 1) – Sandi Lynn

Reviewed by Donna ~ 3 to 3.5 Stars

“…It’s called fate, Lily. You were meant to find out about them that day.”

I loved Sandi Lynn’s Forever Black series so was really looking forward to this one. Whilst I loved the characters I just felt that I hadn’t really connected with them throughout this story, I just didn’t feel the emotion that I usually feel with Sandi’s writing. I like to engage with the couple, feel what they feel and live through what they are dealing with, but I just didn’t feel it with this one and that left me feeling a bit disappointed. If I had to guess, I would have also said that this had been written before the Forever Black series, maybe it has? The writing style seemed weaker, a lot of things were spelled out for you as if the author was trying to force you to see what she wanted you to see, whereas normally the words and story alone should do this for you. I must say though that humour was prevalent throughout this book and there were a lot of laughing out loud moments and this really added to my enjoyment of this book.

However, I really enjoyed the story despite the above. Luke and Lily were great characters, both broken for different reasons and that despite the initial “I don’t really like you,” you could tell that they were suited for each other and maybe just maybe they could help pull each other through all the crap that they were both dealing with. I had my fingers crossed for these two.

Firstly, I have to say, the beginning is a real WTF moment. If my sister did that to me, she would be “dead” to me too, so I can totally see where Lily comes from here. The part that I struggle with the most is the mothers attitude. She was your daughter, no matter what, that comes first and foremost and no mother in their right mind would do what she did, whatever the motive. I would have disowned her too…so therefore, yes, I was totally on board with Lily leaving and finding a new life for herself.

Luke, totally and utterly emotionally shut down, tragic past that he has yet to come to terms with. I loved this guy. I loved the interaction he had with his niece, totally and utterly adorable. Even though he was down, he never let it show to her and did everything he could to support her and his sister, he was truly admirable.

I loved the side characters, especially Sam. Glad that he found love too, although why Lily thought he was gay I don’t know.

So back to Lily and Luke, they have a lot to work through, a lot of internal struggles. Lily needs to learn to trust and Luke just needs to learn to move on and open himself up again. Will these two be strong enough for each other? Can the past be dealt with so that a future together can become reality?

“…because when you are not with me, I feel like life has stopped until you’re by my side again.”

I will be reading the next in the series as I have my theories and I want to see if they play out the way I think. I would like to think that their story is far from over and am hoping that I “feel” them in the next instalment.

“I’ll be there with you. I’ll be there for you, and I’ll be there to catch you if you fall.”