Release Day Review ~ Most of All You by Mia Sheridan

Book Description:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Archer's Voice comes a heart-wrenching new stand-alone contemporary romance.

A broken woman . . .

Crystal learned long ago that love brings only pain. Feeling nothing at all is far better than being hurt again. She guards her wounded heart behind a hard exterior and carries within her a deep mistrust of men, who, in her experience, have only ever used and taken.

A man in need of help . . .

Then Gabriel Dalton walks into her life. Despite the terrible darkness of his past, there's an undeniable goodness in him. And even though she knows the cost, Crystal finds herself drawn to Gabriel. His quiet strength is wearing down her defenses and his gentle patience is causing her to question everything she thought she knew.

Only love can mend a shattered heart . . .

Crystal and Gabriel never imagined that the world, which had stolen everything from them, would bring them a deep love like this. Except fate will only take them so far, and now the choice is theirs: Harden their hearts once again or find the courage to shed their painful pasts.

Buy Links:

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2xMLSE6

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2kUZ048

Our Review:

Reviewed by Donna ~ 5 stars

***ARC received for an honest review***

“It’s not the things you do with love and good intentions that you end up regretting. It’s the things you don’t do that you have to live with.”

Wow, this week has been one hell of an emotional reading week, three books, three lots of tears spilled of various quantities. But this is why I love reading. I love to experience those emotions, I cherish that character connection that can only be delivered by an author whose words call to every heart string, every fibre of my being, words that embed themselves into your heart and soul and Mia Sheridan never fails to deliver. Archer’s Voice is one of my all-time top favourite books ever, I have read that book well over twenty times and it is one that I will treasure for the rest of my reading days. Most of All You had all those Archer vibes, it had that same intensity, that all-encompassing emotional connection and a story that even the hardest of hearts could empathise with. I loved everything about this book, my second favourite Mia Sheridan read, because frankly, Archer’s Voice is untoppable.

“I told my heart to stop beating. I told it not to hurt anymore. I told my heart I wouldn’t let it hurt anymore. Ever.”

Captivating, superbly written and breathtakingly unique, Most of All You delivers two characters that you cannot help but embrace, empathise with, sympathise with and love implicitly. Their story ripped me apart, piece by piece, every ounce of empathy I had was given to these two broken characters that deserved their happy ever after more than anyone. Their back stories were harrowing, but it was those that made them the people they are today. Yes, they were fractured, they just hadn’t found their band aid, until the unlikeliest of couplings brought together one of the most tragic yet totally uplifting love stories that I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

“You shouldn’t love me.”

“It’s too late. I already do. I’m sorry but I can’t take it back.”

I am not going to go into this story at all, this is a book that you need to read as the author intended. From the first word, your attention will be gripped in Mia Sheridan’s words as she expertly navigates the reader through Gabriel and Ellie’s story. Our pasts are often our backbone, childhoods often meld our futures and the more traumatic the past, the greater the ramifications. You can either let it make you or break you. Your past doesn’t have to define your future, you can break the cycle, but sometimes it just needs that person that can help you navigate, give you the strength and belief, but the only person that can make that change a reality…is you.

“Gabriel was a brilliant artist and I was a disgusting, talentless joke.”

This book was truly awe inspiring, life is a series of choices, some are harder to make than others, some are in fact not choices at all even if that is how they manifest themselves. You never know what choices you will be forced to make and often you are torn between a rock and a hard place. When life always gives you lemons sometimes it is hard to make the lemonade. This book was about those choices, how one can let them define them and how the other made them a stepping stone, a stepping stone to being a better person. Be the best you can be, find the positives, don’t dwell on the negatives.

“He wanted to give me the peace of this moment, the…poetry of this place, the romance, the scents and the sounds and the serene beauty all around us. He wanted to give me love. And, God, I wanted to take it, I was just so scared to reach out and grab it.”

This book was all about character growth, I loved how these characters transformed before my eyes. Their journey was fraught with obstacles, both physical and emotional and yet, not once did I ever not believe in them as a couple. Sometimes the heart knows, the soul calls and the future is a foregone conclusion it just took Gabriel and Ellie a little time to fix themselves before that was even a possibility.

“and time. That’s all it is, my sweet love. Just sand and pressure and time.”

Mia Sheridan delivered this book with perfection. That perfect balance of angst, emotion, laughs and love. Nothing was overdone, everything believable and the story felt organic. Once again Mia Sheridan delivered and although Archer remains my favourite, this one is a very close second.