Sandy M’s review of Alone with You by Aly Martinez
Contemporary Romance published by Aly Martinez 11 Aug 24
Aly Martinez never fails to punch you in the solar plexus with every emotion we can experience, then break your heart, and eventually weave everything back together, leaving you wrung out but undeniably happy. The first chapter in this book starts that journey in the most heart-wrenching way and doesn’t let up until your very last heartstring is pulled. Truett and Gwen have been through an unimaginable ride, and going along with them is everything a romance reader would want in such a story.
True is a former soldier, having lived through the worst our military men and women can experience. He and Gwen have a history, and so far they’ve not run into one another for quite some time. But after an incident at the local diner True frequents once a week, having to leave his safe home, for his therapy, and when he discovers it’s Gwen who has bought the diner and closed it during renovations, his world topples a little further.
Despite the fact Gwen thinks she hates Truett for all the past hurts that came her way, she can’t let him suffer when she sees his distress at the diner. Little by little, with her giving in to help him out, they open up to one another and to the reader. The reveals to much darker and deeper hits keep coming, surprising everyone with the impossible situations that have encompassed these two for years.
But on top of all of the tragedy and miscommunication and heartbreak, the love True and Gwen have known in their lives keeps hope alive. The love that resurfaces – in fact, that has never gone away – keeps them living exactly where they should be at this given point in time. Ms. Martinez does an exceptional job of giving the reader such an emotional and dark read, all the while keeping an eye on an outcome that is never easy but so wholly welcome when it gets to its conclusion.
If you’ve not read Aly Martinez, you should. Soon. Every word is worth it.
Grade: A+
Summary:
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.
No excerpt available.
