Love and Other Lost Things
Melissa Wiesner
326 pages
Bookouture
published August 6, 2024
This one made me emotional. It is both heartbreaking and offers hope. A second chance love story. And a second chance at family and found family. The story centers around abuse so if you are easily triggered, you should avoid this one.
I was drawn in from the first page and connected with Jane. I have nothing in common with her but I felt what she felt. While there are some chapters from Nik’s point of view, this felt more like Jane’s story. Where she is now and how she got here. I loved that she was a fighter and no matter what bad thing happened to her, she got back up and fought some more. I was rooting for her and Scarlett from the start. It took me a little longer to warm up to Nik but eventually I was rooting for their happily ever after.
This was the kind of book that I didn’t want to put it down yet I did for breaks because of the difficult issues involved. But to offset those difficult issues, Jane worked on rebuilding some touching relationships in her life. I am not always a fan of getting emotional when I read, but this one rewarded me in the end. It was a great break from my normal reads.
Jane McCaffrey is only back in her hometown of Linden Falls because of her father’s death. She swears she’ll leave again forever—it’s not like her childhood home holds any happy memories. But Jane hadn’t planned on bumping into Nik…
The boy she fell hard for was a skinny teenager with messy hair and his glasses askew. Now he’s broad-shouldered and stands well over six feet but his deep brown eyes are just the same. And when he breathes her name and caresses the fresh bruise on her cheek—like he can’t help but touch her—Jane is thrown right back to the best and worst time of her life.
Jane and Nik once shared kisses, hopes, and teenage dreams. Taking in his blue scrubs and doctor’s ID badge, Jane’s heart lifts that at least one of them got to live their dream. And as they catch up over the beautiful music they once loved, it’s like the years between them fall away.
But Nik doesn’t know the heavy secret Jane carries about the real reason she left town. Or who put that bruise on her cheek… or about her plans to truly disappear, forever.
So when the past comes calling, can Jane and Nik find the strength to fight for each other? Or was Jane dangerously wrong to think she could outrun her secret—and will it destroy them both?
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