Melody Woods is back in her small town of Oakwood Bay after avoiding coming home after one of the most heartbreaking nights of her life. Now, dumped by her boyfriend, broke, and trying to figure out her next step, Melody is forced to ask her twin brother to let her live with him while she plans her next move. He agrees but in return he makes her take his place on a camping trip with his buddies. Not having a choice, Melody agrees but when she comes face to face with Zac Porter, her brothers childhood best friend and the man who broke her young heart she has second thoughts about the situation. When she and Zac get stranded at their campsite there’s no choice but to call a truce. Zac, however, considers this his chance to redeem himself and possibly make it impossible for Melody to leave town again.

I actually feel like this is one of those instances where the cover does the story a little bit of a disservice. It gives the impression of a light-hearted romance when in fact, this story has a lot of depth and emotional weight. Melody is in a bad place emotionally after her break-up from her boyfriend of six years. As she comes to terms with it, she’s realizing that she was being mentally and emotionally abused for years. So much so that at first, she has trouble making any decisions on her own. What to dress, eat, do with her free time- they were all things that her ex used to decide for her. When Zac and her friends realize what had happened to her they rallied around her helping her come to grips with that revelation. It is literally about 50% through the book before our heroine is in any kind of mindset to see Zac as something other than the first boy to betray her. I actually loved that the cover misled me and I think, enjoyed the story even more because of it.

Melody’s growth through the novel added to my love for her as a heroine. She started off in such a bad place emotionally and it was great to see her take those steps towards independence and believing she could give herself the kind of life she wanted. I loved Zac as well but for different reasons. He had always loved Melody and despite his screw-up he wasn’t going to back down from taking his shot with her. He did that, but in a way that was gentle and sweet. He showed her that he would always have her back even if that meant she found her strength and needed to leave Oakwood Bay. Who doesn’t love a supportive, sweet, hero?

So, if like me you were looking for a light and sweet romance, rest assured there is plenty of that in this novel, but there’s a lot more too. This story has a strong plot, a couple who get their redemption arc, and a heroine who finds her strength with the help of a good man. It’s even better than that cover leads you to think. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest.

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