A wonderful thing happens over Christmas break every year — I get to read those books that have been stashed away for a rainy day.  Yesterday, my husband had a doctor’s appointment that took a couple of hours, so I tagged along with Everything We Keep in hand.

I won this book in a blog giveaway (thanks to Just Commonly!), and hadn’t heard anything about it aside from that blogger’s review. I opened the first page without even reading the summary on the back (glad for that.) Immediately, the character and situation drew me in.The story is based around Aimee, a young woman who buries her fiance on what was supposed to be her wedding day.  As the story  progresses, she begins to doubt whether her beloved was truly dead.  Sound dramatic enough for you?

My heart reached out to Aimee and her family, hoping she’d find the closure she desperately needed. About midway through the book, though, I realized that no ending could be truly happy for Aimee. No matter what, her heart (and mine) would be broken. Having accepted that, I plowed through the rest of the book with gusto. It was a tremendously satisfying story, yet I still can’t decide if I hope for a sequel or not.

There were a few text issues that made me cringe a bit. For example, the author uses the word “worse” instead of “worst.” Not a huge deal, but they bugged me enough to mention. Additionally, there’s a significant amount of strong profanity in the dialogue. This will prevent me from sharing the book with my more conservative friends. The intimate scenes are presented in a fairly graphic way, too (at least for me….I usually read “clean” romance). These things wouldn’t make me turn down the book, but it’s nice to know ahead of time.

Everything We Keep is a powerful reminder of the strength of true love. It enables us to do and become more than we’d ever dream.