NEVER LET ME GO by J J McAVOY

‘I learned when you aren’t a somebody, you’re nobody. I was nobody to everyone. I wasn’t needed by anyone. Then I met him and he treated me like I was gold.’

‘He laughed, and it was the most beautiful sound in the world. This was all for him, so one day he’d never have to suffer.’

Never Let Me Go is a new standalone second chance romance from JJ McAvoy. We were immediately hooked -as always- from the moment we read the first page. This author’s characters always have such presence and wicked intriguing personalities. Whilst her character development is fabulous the reader is always expected to read between the lines and form an almost instant connection in order to follow their journey. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t, yet it is very rare for us not to connect to JJ McAvoy’s characters and once again we immediately fell in love.

“I’m a lot of things to a lot of different people. Just like you are, and just like everyone else is. Everyone is complicated.”

Dorian Rhys-Gallagher has just lost his twin brother, Donovan, from the same addiction that killed both of his parents. He knows he too has an addictive personality so does everything so as not to succumb to anything other than the stress and pressure that comes with being a ruthless business man. Dorian is trying to fulfil the last wish of his twin brother; to find the woman Donovan left high and dry and make sure she’s provided for as well as their five year old child, whom he never got to meet. Fate works in mysterious ways and Dorian finds more than what he expected or bargained for. True love comes when we least expect it.

“Fall in love with me. Be obsessed with me. Respect me and care about me. Miss me like crazy when I’m not around. But always be around. Never leave me feeling cheap and dirty. Try not to make me cry. Have no one else but me. Be patient when I mess up. Take my loneliness away. Let me take yours away. Show me the best and worst of yourself. Let me know it’s safe to fall in love with you.”

Luella “Lulu” Thorne has had a rough life. In and out of foster homes and working multiple jobs to provide for her son who is born profoundly deaf. She’s made some choices in life which she’s not proud of but these choices were borne out of love and protection of what she holds dear to her heart. We love JJ McAvoy’s heroines. They’re always filled with an inner strength and a fierceness that matches their soft hearts and their need to love and be loved in return for who they are.

“We already know each other’s secrets. We’ve already lost the fight against our lust, felt guilty about it, and did it all over again. So let’s abandon what we think we should and simply do what we want to do. Who can stop us but us?”

We fell in love with this story and the characters. The writing was flawless and the editing has improved tremendously other than a one word repetition which did get quite annoying. That’s a personal thing though. As always JJ McAvoy writes a story which kept us guessing whilst it compelled us. Enticing, sexy and full of surprises, we never truly know where her stories will take us which is one of the things we love about her.

“Relationships that are messy are the ones that change our lives forever. It’s the one people write songs and movies and books about. It’s the one we all secretly want. Who wants a plain love story? Who does that inspire?”