Endlessly Yours (Wilder Brothers #10)
Carrie Ann Ryan
Blurb:
And
I knew as I took that oath, I would break it.
Then
I saw Rory. The woman I’d met on one of my darkest nights, and the woman I
can’t ignore. Our one night is a secret we swore we’d never tell.
When
I see her, I see a glimpse of what could be in the fire in her eyes.
When
she sees me, she sees the grumpy, annoying Wilder brother who could shatter her
dreams and her heart.
With
one stolen kiss, we both know we have a choice: to keep running or finally give
in.
Only
when she suddenly finds herself the guardian to her two nieces, the world
crumbles around us once again. She needs to protect her family, and I know I
can’t let her do it alone.
The
pull between us refuses to go away, but now I’ll have to choose which promise
to break. And if I’m strong enough to be the final Wilder to fall.
Themes: Contemporary, Series Finale
Rating: 4.5 stars
Heat Rating:
Review:
Bittersweet doesn’t even begin to explain my
feelings on the ending of this series as we finally get to see Brooks get his
chance at another HEA after losing this first love of his life. We often throw
that phrase out there, “love of [his/her] life”, without understanding that
just because that person has the capacity to love and be loved for our entire
lives, if they are taken from us, we can live again and love again if we
are VERY lucky. Carrie Ann Ryan is one of the few authors that truly understands
and embraces this concept in her writing, and I love that she always gives her characters
the capacity to open their hearts again and remind us that the human heart has
the beautiful ability to grow and expand to include any amount of love if given
freely. This story has been a long time coming, ever since we first met this group
of Wilders and fell in love with them, feeling Brooks’s pain and hoping that his
heart would heal enough in order to embrace love again. For long time reader, Brooks and Rory will
break our hearts as they work through their pain and fear and find a way to
make a family and forgive not only themselves but those that are gone so that
they can move forward together. I am sad to see the series ending, but hoping
to see more of these characters in the new spinoff series (Ashford Creek)
involving Callum and the other Ashfords.
Brooks
Wilder thought that he had found his happily-ever-after and the woman that
would be by his side until the end of his days when he was just a teenager, then
fate stole her from him, and he his heart has healed, nor has he truly moved on. But he made her a promise as she died that
haunts him still—to move on and try to find love again. He knew when he made
the promise he was lying to her, but Rory Thompson makes him feel alive unlike
any woman since his wife and it terrifies him.
Rory moved to be near her best friend when she married a Wilder, but running
into the gorgeous one-night stand she never forgot wasn’t part of her plan and
now she and Brooks have to pretend and fight their attraction at ever turn
because he wants nothing to do with her or a relationship. When her life is thrown into a tailspin once
again by the death of her sister, leaving her the guardian of her two young nieces,
she leans on the Wilders and especially Brooks even though she knows she shouldn’t. Unable to deny his feelings any longer,
Brooks is all in and soon cannot see his life without Rory, or the girls, but
are either of them truly prepared for the future as a family that they are
getting themselves into or will they have to step back and accept that some
pain is too strong to overcome?
Brooks
is the epitome of a tortured hero, the brooding, broken hearted, confused alpha
male that has to come to terms with his past, even as his heart is leading him
to make choices and take actions that show others the feelings, he is denying
to himself. His love for his first wife remains
a shining beacon in his heart, leaving him tangled up about his growing
emotions for Rory, but he always acts instinctively like a man in love,
protecting and providing for Rory and the girls, even if his brain doesnt
understand why. He is brave, strong, sweet, and sexy but the most compelling characteristic
Brooks portrays is his determination to heal the hurts of others (specifically
two broken little girls) even though he doesn’t acknowledge his own need to
heal half the time. That selflessness and need to give to others make him the
most loveable and endearing of all the Wilder brothers. Rory hasn’t had an easy time of it lately,
but despite that she is determined to make her way in the world and even though
she wants Brooks, she won’t settle for the shabby way he’s treated her since
she came back into his life. Rory knows
that the loss of his wife left him damaged, but she wants so badly to love him
and have his love in return because she understands how wonderful of a man he
is. The shift in her life to full time
caregiver requires Rory to makes some major changes in her life, but through it
all she flows with the changes with dignity and despite the constant fear of
failure and disappointment she refuses to give up. She is smart, dedicated, loving, and sassy especially
when she is dealing with Brooks’s bad behaviors, but when she is struggling, we
can see her determination to never fail those she loves. Rory truly is the type
of woman that will give everything, including her life to protect those she loves,
and she shows that again and again, even though others aren’t always treating
her nicely in return.
Endlessly
Yours in one of those “second love” stories that
will require a box of tissues along with a decent glass of wine (or whisky for
those like me), but in the end you will be glad that you went through the trauma
and joy of experiencing it. I knew going
in that I would be heartbroken for Brooks as he was forced to finally come to
terms with the lose of his wife and accept that even though she was gone, he
was still here and that taking a second chance at love wouldn’t diminish how
much he loved his wife. Brooks has
finally come to a point where the pain of losing his wife has dulled enough
that it doesn’t fill his chest and burn through him every moment of the day,
but moving on like he promised her still seems like a betrayal, even though
every time he sees or touches Rory, he wants her. When her life is changed irrevocably, Brooks
cannot fight the need to be there for her and help her through the changes, but
he also needs her in his arms and the more he is with her his heart slowly
heals enough to allow her in as well. Rory never imagined her life would shift
into becoming a guardian with two little girls she barely knows and a man suddenly
living in one big happy family, and she doesn’t trust the change. She wants Brooks and knows that she has
fallen for him but trusting that he has finally moved forward and will give his
heart is another matter and only a true act of love can show her just how
deeply he has fallen, so that they can have a future together. Obviously,
the passion between these two is combustible every time their eyes meet, much
less when they touch or allow themselves to slip the chain of their control,
but the moments when their love shines through heat (even when they both still
deny the feeling) are my favorites. Ending
this series was difficult, even knowing we’d get to see more of them in coming
spin-offs, because we have been with the Wilders for years now and come to love
them as much as we did the Montgomerys.
If you are a Wilder Brothers, fan I will tell you this story will be
everything you hoped and more, but for those just coming into the world, I beg
of you PLEASE at least go back to the beginning of the cousins (Moments
for You) and start there before you dive into this story. Endings truly are never sad because they only
make room for new and beautiful beginnings—and I know Carrie Ann Ryan will give
us beauty.
*eARC provided by author for the
purpose of an honest and unbiased review.
No compensation was provided.
