It’s Only Love
Green Mountain, Book #5
By Marie Force
ISBN# : 9780425275504
http://marieforce.com/
Brought to you by OBS Reviewer jerjen
Synopsis:
The new Green Mountain Romance from the New York Timesbestselling author of And I Love Her.
Ella Abbott has long been secretly in love with Gavin Guthrie. A few recent encounters have only added to her infatuation, especially the kiss they shared at her sister’s wedding. It doesn’t matter to Ella that Gavin is in a bad place. He says there’s no hope for a future with him, that he has nothing to offer her. But all Ella cares about is the love she feels.
It’s been seven long years since Gavin lost his brother. He’d kept himself under control and moving forward until his brother’s beloved dog died and his brother’s widow re-married. Since then, he’s been drinking, fighting, and even getting arrested. It seems the only time his demons leave him alone is when Ella is around.
Gavin knows it wouldn’t be fair to drag Ella into his darkness, but when she inserts herself into his life, what choice does he have but to allow her to soothe his aching heart?
Review:
Ella has loved Gavin for as long as she can remember. Seems like she loved him even when she was a child. But she has been the little sister and Gavin did not seem to know of her feelings for him. And the way that he has acted made Ella think that he did not feel the same way. He has pushed her away and rebuffed her feelings for so long that Ella knows there is no future with him. But her head and her heart are not on the same page and she knows that she will never feel like this for any other man. She will have to continue to love him from afar.
Gavin is in a very dark place in his life. He has never fully recovered from the death of his brother. He cannot seem to let go of his feelings of anger and guilt. And when his brother’s dog, Homer, passes away, he sinks even deeper into the darkness. He begins to drink heavily and fight with everyone and becomes a person he does not like nor recognize. He has an epiphany of sorts when he sees Ella again; he realizes that his life does not seem so dark whenever he is with her. He realizes he needs her in his life to pull him back into the land of the living. He also knows that it is not fair to her but she is his lifeline. He convinces her of this fact, and although she is afraid to trust him completely with her heart, she knows she cannot deny him anything.
Ella and Gavin are both flawed and both bring baggage into the relationship. But they are characters that you can cheer for and care about and hope that they can make a relationship work. I felt like a little too much time was spent on letting the reader know how crazy they were for each other and their prior feelings, but that is just me. Other readers may enjoy reading about this page after page, but I felt it got a little too repetitive. I would have liked more time spent on seeing them living in the present, going on dates and things that normal couples would do.
Ella has a large family and whenever they get together there is a lot of bickering and bantering going on. They tease each other mercilessly but they also love each other fiercely. They have each other’s back and would do whatever is needed to help and protect those they love. I love this family portrayal and hope that most families are like this in real life. I enjoyed reading about all the family interactions.
I really enjoyed the fact that Ella’s father and grandfather were meddlesome and trying to control the lives of their loved ones. Usually it is the females in the family that do this, a mother, an aunt, or a sister. The fact that it was two male characters is quite unusual and I loved it. I could have read more about their shenanigans.
Another thing that I enjoyed is the inspirational sayings that begin each chapter. They are thought-provoking and apply to many areas in our life. I thought this was a great addition to the book.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well written adult contemporary romance. There is a lot of steaminess in this book so I do not feel it would be appropriate for a young adult. This is the second book that I have read in this series and I enjoyed them both.
