Title: The Edge of Always Author: J.A. Redmerski
Series: The Edge of Never #2
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: January 14, 2014
Genre: New Adult
More Info: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon US
Purchase: Barnes & Noble
When everything falls apart, love remains . . .
Camryn Bennett has never been happier. Five months after meeting on a Greyhound bus, she and her soul mate Andrew Parrish are engaged-and a wedding isn't the only special event in their future. Nervous but excited, Camryn can't wait to begin the rest of her life with Andrew, a man she knows in her heart will love her always. They have so much to look forward to-until tragedy blindsides them.
Andrew doesn't understand how this could happen to them. He's trying to move on, and thought Camryn was doing the same. But when Andrew discovers Camryn is secretly harboring a mountain of pain and attempting to numb it in damaging ways, there is nothing he won't do to bring her back to life. Determined to prove that their love can survive anything, Andrew decides to take Camryn on a new journey filled with hope and passion. If only he can convince her to come along for the ride...
Excerpt:
I turn to Andrew again, waiting for him to spit it out. A cold breeze rushes through my knitted sweater, and I hide my hands inside the sleeves.
“You have five minutes to throw all of your stuff in your bag,” he says, and my heart is beating erratically before he finishes the sentence. He taps his wrist where there is no watch. “Not a second more.”
“Andrew—”
“This isn’t up for debate,” he says. “Go get your stuff.”
I just look at him, face blank.
My theory was right, but I didn’t want it to be. I don’t want to go on the road…I mean, I do…but it’s not right. It’s just not right.
“You have four minutes now.”
“But we can’t just leave like this,” I argue. “It would be rude.” I point at Asher. “And Asher just got here. Don’t you want to visit with—”
“I can visit my big brother anytime,” Asher counters. “Right now, I think you better do what he says or you might end up on the road wearing the same panties for a week.”
A few more seconds pass and I still haven’t moved. I’m in a state of mild shock, I guess.
“Three minutes, babe,” Andrew says and is looking at me with a serious face. “I’m not kidding. Get up there, throw our shit in our bags, and get in the damn car.”
Oh hell, he’s back to his old self again…
When I start to argue again, Andrew’s eyes get all feral-looking, and he says, “Hurry up. Time’s running out!” and he points to the house.
Finally, letting down my guard and going with the moment as much as I can allow myself, I glare at him and say, “Fine.” I’m only agreeing to it because I know he’s trying make things better. But I feel guilty as hell.
Disregarding his playful five-minute demand, I turn on my heels and walk very slowly back toward the house, purposely taking my time, partly my way of silently arguing the situation.
I push open the bedroom door, set my bag on the bed, and start stuffing everything inside of it. Then I go into the bathroom and grab our toothbrushes and various bathroom necessities. I yank our phone chargers from the wall and then my phone from the nightstand and chuck it all into my purse. I make my way around the room, hoping that I’m not missing anything.
Looks like Andrew already packed his stuff at some point and I never noticed.
Then I just stand here, scanning every inch of the place around me but not really seeing any of it. I don’t want to do this, but maybe it’s the right thing.
I hear the horn honk three times, and it snaps me out of my thoughts. Grabbing my bag, I swing it over my shoulder and grab my purse from the bed.
My Review:
“We may not have the details mapped out-and we don’t need to-but we both know which direction we don’t want to go.”
I will admit it, I was extremely apprehensive going into this book. Counting down the days until I could get it into my greedy little hands, yes, absolutely! But I absolutely LOVED the first story and was scared that nothing else could compare to the journey I took with Andrew and Camryn. I may not have experienced the same level of emotions with Always as I did with Never, but that is perfectly alright. As Camryn figures out in the book, you can’t re-create memories, it just taints them. Instead, you have to make new ones. That is exactly what I felt like this book did for me. It took me on a new journey, one similar to the last, but completely different in a plethora of new ways.
What Andrew and I have been slowly doing without realizing it is what shatters dreams: we’ve been getting too comfortable.
I know how easy it is to get comfortable in your relationship, to just assume that everything is okay and always will be. To not put forth the extra effort to keep it growing, changing. Because as living, breathing creatures, that is what we do. It is inevitable. No one stays the same person they were when they were younger. We get older, we become complacent, and we take for granted that people will always be there. Andrew and Camryn teach us all that we have to cherish what is right in front of us, EVERY DAY, in that moment, because you never know what the next day will bring. Tell someone you love them as often as possible, show them in ways only you know how. Appreciate them, and never take them for granted. Today is guaranteed, tomorrow never is.
Now, there comes a time in a person’s life when you have to face something so horrible that you feel like you’ll never be the same person again. It’s like something dark swoops down from somewhere above and steals every shred of happiness you have ever felt and all you can do is watch it, feel it go, knowing that no matter what you do in your life that you’ll never be able to get it back. Everybody goes through this at least once. No one is immune. But what I fail to understand is how one person can go through it enough for five people and in such a short time.
My heart simply broke into a thousand pieces MULTIPLE times in this book! The depths of despair, over and over, were insurmountable. I felt as if I would never crawl out of that black hole, and every time I inched up slightly, I fell back down. Though the walls seemed too high to climb, I never gave up hope. I could see the light around the bend, I just had to figure out how to get there. Because surely they would get there right? Surely this couple that I fell in love with would get their happily ever after? The problem with that though, in life, we aren’t guaranteed an happily ever after. And sometimes, it may come in the form of something that you didn’t even know was possible. Something you didn’t even know to dream of. And ever so slowly, the pieces start to get put back together.
“You’re the world to me,” I whisper onto her lips. “I hope you never forget that.”
“I’ll never forget. But if I ever do, for whatever reason, I hope you’ll always find a way to remind me.”
“Always,” I say and kiss her ravenously.
What I loved about Andrew and Camryn – this is a couple that fought for each other. Neither one could fool the other, and when they tried, they were called out on it. There were no lies, no half truths, no I am doing this to protect you. They simply were. Two halves of a whole. Two peas in a pod. Mirror images, complementing each other. Orpheus and Eurydice. In all their flaws and imperfections, they were perfect to me.
“We can’t control death,” I say. “There’s nothing either of us can do to avoid it or to hold it off. All we can control is how we live our lives before it comes for us. So, let’s promise each other things that we can hold true to no matter what.”
I felt like these two souls saw life in a very honest, raw way. They accepted the hardships thrown at them, but didn’t go down with a fight. They faced death head-on, never shying away. There is a truth in them that I think we should all strive for. I know I do. While nothing can surmount the epicness that was The Edge of Never, I loved this story for many different reasons. That said, it is by far a five star read for me, and one I will be revising in the future. I am not now, nor will I ever be, ready to let completely go of Andrew and Camryn!
“You think we’re lost?”
I tilt my head back a little and look up at the stars behind her and say, ”In society maybe. But together, no. I think we’re right where we need to be.”
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