Title: The Edge of Always Author: J.A. Redmerski
Series: The Edge of Never #2
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: November 8, 2013
Genre: New Adult
More Info: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon US
Purchase: Barnes & Noble
He was taking the long road. She was taking the road to nowhere. It just so happened that they led to the same place…
Five months ago, Camryn and Andrew, both dealing with personal hardships, met on a Greyhound bus. They fell in love and proved that when two people are meant to be together, fate will find a way to make it happen.
Now, in the highly anticipated sequel to THE EDGE OF NEVER, Camryn and Andrew are pursuing their love for music and living life to the fullest as they always swore to do. But when tragedy befalls them, their relationship is put to the ultimate test. As Camryn tries to numb her pain, Andrew makes a bold decision: To get their life back on track, they’ll set out on another cross-country road trip. Together they find excitement, passion, adventure—and challenges they never could have anticipated.
Sexy. Daring. Dangerous. THE EDGE OF ALWAYS takes you on a ride you won’t forget .
Excerpt:
Camryn still loves the newer stuff and the Civil Wars more than anything and so that’s usually what we play.
Tonight will be no different.
I love watching her perform them next to me up on stage because she becomes so vibrant and playful and sexy as hell. Not that she isn’t all of those things already, but it’s like another more daring and flirty side of her comes out when she’s singing. And she doesn’t just sing—she puts on a show. I think it’s that little actress she’s always had buried somewhere in herself. She told me she performed in plays at school, and I can definitely see she has the knack for it.
But singing alongside me also seems to make her happy, and that’s why tonight is so important.
“I’m so nervous,” Camryn says next to my ear, having to speak loudly over the music.
I make a pffft sound with my lips. “Oh, please. Since when do you get nervous anymore? We’ve done this dozens of times.”
“I know, but I’m singing in front of your brother this time.”
“He can’t sing for shit, so his opinion is hardly valid.”
She smiles. “Well, I’m not nervous to the point that I don’t want to do it. I guess it’s actually kind of exciting.”
“That’s my girl,” I say and lean in to kiss her lips.
“Those two girls,” Camryn yells to me without looking in their direction, “front table to your left, they’re having sex with you in their heads right now, I swear to God.”
I laugh lightly and shake my head. We’d started picking people in the crowd to sing to lately.
“And that guy standing next to the woman in the purple shirt,” I say, nodding subtly in his direction, “has had your thighs wrapped around his head since you walked on this stage.”
“So it’ll be them tonight then, huh?” she asks.
I nod and say, “Uh-huh.”
“Make sure you give it to them good, baby,” she says, grinning wickedly at me.
“Oh, I will,” I say with the same amount of wicked on my face.
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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