Synopsis:
For years, Luke searched for the life that he always wanted to live, running from a past he desperately wanted to forget. He thought he’d found it, that he’d finally escaped everything that was suffocating him, and could breathe for the first time.
And then he met Ash.
Ash showed him that not only was there more to life than he ever imagined, but that love, true love, was the one thing he was still missing. And even in the face of unimaginable tragedy, their love could survive anything.
As dreams of a recording deal suddenly become a reality, the shadows of Luke’s past finally start to catch up with him, and the one person he’s been trying to escape will threaten not only his happiness, but everything he’s worked so hard to achieve. Luke will be forced to face the life he left behind and everything he’s been trying to forget.
Review
It’s no secret that Natalie Ward is one of my favorite writers. The first book in this series, I Love You to Death, is one of my all-time favorites and I highly recommend reading this incredibly imaginative story. So I was incredibly thrilled when I received a copy of I Love You, Always as I had been not so patiently waiting to read Luke’s story.
I absolutely adore Luke and Asha and could not wait to dive right in. I read this book a little slower than my normal break-neck speed because I know this is the last book in the series and I was not quite ready to say good-bye to my gorgeous Luke (yes, he’s mine!)
Natalie has a gift for flipping back and forth between past and present and she does so flawlessly in this book. The series is music-themed, so the story is told with an A-side (the present) and a B-side (the past), a device which works so perfectly here.
“You’ve got me unraveled, completely undone
Can’t get enough of you, I am overcome
You’re my perfect obsession, my only fixation
The object of my affection and a wondrous frustration”
Luke is a beautiful character and the author takes us on an incredible journey of not only experiencing the growth of Ash and Luke’s love, but also the journey that Luke’s music takes him on. The playlist is outstanding and I have listened to the songs about a hundred times since finishing this book.
This is the third book in this series and I strongly recommend reading the first two books before reading I Love You, Always. This is an absolutely lyrical and beautiful story of how our past shapes us and the choices we make. The addition of song lyrics at the beginning of each chapter is a perfect addition to Luke’s story and only serves to showcase the incredible writing talent of Natalie Ward.
(ARC provided by the author in return for an honest review.)