Review: Only Him by Melanie Harlow (One and Only #2)


Note: An advanced reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author.

Oh my heart! It's been claimed by one Dallas Shepherd, main character of Melanie Harlow's new second-chance romance--and the second in her One and Only series about a trio of sisters--entitled Only Him. Twelve years ago, Dallas Shepherd and Maren Devine were only seventeen but very much in love. He was the bad boy rebel who seemed to have a penchant for getting into trouble and pushing the boundaries while she was the good girl ballerina who gave in to the temptation that was her first love. She believed he would be her last--her forever--love, but then he left without a word, breaking off all contact with the girl he claimed to love but his actions seemed to speak differently. When Dallas shows up on Maren's doorstep more than a dozen years later, she isn't sure what to make of it all. He says he just wants a chance to explain and apologize, but when that chance turns out to be another opportunity for them to realize that they've never stopped loving each other, Dallas knows that he'll need to walk away once again. What kind of future can he give Maren when he refuses to tell her his secret?

Okay, Dallas easily lands on my list of favorite book boyfriends. No, he isn't perfect. Heck, the guy makes quite a number of missteps, believing he was doing the right thing for the girl he loved. However, he is, at his very core, a man who loves with everything that he has. Maren, on the other hand... Well, let's just say that I couldn't connect with her the way I did with her sister Emme in Only You. There's something about her that make her come off as almost aloof. While it's easy to pin the blame of why their relationship faltered more than once on Dallas, the fact is, Maren bears quite a bit of the blame as well. So yes, my feelings for Maren did affect my rating, but so did the off-the-page resolution of Dallas's issues with his family as a whole and his parents in general. Considering that he mentions his feelings of inadequacy numerous times in the book, the fact that there wasn't any real confrontation or discussion between Dallas and his parents made that happy ending not as satisfying as I would have hoped for. While not as great as its predecessor, Only Him was still a good read, and one that had a great epilogue. Four stars. ♥

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Read my review for the One and Only series:


Only You (book one) - five-plus stars - My Review

Only Him (book two) - four stars - My Review (posted above)

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Release Date: 04 June 2018

Date Read: 03 June 2018

Learn more about Melanie Harlow.

Purchase Only Him on Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo.

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