Review: For Lila, Forever by Winter Renshaw
Note: An advanced reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author via Ardent PRose.
For Lila, Forever is the newest standalone from Winter Renshaw, and it tells the tale of two teenagers who find love over the summer only for the machinations of one man to tear them apart leading to a ten-year separation. Lila Hilliard and Thayer Ainsworth may have only been eighteen and nineteen, respectively, when they fell in love, but they both knew that what they shared was for keeps. They made promises to each other, swearing to be patient while counting the days while Thayer was away at college, but upon his return to the family-owned island where Lila and her grandparents also lived and worked at, he's shocked to learn they've upped and disappeared. Not a word from Lila, no clues left behind as to what may have happened and where they may have gone to. It takes a decade of searching high and low, until finally, Thayer locates Lila. She's the only girl he's ever loved and he's kept his promise to her, but Lila tells him she's no longer the girl he once knew and fell in love with. She pushes him away because she has no other choice but to do so, even as the secret she's kept from him demands to be known.
I've enjoyed Winter Renshaw's writing in the past, and this new novel of hers was, for all intents and purposes, a good read in terms of the story and main characters. This had all of that delicious angst that I crave, and while I wouldn't necessarily call Lila and Thayer's love story an epic one, it was, indeed, the sort of romance that makes you believe that sometimes, your first love ends up being your forever love. Thayer's devotion to Lila--or at the very least, his memory of her and what they shared--inspires many a romance reader to have their much-craved "le sigh" moment. Told in dual perspective, I liked being able to see what these two had going on in their heads when everything was unfolding. We get both the past and the present here, but while I'm usually good with flashbacks being employed to relay the back story of a couple or a character, there was a part of me that wished that everything had just played out chronologically to save me from the jumping back and forth for huge chunks of time. Still, I appreciate a good love story, and For Lila, Forever certainly had me quite satisfied as a whole. 4.5 stars. ♥
I've enjoyed Winter Renshaw's writing in the past, and this new novel of hers was, for all intents and purposes, a good read in terms of the story and main characters. This had all of that delicious angst that I crave, and while I wouldn't necessarily call Lila and Thayer's love story an epic one, it was, indeed, the sort of romance that makes you believe that sometimes, your first love ends up being your forever love. Thayer's devotion to Lila--or at the very least, his memory of her and what they shared--inspires many a romance reader to have their much-craved "le sigh" moment. Told in dual perspective, I liked being able to see what these two had going on in their heads when everything was unfolding. We get both the past and the present here, but while I'm usually good with flashbacks being employed to relay the back story of a couple or a character, there was a part of me that wished that everything had just played out chronologically to save me from the jumping back and forth for huge chunks of time. Still, I appreciate a good love story, and For Lila, Forever certainly had me quite satisfied as a whole. 4.5 stars. ♥
Date Read: 02 May 2019
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