Review: Ashes of You by Catherine Cowles (Lost & Found #5)

February 08, 2024

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

"Need to know you're safe. Feel you breathing."

My heart broke for this strong, beautiful man with the best heart.

"I'm right here, Blue. I'm right here."

I can't believe we've come to the end of the Lost & Found series! Talk about having major bittersweet feels, people. Seeing each Hartley sibling fall in love and find their respective happily-ever-afters has been such an awesome experience because I couldn't help but become so emotionally invested in every single one of them. And now, we've reached the last one standing, and he's the eldest among them--Lawson Hartley. The thirty-eight-year-old father of three--Luke, Drew, and Charlie--gets his HEA in Ashes of You, and his story is a doozy, one that gave full-circle-moment vibes. He's paired with Halston Astor, a twenty-five-year-old who prefers to go by Hallie and comes from a wealthy family in Chicago, Illinois. She comes in to interview for the position of nanny to Law's three boys, and when he opens the door and she sees those blue eyes of his, the realization that they know each other is a shock to both their systems. In close quarters and spending a lot of time together stirs up feelings and emotions cannot be pushed aside. But the return of someone else from their past battles for attention, and they refuse to be ignored.

The whole nanny storyline has been done more times than I can count, but Catherine Cowles has taken it and elevated it in such a way that made this a story that I won't soon forget. There was the romance and the suspense--both of which I come to expect from Cowles--but this author never fails to impress, especially since she has to be able to make each book a standalone while still having those tendrils that tie everything in a series. Law and Hallie were two people who were tied together as well, and their shared history almost made you feel like they were destined to find their way back to one another. Hallie's relationships with each of Law's sons was one of my favorite things about the book, but I confess that Luke was such a standout side character, and finally getting answers as to why his relationship with Law was struggling as much as it was was gratifying. And can I just say that the villain in this fifth and final Lost & Found series threw me for a loop?! Gah! I did NOT see that coming. Nicely done, Catherine Cowles. Nicely done. What a way to end the series. Five-plus stars go to Ashes of You. Now...what's next?!

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Read my reviews for the Lost & Found series: