Book Review and Giveaway: The Forever Girl

By Sara Steven

When Maze returns to Wildstone for the wedding of her estranged bff and the sister of her heart, it’s also a reunion of a once ragtag team of teenagers who had only each other until a tragedy tore them apart and scattered them wide.

Now as adults together again in the lake house, there are secrets and resentments mixed up in all the amazing childhood memories. Unexpectedly, they instantly fall back into their roles: Maze their reckless leader, Cat the den mother, Heather the beloved baby sister, and Walker, a man of mystery. 

Life has changed all four of them in immeasurable ways. Maze and Cat must decide if they can rebuild their friendship, and Maze discovers her long-held attraction to Walker hasn’t faded with the years but has only grown stronger. (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads)

Out of the Wildstone series, The Forever Girl was my absolute favorite, hands down. And granted, it’s only my third time back to the small town, but I really couldn’t get enough of all of the special characters that made this book an absolute five-star experience.

I really love Maze. From the get go, there is no misreading who she is, an impetuous woman who used to go by the nickname, “Mayhem Maze.” So much of that is tied into her past and what she had to deal with for most of her childhood, and it has made it difficult for anyone to get close to her. The only people she allows in are the ones she had spent so much time with when she was a teen, and even that is debatable. It’s always been easier to remain at arm’s length, because there is less chance of getting hurt that way. She also carries around massive amounts of guilt that has eaten away at her over the years, making her blind to what is in front of her, and more importantly, who wants to be there for her.

Her support system, as mentioned in the synopsis, all have their own hurdles to overcome. Cat has potential relationship woes, while Heather hasn’t been forthcoming about immense changes that have occurred in her life since the last time the four of them had been together. Walker faces the same sort of past that Maze does, and while he’s more prone to accepting love from others, there is still a lot of baggage he carries around with him, past hurts that feel daunting. Walker is Maze’s Achilles heel, the one person she feels completely herself around, but at a cost. It made for an interesting dynamic. 

To shed some perspective on how much I loved The Forever Girl; I finished it within a twenty-four hour period. And I’m not prone to feeling overly emotional when I read books, yet there were certain moments that really got to me with this one, particularly when Maze comes face to face with one of her deepest regrets in life. That moment really had this reader all sorts of teary-eyed. This experience really had everything I look for in a good book. An amazingly flawed protagonist. Great characterization. Not to mention the friendships and sizzling hot moments that had the perfect build up and didn’t rush into anything. I was definitely a goner during my stay in Wildstone, totally and completely hooked!

Thanks to William Morrow for the book in exchange for an honest review. They have one copy for a lucky reader!

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends January 19th at midnight EST.

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