Beside Your Heart by Mary Whitney

Author: Mary Whitney

Genre: New Adult Romance

Publisher: Omnific Publishing (June 18, 2013)

ISBN-13: 978-1623420413

Rating: 5/5

Book Description:

Late one night, Nicki Johnson plays with emotional fire and Googles her high school love, only to find his name splashed across the British gossip columns. Back in his native England, Adam Kincaid is successful and dating a woman from an aristocratic family like his own. With a career in politics, Nicki’s no slouch, but she knows Adam is living a world away from her life. Yet there was a time he was no farther than the next locker. Nicki will never forget their year together in high school-the year of her sister’s death, the year her mother checked out. Adam helped Nicki through suffocating grief, and she led him through coming of age. But when is a high school crush something more?

~My Review~

I’m not sure what to even say or what to write after having just finished Beside Your Heart. I am emotionally spent after having read the 351 pages of this beautifully written novel. I cried, and quite honestly, you don’t see me cry often while reading a book. But I did with Beside Your Heart.

This is a story of first loves. But to describe it as such would be nothing short of oversimplifying a story that transcends one genre. Yes it is a romance. It’s an incredibly enchanting tale of two teenagers, who in their last year of their high school career, have fallen hopelessly and irrevocably in love with the other. But beyond the romance, there is a dramatic backdrop story of Nicki Johnson. She is the girl, who in the beginning of senior year, is desperately trying to deal with her feelings of grief and loss over her younger sister, Lauren, from a recent car accident. Nicki and her mother were in the car but had survived. But unlike her mother who was unconscious after the accident, Nicki had heard everything. While still in the mangled vehicle, Nicki is aware of the moment her sister, Lauren, passes away.

Nicki has spent the entire summer trying to mend her body from the traumatic injuries she incurred. Multiple scars mark her petite frame.

She is left alone to grieve, internally hiding her despair. No one wants to speak of Lauren, even her best friends Lisa and Rachel try to ignore the fatality, knowing this would only beget more pain and sorrow for Nicki. How befitting it is that this author allows realistic character traits in Nicki’s close friends and even Nicki’s mother. More often than not, in the case of a lost loved one, ignoring the incident is a practical defense mechanism. And Nicki is fine with ignoring it, at least, she thinks it is.

Then this boy, Adam, steps into her life. Originally from Great Britain, his family has temporarily relocated to the area and has lived there for the last few years due to his father’s work. They are locker neighbors this senior year, and Nicki doesn’t think she falls within his radar of girlfriend material. So she is skeptical about Adam’s attentions towards her.

But there is strength about Nicki that tugs at Adam’s heart. Slowly he helps Nicki to heal the wound that has festered; and like a lancet, he opens the wound freeing the emotions that were once bottled up. Eventually she is able to talk about Lauren again without the feelings of hopelessness and despair that she once felt.

The bond they share oversteps the basic boy-girl relationship. There’s is so much more. The journey they take us on, from the blooming flirtatious friendship, to the wanton abandon of love they feel for the other, is intense. Likely, for me, it will be unforgettable.
I’m not sure that 5 stars would be enough for this story. It could be that I’m partial to the story line, having married my high school sweetheart, and in the beginning had our own issues to deal with. But there is no denying the author’s exceptional skills at writing, and her ability to weave a story is nothing short of phenomenal. To say I am anxiously awaiting Book 2 would be a complete understatement.

An ARC was provided by the author for this honest review.

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Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book directly from the author or publisher I was not paid to read or review this book. All opinions are my own, and I was never influenced by anything or anyone.