Review: When It Rains by Lisa De Jong

My Thoughts

Well-written and emotional. I felt every moment in this book! It’s a moving story about not letting tragedy define you and being courageous enough to face your fears in order to find hope, happiness and forever love.

Synopsis

One night changed my life forever.

Beau Bennett has been my best friend since I can remember. He was my first crush before everything came crashing down, and now he wants more, but it’s more than I can give him. Things are different now. I wish I could tell him why, but I can’t.

I haven’t told anyone.

I never knew how much I really needed him until the day he left for college, and I was completely alone.

Then one day, Asher Hunt rides into town with his dark, captivating eyes and cocky grin. He doesn’t care who I used to be, he’s simply breathing life into what’s left. People warn me to stay away from him, but he helps me forget the pain that has held me hostage for so long; something I thought was impossible before he walked into my life.

I’ve been hurt.

I’ve been saved.

And I’ve found hope.

I thought my story was written that night, but now I know it was only a new beginning. Until one secret turns my world upside down…

Again.

My Review

“It took seventeen years to build my foundation and it took mere minutes to tear it down.”

I had a feeling I would love this book, I was drawn in by the synopsis and something just told me I would like it. I wasn’t wrong… I loved it! I was gripped by the story and by the characters, feeling every moment of this book. Yes, you should know that this sort of features a love triangle (once you read it you’ll see why I say ‘sort of’), but the emotional gut punches didn’t all come from the the triangle itself, but rather from the experiences of these very broken characters. The writing is solid and flowed effortlessly, pulling me into the story even further. The book grapples with many issues that evoke a strong range of emotions… tragedy, friendship, love, forgiveness, hope.

Our heroine, Kate, goes through a horrific experience early in the book, leaving her shattered and consumed by a combination of anger and sadness. Her emotional scars keep cutting deeper… she’s numb… a shell of the person she used to be. Retreating into herself, she finds herself feeling very alone, unable to connect with anyone around her.

“My once picture perfect view of the world was gone, and all that remained were a bunch of broken pieces that I couldn’t glue back together.”

The only person she finds solace in is her neighbor, Beau. Beau and Kate have been friends since they were five years old. They are inseparable, finding a level of comfort and peace only with each other. Kate has always felt that Beau is the person she ought to spend her life with, but she’s never said anything to him. Their relationship is too perfect to risk.

“When it’s just us, I feel as if we’re the only two people in the world. It’s actually my idea of perfect.”

When what happens to Kate triggers a change so drastic and creates a fracture so deep that she can barely function, Beau of course urges her to let him know what happened and despite Kate loving him and finding comfort by his side, she can’t tell him the truth. Beau is so caring and loving and it’s clear that he is beside himself trying to figure it all out. Kate feels unworthy of him and she simply can’t confide in him. When Beau is about to leave for college, he expresses feelings for her and despite the fact that she is left reeling from the revelation, she pushes him away, urging him to find his own happiness as opposed to dragging him into the darkness in which she lives.

“He placed his heart in my hands and I crushed it.”

Left in her home town, friendless and alone, she lives inside herself, suffering silently, not living at all. When a gorgeous stranger walks into the diner where she works, she can’t help but be drawn to him. There’s something about him that disarms her. He’s mysterious and kind, and pushes her to face her fears slowly, but determinedly. For the first time in a long time, the fog begins to lift and she finds pieces of her old self through Asher.

“I feel like he was sent here to awaken my soul, but he chose not to stop there. He awakened everything.”

During this time, she’s all but completely severed her relationship with Beau, not facing her innermost emotions. Beau challenges her in a way she’s not prepared for and talking to him is too painful, too difficult to bear. And of course, she has Asher.

“Beau is one of the nicest people I’ve ever known, but it’s easier for me to let Asher in. Ashes tries to understand me layer by layer while Beau goes straight for the center. Plus, Asher seems to have his own secrets, which helps me not feel so guilty about mine.”

The trouble is that of course both guys are amazing. From the very beginning I was a Beau fan. He’s her past, present and future. He loves her unconditionally and wants her to be happy. Beau is Kate’s forever. Asher is just as amazing. He’s her kindred spirit, her soul mate, the person who understands her so easily and fills her with a happiness she hasn’t felt before. You really can’t help but fall for Asher as well.

“I told you that every star in the sky was made for you, and they were, Kate. You light up my world even in my darkest moments.”

Where the story goes from here involves a major plot twist and I was pretty much in tears for a large section of the book, feeling so deeply affected by everything that happened. I really felt the story. Felt the characters. Felt the pain and heartache.

The ending for me was a little tricky. To be honest, it was a 5-star read for me up until the end. It had a happy ending, but the curse of a love triangle book is that you become so invested in the characters, that it’s almost impossible to have an ending you feel completely okay with because of course a choice needs to be made. I was left with lingering feeling for the other person, questioning whether feelings and things moved too quickly, questioning the depths and integrity of feelings felt in the past. It’s a curse because the author so adeptly makes us love each character that we become almost defensive of the “other” person. She basically did her job too well 🙂 But all in all, I loved this book and I would absolutely read another book by this author. It was well written with solid characters I connected with and a story line that really gripped me. I highly recommend you give this book a try. It’s one of my favorite standalones of the year.

“I also realized that there’s a difference between soul mates and true love… Is one type of love better than the other? I don’t know, but I’m lucky enough to have found them both.”

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