Rachel's Reviews > Five Years Gone

Ava Lucas didn’t lose someone in the tragedy that rocked the country five years ago, but she loved a man who never came back after he left on deployment. That was 5 years ago, but until the fifth anniversary of the attack, Ava has lived in limbo. Five years is the limit she set for herself when it became clear he wasn’t coming back. Five years and it’s time to move on.

But even though Ava moves on, meets a new man, and tries to put her past behind her, she lives in constant fear that she’ll have to choose between the new life she is building for herself, and the life she once dreamed of, if John ever does come back.

Ava has always been private, quiet and reserved. When she moved to San Diego, she didn’t fill her family in on much of her daily life, preferring to keep her own little world on the other side of the country. When she moves home again, she chaffes at having everyone so involved in her life. She keeps secret the entirety of her life in San Diego, though her family knows something happened, they don’t know what.

When she meets Eric at her sister’s wedding, they hit it off immediately. Ava is still hesitant to start anything, especially with her decision to move on so fresh. Eric is the perfect gentleman, expressing his interest and desires, but allowing Ava to set the pace entirely. He is so devoted, even from those early interactions that it was easy to fall in love with him and to feel the depth of his feelings for Ava.

This book gutted me in the best possible ways. It was so full of emotional ups and downs from all the characters. I loved the way the side characters were intertwined not only with the main story, but with the events of the attack in the past. There are little reminders all over in Ava’s life to that fateful day. There were aspects that I predicted and was able to see coming, but they still caught me. I know, that sounds like an oxymoron, but it’s true. I was fully involved in Ava’s journey from start to finish, because that’s really what this was -- her journey to create a life that she could live to the fullest no matter where or with whom.

I received a copy for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.