Review – Never Let You Go by Monica Murphy

Never Let Me Go is a soul-searing and spellbinding story of second-chance romance that is filled with heartbreak, hope, and happiness where you can’t help but fall hopelessly in love. This saga is all-consuming as it steals your time. You mind. Your heart. Your soul. Everything. You’re deeply embedded in this saga where all the feels flow freely as Never Let Me Go holds on tight, owning you every step of the way.

Like Never Tear Us Apart, Never Let Me Go is a heartwarming but hard read. There are ugly parts that I wanted to ignore, box away, but I didn’t because that ugly…it needed to be told for the good to unfold. The lows result in highs. With darkness brings light. Hope. A happily ever after.

Back and forth. Two steps forward, one step back. My heart breaks. My heart heals. My gut aches. My body feels. Never Let Me Go. Oh the feels. I felt every word I read starting with the prologue, so power-packed and poignant. I was already tearing up as the words were arrows, piercing my heart, bleeding and branding me as I knew the rest of the book would. Painful.

“I cry. I can’t stop. I cry at night before I go to sleep. I cry throughout the day when I should be doing something, anything to remind myself that I’m alive. I should be living.”

Powerful.

“But instead I cry for what I’ve lost. I cry for what I’ve found.”

Pondering.

“Gone is the girl I once was. Gone is the woman I was slowly becoming.”

Poignant.

“Now there’s only this void. And there’s only one person to blame for what I’ve become, what I’ve turned into. And his name—his real name—is Will Monroe.”

Wow. So raw and real. The dam of emotions is teetering near flood levels.

Never Let Me Go is as heart-tugging as the prologue, as we revisit Katherine and Ethan in the conclusion of their story. The emotions escape, refusing to be held prisoner, as they pour off the pages, drowning me. Searing my soul. Brandishing my brain. Harnessing my heart. I feel each word I read. I feel these characters. I feel everything.

This powerful and poignant story picks up where Never Tear Us Apart left off, and is retold by Katherine and Ethan. Katherine is stronger than she was before and is learning to assert herself for the first time since her abduction. Her voice has returned and she will no longer hide in shame. Though still dealing with the aftermath of her abduction and abuse.

What hurts more than the abduction aftermath is the betrayal by Ethan that left her more broken. Torn. Split in two. Untrusting and unsure.

“I finally catch a glimpse of happy, of something real and solid and tender and…loving, and it ends up ruined. Ripped from my hands and thrown away. Lies. Deception. All of it.”

My heart that broke for Katherine now also breaks for Ethan, who is devastated that he lied and broke her trust. His heart now bleeds too.

“Inside I’m hollow. Broken into so many tiny pieces, I don’t think anyone or anything could put me back together. I’ve lost the only thing that matters. The only person I’ve ever really loved. And she hates me.”

Katherine is at a crossroads: forgive Ethan and risk having her heart broken and trust betrayed again or cut him off completely and resurrect those walls that Ethan broke free. She hates Ethan. Loves him. Misses him. Though fate finds Katherine and Ethan again and again, with a pull so strong that it’s a force they can no longer fight. Their relationship is taboo, but fate doesn’t care. Forbidden but forever bound.

“He’s seen me in every way possible, he knows me better than anyone else, and I realize in this single, heart-stopping moment that he is the only person in this entire world who understands me, knows me inside out.”

I swoon and melt as the goodness starts to snuff out evil with Ethan being a real-life Superman.

“He gave me light, when all I’d ever felt was darkness.”

Oh Ethan! I want to take away his pain too that has stolen his childhood, self-worth, and more.

“I’m not good enough for you. I never will be. You deserve better.”

Katherine’s Superman doesn’t think he deserves to be happy, despite saving the lady who will always be his. Though he will always rescue her. Forever.

“From the moment I saw her, I knew I had to take care of her. In some inherent way, I knew she belonged to me. It just took me years to find her again.”

Katherine is Superman’s Wonder Woman, despite nursing a bleeding heart, a heart that will always belong to Ethan. Her sweetness is his drug. His cure to snuff out his dark past.

“I need the sweetness of Katie to overcome the darkness of my past.”

Secrets, lies, and a monster from the past escape, breaking free and threatening Katherine and Ethan’s happiness. Fate needs one last appearance, as these two lost souls are only half but together are whole.

“It’s not his fault. It’s never his fault. We can’t control the monsters.”

Never Let Me Go held my heart from its beautiful and brilliant beginning to its enthralling and emotional end. This soul-searing saga grabbed my heart, wrapped itself around my head, and never let go. This book scared me, scarred me, shred me, and shattered me. Then it healed me, piecing my heart back together, filtering hope and happiness through my head and in my heart.

While the Never Tear Us Apart Duet paints a vivid picture of monsters lurking in the dark, its light and love that snuff out evil is what binds this story together, making it a mesmerizing and oh-so-meaningful masterpiece that you must experience. Monica Murphy has written her best, and most brilliant and beautiful story ever, one of epic love that will stay with me, perhaps for a lifetime.

5 soul-searing and strong stars

The second and final novel in a darkly sexy contemporary series from New York Times and USA bestselling author Monica Murphy, NEVER LET YOU GO is a tale about forbidden love.

NEVER LET YOU GO is an emotionally powerful novel about moving on from horrific events in the past and learning to love. Monica Murphy deftly delves into the world of romantic suspense and masterfully tackles a difficult subject matter.

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The truth hurts, they say—and my pain cuts deep. While I was falling for Ethan, he was deceiving me the entire time. He held a huge secret, protected by his lies. When I discovered what he was hiding, the truth shook my world, threatening to ruin us forever. Ruin me. But I soon realized that what we share can’t be destroyed.

The connection between us is too strong. It always has been. I can’t deny him any longer. And I can’t deny my truth: I’m in love with Ethan.

I don’t want to let him go.

While we’re trying our best to make this relationship work, other forces are fighting against us. My family, who wants to keep me safe. The media obsessed with my tragic past. The public that feeds off of it. Even Ethan’s father—the man who nearly destroyed me all those years ago. He’s doing his best to finish the job.

Despite my love for Ethan, the doubts creep in, clouding my mind. Is he worth the pain? Will our love survive, or will we have no choice but to end it—end us—once and for all?