Review – Written In The Scars by Adriana Locke

Some books make you laugh.

Some books make you cry.

Some books act as a distraction to take you away from reality.

Then there are books like this one. Words that change your mind, imprint on your heart and shake you to your core. A story that whether it was meant to or not, heal not only your hurts but mend the hurts of another carrying an ugly awful pain right along you. Words that show the brutal honesty and heartbreaking roller coaster reality of marriage, friendship and family.

Marriage isn’t always easy. It isn’t always the fairy tale that we read about. Sometimes even the strongest of bonds can be broken by the obstacles of life and happily ever after isn’t always guaranteed – it has to be earned. Elin and Ty have always loved each other. Ty knew that Elin was his future from the moment he saw her. Elin wanted nothing more than to love Ty… be his wife and have a family. But as Written begins, the couple isn’t in that happy marriage and building the family that they planned. They are separated and the pain of that separation has taken on a life of its own. There are secrets that both are carrying. And there is anger. So very much anger. Stressed from an unfortunate accident, feeling lost and worthless for months, Ty had left his wife – and has returned to town. Still unsure of where he stood with his wife, Ty wondered if he could reclaim his love, his home and his sense of self. Elin never dreamed that she and the man she has loved for so long would end up at opposite ends of a relationship. But here they were – and she wasn’t sure if the fighting and anguish was worth it.

Adriana Locke is such an amazing talent. As she weaved Elin and Ty’s story, their pain is so gut wrenching, so unbearably real. The miscommunications, insecurities and the fight to hang on are evident in every sentence, every paragraph, on every single page. Still these two loved each other so much. Is love enough though? Can love overcome heartbreak and the loss of a dream of home and family? The secondary characters in this book aren’t really secondary. They are just as integral and vital to this story as Elin and Ty. Without Jiggs and Lindsay – Elin’s brother and her best friend – there would be a void in the story. Without Cord there is no story. He is the glue holding together this family of five. In this story, Cord McCurry is proof that family is not always blood. Family is made in the heart and nurtured in the soul.

As I read on through this thought provoking story, I had to face my own personal demons and my own struggles. To say that I identified with Elin in every way is an understatement. I shed so many tears right along with her. I felt her anguish and hoped for her healing. I believed in their marriage even when Elin didn’t. I rooted for Ty and celebrated as he fought for what he wanted. I prayed as I turned the pages that Elin could find a way to forgive Ty and that Ty could forgive himself. I was right there with them. All credit to an amazing story teller.

Emotionally stirring and beautifully written. I couldn’t put it down when I started and truly, I didn’t want to. No one reading this book will walk away unchanged. This story isn’t so much about the white hot burning romance between two people as the sweet long lasting journey that their love story takes. That journey was not without pit stops, speed bumps and accidents. Even the truest love can veer off course. It was Elin and Ty knowing in their heart of hearts that no matter what the scars from those pit stops, speed bumps and accidents were proof that they could survive anything. Love always wins.

Fantastic, Addy! Absolutely the very best that you have written and one of the best books of 2016!

5 Beautiful Stars!

Falling in love is easy.

Falling out of love is the hardest thing in the world.

And Elin and Ty Whitt are terrible at it.

The first time the local basketball star smiled at Elin, she was a goner. It was just so damn easy to fall for the dark-haired hometown hero with his charming smile and strong, athletic build.

Thousands of sleepy smiles, aimless drives down country roads, and squeaks of the backdoor after a swing shift later, reality hits. And it hits hard. Falling in love was definitely the easy part. Watching it break apart was impossible.

Through the tears, the second-guesses, the memories of a life built together, the world keeps spinning. With each turn comes clarity and hope—sometimes in the form of a pair of muddy boots by the back door or from the words of a wise friend.

When Ty shows back up with a new found determination to put his family back together, Elin’s torn between the fights of the past and the possibility of a new start. This is the man that holds her heart, the man she loves beyond anything else. But this is also the one person in the world that can cause her the most pain.

Life’s not always easy. Love’s not for the faint of heart. But with life comes lessons and Ty and Elin have the scars to prove it. But it’s their love written in those scars that will hold them together … or break them apart.

EXCERPT

His mouth falls, his eyes leaving mine and heading across the lake to some place, some memory, some thought I’m not privy to. He slips off the back of the truck and faces the lake for a long minute. When he turns to me, he’s resigned to a decision.

“I tell the boys on my team that we don’t quit,” he says, his tone steady. “I’m always reminding them that we set our eyes on a prize and we work our tails off until we get there. Regardless of how painful, even though it might hurt, we get to the finish line.”

“Sounds like good logic,” I say, swallowing a lump that’s suddenly lodged in my throat.

“It is. In theory. But I’m rethinking it now.” He shoves his hands in his pockets and squares his shoulders up to me. “Sometimes you have to let things go. Just because you start on a path, even if you’re balls-to-the-wall at first, doesn’t mean you should stay on it. It’s less quitting, I guess, and more adjusting. Moving on to the next thing you think you want.”

He knows I’m dying for him to expound, that I’m terrified that he means he’s decided my recent rhetoric is right. Even though that’s what I’ve asked him to do, I can’t bear to hear it come out of his mouth. He knows this, yet he doesn’t go on. He waits for me to respond.

With a voice shakier than I’d like, I give in. “What are you moving on from now?”

Slowly, inch-by-inch, the corner of his mouth upturns. With every movement, every flinch, my heartbeat picks up.

“I quit pretending like I don’t know what we’re doing,” he says. “I’ve tried to ease back into this because I think that’s what you want. I’ve slept on that fucking futon in Cord’s room with that stupid dog licking me in the face every morning long enough.” He smirks, cocking a brow. “Baby, I’m coming home. If you don’t like it, too damn bad.”