Review: A Beautiful Kind of Love by Ellie Wade

Every choice has a consequence.

I believe in soul mates. Why? Because I have one and his name is Jax Porter.

I have known Jax my whole life and I have loved him with every breath I’ve ever taken. The fact that we were born a mere month apart to mothers that are best friends has made us inseparable since birth.

What we have is so rare, one would think our story would be written, our fate sealed. But, unfortunately that’s not how life works. Life offers us many choices that can turn destiny into chance.

I now find myself heading toward a destination that I could have never imagined and I have to figure out where to go from here. 

Will the choices that have been made change our path forever or will fate find its way?

4.5 Stars

Review by Jen Hagen 

Picture this – 2 adult women-- one sitting in her chair rocking, the other lying on the floor flailing her arms throwing a temper tantrum.  That’s not a picture, that’s real life and it is what happened after we had finished the book minutes within each other.  Right now I wish somebody would swaddle me and tell me “shhh…everything’s going to be all right” but instead I’m sitting here with my stomach acid at its ultimate high level.  If you love angst, then you will be delighted to know that this will fulfill your wants and needs.  Sometimes I curse reviews because I’ll be purposefully looking for a spoiler and can’t find one, and this book was one of those I was desperately trying to find out what was making people cry and throw their kindles.  Now I know and I’m going to try really, really hard to not tell you too much. 

Jax and Lily have been together since they were babies.  Jax and Lily functioned as one unit in their childhood years.  Things began to change slightly in their teenage years when Jax discovered the world of dating, but at their junior prom he realized what he wanted was right in front of his eyes.  Are they willing to risk their friendship in exchange for a chance at being something more?  They promise that no matter what happens that they will always go back to being friends.   They have a strong foundation to build upon and it just seems like the next progression in their blended lives.

Everything with Jax was always effortless.  It was never a discussion.  It was pure.  It was special.  It was perfect. We were the perfect pair.

It’s now time for college.  They have had a little over a year together as a couple and things are going to change.  Jax is heading to college to play football and Lily is staying at home attending community college while she decides what studies she wants to pursue.  Between daily phone calls, texting, and their visits back and forth they are able to make it work for 2 years.  Lily has finally decided on a photography major and makes a decision to move in the opposite direction of Jax.  This transition is difficult for her as she has never had a chance to experience independency.  

I’m Jax’s Lily.

I love that.

I do.

But I think, as much as it hurts my heart, that just for once, for a small amount of time, I need to be Lily.

Just Lily. 

The book starts out when Jax and Lily are 12 and skips to age 17.  Up until this point it’s been sweet and heartwarming that these best friends can be so beautiful together.  Well hold on because BAM! At 40% it will start to take you on a wild ride and you will not be able to release any of that tension until long after the book is over and you’ve accepted that you need to move on until the sequel releases.  

It’s the four words no person in a relationship wants to hear…"We need to talk."  And nothing after this point will ever be the same again.  I wanted to punch Jax in the junk and I wanted to slap Lily up side the head because they both made poor decisions that have consequences that lead to the mother of all endings.

I couldn’t decide which quote to leave you hanging with, so I included one from both Jax and Lily without  telling you who said what.   The story is told mainly from Lily’s point of view, but there are a couple chapters from Jax. 

“Listen to me when I tell you this. I love you.  I will love you forever.  This isn’t something that I planned…You are the love of my life.  That will never change.”

“Everything I have ever wanted and every dream that I’ve had for my life have just died.  I don’t how I’m going to recover from this.”

Just to be clear – nobody dies, well unless you count your heart stopping because of that ending.  Have I mentioned the ending??  Oh my Lord… I had tears in my eyes, I was flailing, I went back to reread words that were spoken to see if I could change the ending in my head.  

I have not read any previous works by this author, but while I wait for the sequel I think I will check out her other works.  This was a quick, angst-filled read.  The writing did not provide a lot of layers, but it gave us what we needed to know.  But Holy Angst…That is why I had to give it 4.5 stars.  You don’t find angst like this very often and believe me, I search high and low for angst.  To get grown adult women babbling, rocking in their chairs, chanting to each other “you should have warned me” – it has to be good!!