Notes of the Past

Review of an advance copy received from author

Gosh… what an incredible emotional punch. Such a sweet story wrapped in grief, huge heartbreak, and a sharp-edged family drama hiding underneath it all.

There’s also mental health struggles surrounding the chaos, like anxiety attack, panic attack, and PTSD after military war, all while keeping the book easy to read. To make it feel even more real, therapy sessions also appear throughout the story as a complementary to the healing journey.

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This is a love story that starts on the night of grief. A night of grief for both Wren and Lawson. A grief over the death of Wren’s best friend, who also happened to be Lawson’s girlfriend at the time.

Can you imagine how emotionally complicated your situation really is when love starts growing right after both of you lose someone who once meant so much?

I can already see all the mixed feelings right from the prologue. I can feel something hungry underneath the grief, but right when it’s acknowledged, it turns into long-lasting guilt. I got drowned in all those mixed emotions. In everything that later becomes the thread connecting two souls into better timing and a healthier start.

This is also such a sweet and gentle read about soulmates reunion, three years after that stormy night of grief. Three years after Lawson’s military duty separates him from Wren and his son. Three years after tons of unread letters force Wren to move on with someone else and raise her child alone.

But like I said before, that stormy night of grief is the thread, connecting both a fresh start and a tangled past. And when the thread finally starts pulling everything back together, I can see Wren’s mind twisting all around. Because after three years, healing is finally demanded from Lawson, while honesty is demanded from Wren… and also from the villain inside their love story.

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Speaking of the emotional punch I mentioned above, there are two moments that gave me the most tears.

The first one happens sometime after Lawson returns home from war, when he finally reads Wren’s letters about her pregnancy. Something about those letters hits me in the deepest and most unexplainable way possible. I basically cry with Lawson during that scene.

The second one? It’s when Wren finally decides to be honest with herself, her mom, and her not-so-boyfriend Mason about her feelings. Of course, her honesty leads to a breakup.

And gosh… I cry during that breakup because Mason appears to be so mature, wise, and understanding. He feels like such a genuinely good man that doesn’t deserve heartbreak. And at the same time, Lawson also doesn’t deserve to keep suffering alone through PTSD while trying to step up for his son.

Mason could’ve blamed someone. He probably could’ve punched Lawson if he wanted to. But he does none of that.

Instead, what he does is sending Wren one last good morning text. Something about the raw emotion inside that message just quietly shatters me into more tears after tears, and I know it’s ready to shatter readers too.

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If you want a second-chance romance filled with terrible timing, family drama, grief, PTSD, and emotional healing, this book is absolutely for you.

Just prepare a pack of tissues nearby, because some moments in this story make you cry without ever needing to scream loudly for your attention.