Reclaim, an all-new intense and heart-wrenching romance from USA Today bestselling author Aly Martinez is available now!
Choices. Everyone makes them. From mundane to unimaginable, one choice can change the trajectory of your entire life.
He was mine, but when the world closed in and secrets exploded all around us, it was my choice to let him go.
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Review
4 stars!
4 stars! In usual Aly Martinez style this one gutted me. My heart is still in shambles. What an INCREDIBLE journey! Reclaim is a truly beautiful story of survival, friendship and true love overcoming the odds. It gave me all the feels! I LOVED Thea and Ramsay's story in Release, when I read it earlier this year so as soon as Aly announced she'd be writing Ramsay's sister Nora's story I could not wait to read it. These kids have been through so much! It was truly heart clenching to read. My heart broke over and over for the way these two grew up and having only each other to rely on and survive a traumatic childhood with an abusive father and being left by their mother whom abandoned them. At 11 years old Nora feels alone. Yes, she has Ramsay but he also has Thea and she often feels like a third wheel. Then along comes Camden Cole and her life would never be the same. Their connection was the SWEETEST and the development of their incredible friendship I loved. Nora has no idea what feelings she is experiencing but for the first time in her life someone is paying attention to her other than Ramsay. Little did she know the impact he would have on her life and the heartbreak that would follow. Cam’s home life was no cakewalk either, growing up. He feels completely alone. He does not feel he fits in with his family and is fed up with never being accepted and enough for them either. Naturally Nora and Cam finding each other and becoming each other’s life lines was necessary and a turning point for both of them. Although unfortunately for Nora and Cam life had other plans for them. As they grew up no matter how hard they tried their paths could not align and the timing was never right and my heart broke over and over for them. I ADORED Cam as a boy but reading him as a grown man, I could never have been prepared for how hard I would fall. But that man, he has loved Nora with his whole heart for so many years and he never gave up hope. There reconnection was magical and so special. Nora went through so much. Her path to self discovery, growth, forgiveness and redemption was so impactful. Her strength was necessary for survival and no character ever deserved their HEA as much as she did. My only struggle, and it’s minor was the pacing of the story. The story is so heavily focused on their time as young children at times it took away from the romance and I would have liked a little more time getting to know adult Nora and Cam together. The overall time span of the book is 25 years and that is a lot of angst, heartache and pain over a very long period of time. Otherwise this story is PHENOMENAL with all the feels and Author, Aly Martinez poured her heart and soul into this book and these characters and delivered a story that will stick with me for a long time to come.
Excerpt
He wedged his large body beside me in the bed. On his side, he draped one arm across my middle, curling his other under his head.
I watched him out of the corner of my eye, completely unsure if I was supposed to cuddle into him or what the hell we were doing.
“This okay?” he asked. “You comfortable?”
I was a lot of things. Confused. Lost. Overwhelmed by guilt.
But because it was Camden, comfortable was one of those things too.
As an answer, I rolled toward him and buried my face in his broad chest.
His whole body sagged as he began stroking the back of my hair. “Nora. Nora. Nora.”
In a way, Camden and I were strangers, but as his heart played in my ear, I felt two puzzle pieces clicking into place. A calm washed over me. The dark cloud of my betrayals still existed outside of Camden’s embrace; it just didn’t seem so ominous anymore. He knew all the dirty and broken parts of me and still came back, holding me as though he could keep me together.
Sliding an arm around his back, I curled in close, shifting to tangle my legs with his. “I’m tired, Cam.”
“I know,” he whispered, hugging me tight.
“No, you don’t. Nobody understands. I’m a disease who infects everyone who gets close to me.” My breathing shuddered. “It hurts. Everything hurts.”
“Do you remember our first summer together when a grasshopper got into the container where we held the extra worms? You screamed so loud when you opened that thing and it came flying out like a bat out of hell. It got on your shirt and then hung on for dear life. With all the racket you were making, the damn thing had to have been terrified, but he never jumped off. I had to peel it off your shirt, one leg at a time.”
I gagged at the memory. “Thanks for reminding me of that. Awesome timing.”
He chuckled and pressed his lips to the top of my head. “I’m the grasshopper clinging to your shirt, Nora.”
Now, if that wasn’t some good old classic Camden Cole rambling, I had no idea what was.
I tilted my head back, resting my chin on his pec, and peered up at him. “You do realize I have no idea what you’re talking about, right?”
My cold, hollow chest filled with a warmth I hadn’t felt in years when he grinned down at me.
“I genuinely thought you’d find your way back to me. A phone call. A visit. Anything. But as time passed and I got older, I realized I fell in love with a girl who had no idea how to be loved.”
My stomach wrenched, and emotion made my vision swim. “Camden, I—”
“No, just let me talk. Hear me out.” He tucked a stray hair behind my ear and let his thumb linger at my cheek, sweeping back and forth. “I know you love me, Nora. It’s flashed in your eyes every time you’ve seen me since we were kids. It’s like every light in the house suddenly comes on, but it terrifies you, so you spend the whole time we’re together running around, turning them all off, convincing yourself that you don’t deserve for people to love you back. But we still do it. Joe loves you. Thea loves you. Ramsey loves you. I’ll always love you.”
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