Absolutely loved this book. I was completely taken by surprise as to how well the recovery from addiction was written from an emotional and physical perspective. I also appreciated how well written the family members who love those recovering were handled, the fear, mistrust, and overall hope was spot on. Excellent book!

Kayla and Brock are two people with a ton of baggage between them. Both of them are recovering drug addicts, both of them have had unhealthy and/or abusive relationships, both of them struggle to find their place. But they have family in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And a chance to start over. But starting over means that they have to face their family and former temptations. Can they find strength in each other to piece themselves back together.

This is not an easy read, and I knew that going in. But for anyone looking at this review, this book handles the tough subjects of drug addiction, sex addiction, sexual abuse, child abuse, self-harm, and suicide ideation. And the book handles them realistically. Which is something I applaud. The descriptions of withdrawal are chilling in their accuracy as well as the self-harm coping mechanisms employed by one of the characters. And this helps shed light on a very real illness. Addiction is an illness. It needs to be respected as such, and in this book they are.

The portrayal of mental health is positive. It casts getting help in a positive light. It casts therapy in a positive light. This is critical since Mental Health stigma and the belittling of rehab can and do lead to deaths. This choice by the author was very important and it's the reason why I picked this book. We need more atypical romance leads.

And our leads are not typical. First off, both of them are older. Brock is 38 and Kayla is 42. Brock has some very man's man tendancies but he's also soft inside. Nurturing. This is shown to great effect with his toddler niece. Kayla is both fragile and strong. She's got a stubbornness which is appealing, but also shows a willingness to change and step outside of her comfort zone.

My favorite thing in this was how carefully the author, and by extension, the characters treated sex. It was sex positive in a refreshing way. Kayla's past was something she was ashamed of, but it wasn't treated as shameful. The distinction matters. The repeated verbal consent was sexy as heck. Consent is sexy. And it shows respect and caring more than a million diamond rings.

My least favorite thing was the setting. As a resident of Grand Rapids, I looked forward to seeing little details of my town sprinkled in. The business was very clearly an amalagm of Founders Brewery, HopCat, and Grand Rapids Brewing Company (the bar in particular has GRBC written all over it from the banquet room to the brewery in the back). However, instead of seeing my hometown, I saw "Generic city" with my town's name slapped on it. For example... there's the line about the lead going to 'whole paycheck' which is a shoutout to Whole Foods... except Grand Rapids doesn't have a Whole Foods. The closest is 60 miles and an hour drive away in East Lansing. In addition, part of the story takes place in September/early October in Downtown Grand Rapids... but no mention of Artprize is made. There were a lot of inaccuracies as well... too many to list. And this led to me knocking the story down a star. The setting is as an important a character as any of the human characters.

In all, I enjoyed the book and the positive portrayal of people with addiction.

So I'm happy to give this:

Four Stars

***I received an ARC through NetGalley.

Kayla is a recovering drug addict and starts working at a brewery where her future sister in law manages. She doesn’t want her brother to know yet that she’s back. She had a terrible childhood and lived a party girls life. Brock is also a recovering alcoholic, drug addict and sex addict. He works in the foundation his twin brother runs. When Brock and Kayla meet, its to be friends only. They both want more but with their pasts, they are both afraid. Brock finds out about her past and figures she is better off without him. But Kayla wants to give normal a try and she must first convince Brock that they can do it.
This is a disturbing story because you know this has really happened to people. Drugs. Sex. Self cutting. And child prostitution. Some people might not like it but I thought it was very moving. Two people who fight daily to stay sober.

What a wonderful story about addiction and what happens to those we love who are dealing with it.
This story has a lot of heart. Anyone who has lived through a loved ones addiction, and addicts themselves, will realize there is hope as long as there is still breathe.
I highly recommend this story to everyone!

Gravity by Liz Crowe is a tough book dealing with some heavy issues,it was very touching and heartbreaking to see Brook and Kayla struggling with their addictions.
Unfortunately I was more interested in their personal journey than them as a couple,the intensity for their individual struggle didn't convey in their romantic relationship.

This book took a little bit of reading before I found out it was a gem of rich emotion. The story is touching; sad and deep. The author did a great job covering some very serious subject matters while maintaining the romance angle. This was worth the read. Thank you NetGalley and Liz Crowe for allowing me to read an ARC and write a honest review.