Such a warm, loving story. After nearly losing her husband-to-be, we are sent back to when they first met. It is written beautifully with believable characters.

I’ll start with the cover- it’s absolutely gorgeous! If I saw this in a bookstore, it would catch my eye immediately.

You, Always: The Years of Us follows Audrey and her decades-long on again/off again relationship with Jim. We start at their wedding in present day, and when Jim gets into an accident, we go back to the day that they met and follow their story through to their wedding day.

I so badly wanted to love this book. I love many books that are like it, where we get to watch love stories unfold through the passage of time, and the premise is right up my alley, but I don’t think the execution lived up to its potential.

I don’t think main characters needs to be likable for a novel to be good, and though I did find Audrey unlikable for most of the book, my main issue was I couldn’t connect with her- or Jim for that matter. A lot of the decisions they made didn’t make sense to me. There was A LOT of cheating, which again, I don’t think makes or breaks a story, but it was just so…unnecessary? (Especially for how wonderful Susan was- seriously, that lady is a saint)

I liked the evolution of Farrah and the theme that sometimes children end up repeating the choices of their parents (it felt very Gilmore Girls A Year In The Life-esque in Farrah’s storyline in the second half of the book)

There’s a line when Audrey and Jim are talking and she compares their relationship to a carousel, which perfectly describes their relationship. They keep making the same mistakes and having the exact same conversations over and over and over to the point where it’s really frustrating as a a reader. I completely understand that this is what sometimes happens in real life, but in a book that’s less than 300 pages, I don’t want to read the same conversation and go through the same breakup multiple times.

Overall, this was fine. I’m still glad that I read it!

Debut book by new author, 3.5 stars

This story spans over 60 years, told in sliding door style. It begins with Audrey and Jim’s wedding complete with an accident, then recounts their history and ends with their future.

Their path wasn’t a straight line to a happy ending. Many times the reader believes maybe it will be this time, only to have the hope taken away. Sometimes it’s other romantic partners, sometimes family matters, sometimes it just wasn’t their time. But they never completely give up on each other, which makes for a great love story.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

wow, i felt truly lucky to read this book from Lauryn. lucky to READ Audrey's story and what a story it took us in to. we follow a love that has last and spanned decades. and its not all been plain sailing. and then one day Jim is rushed to hospital putting a stop to their life once again. Audrey now fears she has lost the love of her life all over again, possibly for good this time.
i loved reading Audrey and Jim's story. i hit my heart hard at times to see how they never quite got there happy ever after when they should've so many times. so many times they were kept apart.
but this story felt true. it felt real. it felt like love and that sometimes isn't easy, straightforward, sadly even possible?
how can two people be so in love but sometimes miss it? the missed chances. the heartbreak. oh i was right there with my whole heart for this book. sometimes i got a little emotional too.
you can see the love Audrey has for him. often causing trouble for herself or maybe so much it causes her to be her own heartbreak. for no one comes close to Jim.
can love like this work. or should it? is there something to be said for the line that "love sometimes isn't enough" and maybe there is if moved on other more blessing moments to be found. for in this story there seems so much pain. misses. heartbreak of others and themselves.
i was asking so many questions throughout this book.
and was it all worth it? and somehow i was still hooked, needing to know if they would finally get their chance, because surely it couldn't end and come to nothing. not after all they had been through over literal decades?
a brilliant read. had me in all the feels and hooked from start to finish until i had to know how this would turn out.