All That's Left to Hold Onto by Ella Fox

This is the story of a friendship that is formed from necessity, a forging of a relationships that had its foundation in a place that was difficult to fathom.

Ronan and Keely have a past, a history that evolved from some of the more abhorrent aspects of human nature, ones that cause nothing but suffering and pain. Childhood neighbours, when Ronan finally walked away from the misery that his adopted parents afflicted on him, the only regret he had was that he was leaving the one person who had showed any kindness to him, listened to him behind.

Ronan may have thought he was able to shut out everything that he had experienced, everything he had seen and been through but when years later he is drawn back in, he finds it a difficult realisation that despite the time, despite the distance, despite his determination, he is right back where he started and the past is very much something that he lives with every day.

One call, just a few words and his life as he knows it will never be the same again. His brother Will and his wife have died in a car crash. This isn’t the sort of news that is easy to take no matter the fact that they were never particularly close but that is not the only reason that Ronan has a decision to make. Because while he has lost his brother, the baby that his wife Izzy was carrying has survived, as has the other passenger in the car – Keely.

Keely, my heart hurt for her. Her tender years mean nothing, she is and does what is needed in order to survive and that is all it is, the loss of her mother was a cruel blow that was only compounded by the misery that her resentful father and malicious half-sister. She never really had much of a connection to her sister Izzy, things were always difficult but for me the whole situation was really screwy. And don’t get me started on Will – there was something really wrong with the, the whole situation with him and Izzy was just crazy!

Keely was in the car when they had the accident but the situation with the baby was far from clear. Izzy always implied that the baby she was carrying was not hers, that she was a surrogate but believing anything that she said was not an easy task. But Keely can recall the medics telling her that they were taking the baby, what she doesn’t realise is why or where.

The call forced Ronan to act, he knows the baby is alone and that Keely remains in hospital, unconscious. Driven by a desire to put things right, Ronan booked his ticket and headed back to face the pain of his past…head on.

Back together after five years, the pair of them struggle to assimilate the way things are now with how they were. They have moved on, they have grown up, Keely is no longer that gangly teenager, that little girl he left behind. She is all grown up and she so, so beautiful.

Will their close proximity mean that they finally have the opportunity to examine the pull that they have had going on all their lives, or is it a step too far for them both at the moment?

So who were Ronan and Keely, well they are fabulous characters.

Ronan was such a bloke, while he was all alpha(ish) he wasn’t at all selfish, Keely mattered to him, she was important and he was determined to make sure that she was safe and happy. But he was in absolutely no place to become a readymade father – keeping the baby, not an option in his book and as for Keely, at just 19 years old, she is too young and with the world at her feet, but could they possibly put the baby up for adoption?

I liked the fact that Ronan was open with Keely, he never led her on, and he made it clear that being back in town was a temporary fix, his life is in Montana and that is not going to change.

So what happens with the Baby?

What happens between them? Can they find a way to forge a relationship through the devastation of not only the accident but their past?

What happened when Ronan left town all those years ago and how and why was Keely so set against Will?

This story is a mass of twists and turn, questions that when answered, broke my heart.

The secrets when they were revealed made my jaw hit the floor.

This was a beautifully romantic story of a damaged man that needed the help of a broken woman in order to heel them both. It was an opportunity for hearts to prove that they rule the roost, that as hard as you fight, your heart is going to win. It showed that the life you deserve is the one you embrace when you least expect it.

I smiled as I read them fight to deny their feelings, I smirked as I could tell what they weren’t willing to accept for themselves and I cried when they finally got a life that they not only earned but deserved, this pair made my heart happy