Coming Home

by Wendy Smith.

I don’t think I have ever read a book that was set in New Zealand and now that I have I would have to say that I hope this author writes more because the place and her descriptions of it have created a beautiful picture in my mind.

Anyway location aside, I would have to say that if you are looking for a great second chance romance, this this will tick all your boxes. Although I wasn’t sure how they were going to get over the fact that despite everything that Adam and Lily were to each other first time around, she jilted him at the altar! I mean that has to smart a bit!

Lily didn’t just skip out on Adam she skipped town and eventually Adam followed suit and headed overseas, nursing a heart that had been completely shattered by the woman he worshiped. It was over a decade later before he set foot back in his home town, news of his ailing mother bringing him home but it was Lily that occupied his mind, after all what if he had to see her again, how would he react?

I got his apprehension but I think he had allowed it to build into something it wasn’t and had spent too long dwelling on what had happened, he needed to move past it and coming home was the perfect time to confront and overcome those fears but when he sees Lily he is shocked to see that the once vibrant girl he knew is a fleeting shadow of herself, her sallow complexion and gaunt frame giving him cause for concern for his onetime love.

Over the course of the first few days in town they seem to see each other on and off as they both endeavour to go about they own business but despite what they have been through, they are each other’s business and Adam can’t stand by and do nothing, his conscious won’t let him.

I liked Adam he was a good guy, he wanted so much to forget the pain Lily caused him but once he opens the can of worms and discovers exactly what is not only going on now but what really happened all those years ago, everything he thought he knew is turned upside down. Why would people he loved and who he thought loved him tell such lies, why would they do everything they could to keep him and Lily apart?

There was so much subterfuge, so much deceit that enticed such anger and anguish, this element of the book was simply superb.

He may have allowed her to slip through his fingers once but this time, with everything laid out before him, he knows that he will never find anyone to measure up to the woman that has held his heart from half way around the world, the girl that may have left him on that day but that he has never really let go of and this time, wild horses wouldn’t be able to get him from her side, she is his and he is determined to make sure that he gets to keep her this time.

There is a lot to Lily, she has been through the mill, and rather than the villain of the piece as I thought she was going to be initially I actually grew to like who she really was. He life had been far from easy and much like Adam she knew who the man for her was, she just never believed that she would see him again.

There is so much going on that it is impossible to summarize it all and not give too much away but what I can say is the story is fabulous and you will find little hidden gems all the way through, I know I did.

I look forward to seeing what this author has lined up next.