Book Review | When I’m With You – Harper Sloan (Hope Town Series, Book Three)

When I’m With You
By: Harper Sloan

Series: Hope Town
Book # in Series: 3 out of 4
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Self Published
Publication Date: April 26th, 2016
My Rating: ✮✮✮
My Reading Format: eBook *kindleunlimited*

Synopsis:

Nate:

It’s nearly impossible to be surrounded by love but not understand it. My parents, my sister, and just about everyone around us has no trouble accepting that love. To give your trust to someone else and believe they would die before hurting you. I’ve witnessed it—I’ve seen the power of it—but I’ve also seen the pain. Because for me, I’ve only loved someone I could never have, and my biggest fear is that by giving her my love, all I would do is ruin her. I should have tried harder, but I’m not sure I can because I only feel complete when I’m with her.

Emberlyn:

The only time I feel like I belong is when he’s near. His infectious smile warms me straight to my bones. Any insecurities I have vanish with just a wink from him. A sliver of his attention makes me feel invincible. But all it took was one drunken night of truths for me to lose everything I had begun to crave. Now, I’m not sure how to move on because I only feel complete when I’m with him.

He said I was too young. I said he was perfect. He said our families wouldn’t understand. I said we could weather any storm. He said he would ruin me. And he was right.

When I’m with You can be read as a standalone. Each book is interconnected, so if you would like to get to know the previous couples that show up in this book, I recommending reading book 1 (Unexpected Fate) and book 2 (Bleeding Love) first.

honey-script.light

When I’m With You is the third book in the Hope Town Series by Harper Sloan. Nate and Emberlyn’s story can be read as a standalone. So, if you are new to this series and want to dive into this novel first, you 100% can.

Emberlyn gave her heart to Nate on the night of her graduation. She was sure if she laid out all her cards on the table, he’d pick them up in a matter of seconds. She never expected Nate to shut the door on her feelings, nor did she expect years later to finally be in a lover’s embrace by the man of her dreams… only to have to slam that door shut, but here she is with a broken heart and a tarnished soul once again. Ember almost had her chance at true love with Nate. But sometimes fate has a different deck of cards to play. Moving on is exactly what Ember should be doing, but there is something about this man that has always called to her on a deeper level. She knows she has to let him go and move on, but she’s finding it harder to do so every day.

Nate has loved Ember since the start of time, but the four year age difference between the two always had him taking a step back. On her graduation night, Nate wanted to bare his heart and connect his soul with it’s better half, but something stopped him. He wanted Ember to live her life and achieve her dreams. It was never the time or the place. But now, Nate has some serious groveling and a world full of apologies to give in order to win back the woman his heart beats for. Is it too late? or will Emberlyn open her world up to this man.

My Thoughts:

I’m going to be honest right now, after reading the synopsis I had large assumptions that this would be my favorite novel in the Hope Town Series. I mean, Nate screams everything I love when it comes to heroes in romance novels. He has strong alpha vibes, and an uncanny ability to fight for what he wants. And all of that wrang true, but for some reason, this book didn’t hit me in the feels as much as the previous two books did. I liked Emberlyn and Nate as individuals but as a couple, I couldn’t quite grasp the connection. Maybe it’s because they jumped to quick into the sexy time aspects of this novel instead of growing a relationship. Maybe there wasn’t enough dialogue between the two to make me feel that connection. Maybe it’s a mixture of all the reasons I just posted. I’m really sad, I wanted these two to shine brighter than the couples that came before. But this one felt a bit flat for me.

Now, there are aspects I really enjoyed in this novel, such as Emberlyn and her interactions with her dog and her best friend Nikki. I liked seeing Nate grow his business and become serious about something. I loved watching him find something in life he can be proud of. I also loved the strong family dynamic this novel has to offer. But at the end of the day, I needed so much more from these two.

I initially dropped three stars on my rating due to these facts alone. I decided to pick another star back up due to the strong family ties this novel has to offer. Hopefully the final book in the series, Drunk On You, will pick my mood back up where this series is concerned.

Read Today: