** REVIEW ** Living with Regret by Lisa De Jong includes ** GIVEAWAY **

Author: Lisa De Jong 
Genre: Contemporary Romance 
Title: Living With Regret (Rain #3)
Can be read as a standalone, but contains interconnected characters

I had my whole life mapped out. Perfect guy. Perfect friends. Everything was exactly the way I wanted it.
That was until that night--the one I can’t remember. It’s all my fault, and now the memories are all I have left of him. Of us.
My guilt drowns me until Sam Shea steps back into my life and helps me to the surface. He slowly opens my heart and crawls deep inside before I even realize what’s happening. I know I don’t deserve him.
While I’m trying to get used to my new life, pieces of that night slowly start to come back to me. Lies and secrets shatter everything I thought I knew.
Maybe I’m not the only one living with regret.

 

 

 

Introduced in the previous books of the series, this is the story of Rachel. Rachel had been with her boyfriend Cory for over four years, in a seemingly perfect relationship. Perfect guy, perfect friends, her whole life mapped out. In one moment, her life crumbles around her, guilt and regret plague her as she struggles to remember and move on.

Choices. We make them every day, but this one … this one is one I’ll live to regret forever.

Childhood friend, Sam Shea has always been someone that Rachel had felt comfortable with, and when he reappears in her life, he slowly helps her try and regain a somewhat normal life. Sam was a beautiful character, and I loved that Rachel had someone she felt unpressured by ... to just be, even when it was obvious that he was and had been in love with her forever.  

He turns my heart into a vibrant rainbow when the last few months it’s been a raging thunderstorm.

This book certainly lives to its title. It's a beautiful story about love, regret and second chances. Guilt, wether true or misplaced can drive us to dark places of true loneliness.  Teaching us that when we love, sometimes it blinds us. Are we with those we love because we truly are in love with them? Or are we with those we love because we love the idea of them? Are we blind to things or circumstances that happen because we love so much that we can never entertain the idea of ever being without them? 

 Rarely do I do anything without Cory. Sometimes I go out with the girls, or hang out at home when he has plans but it's rare for us to be apart. For almost five years, he's been my heartbeat … the one thing that keeps me going.

This book had a lovely and beautiful underlying message, however I found this story so slow going I had to push myself in places to try and stay connected. It wasn’t till around 40% that my disconnection had left and I felt more invested in the story. This book wasn't about a fast pace. It was about pain and grieving, and learning to let go and learning that it's ok to move on.  I understand that, but for me it was just a little too slow. And unfortunately the crumbs that was being left for the angsty climax that happens in most books around that 75-90% mark was too revealing for me. It had me going, "come on, I know where this is going, hurry up and get there already" from quite early in the book.

This is my first book I've read by Ms De Jong and I must say her writing is beautiful. She had so many thought provoking, beautiful lines that I highlighted quite a bit. I’ve had When it Rains (Rains #1) on my kindle for some time, but after reading Living with Regret, I think it will definitely be moving up my TBR list. 

I think God created the stars to make believers out of all of us. But how brightly they shine … that’s up to us. 

**I received a copy of the book for an honest review**

 

 

Lisa De Jong is a wife, mother and full-time number cruncher who lives in the Midwest. Her writing journey involved insane amounts of coffee and many nights of very little sleep but she wouldn't change a thing. She also enjoys reading, football and music. She is the author of When It Rains, After the Rain, Plastic Hearts and Glass Hearts.

Connect with Lisa:   Email   Twitter

 

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