5⭐️/ 3🌶️ 

*CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS

Brittainy C. Cherry knows just how to tug at my heartstrings and with this story, it was a no brainer that I would fall in love with the character while simultaneously having my heart break for what they each endured. Set in the small town of Chester, Jackson was known as the town’s resident bad boy, whereas Grace was the preacher good dutiful daughter. Each knew of each other, but never spoke until the day that Grace came back to town following her divorce from her husband. Grace and Jackson had their own heartbreaks, sadness, and troubles over the years, but somehow these two unlikely individuals found solace and happiness with one another. With Jackson being an ultimate grumpy, stand-offish man, to Grace’s resilience and kindness they somehow made sense together. This story also packed a punch when it came to the angst and emotional side of the story so there was a lot to learn about Grace and Jackson’s story. 

Grace once thought her life was perfect. Having married Finn, her sweetheart of many years, being together through ups and downs of life, but at some point it became apparent that Grace and Finn weren’t the same couple they use to be. Due to Grace suffering many miscarriages over the years, it caused a rift between her and Finn, and while it devastated Grace, Finn on the other hand resorted to finding companionship/ intimacy from other women a.k.a. that lying, piece of trash cheated on Grace multiple times!! Ugh! The beginning of the story showed Grace still not over the fact of her marriage being over, but sadly coming to more horrible truths of what her former husband kept from her such as, the women he cheated on her with. For goodness sake! Grace couldn’t catch a break like come on, it wasn’t a walk in the park for her! From leaving her former home to going back to the small town she grew up in, Grace was just getting hit back to back with more bad news. (Sigh) I genuinely felt bad for Grace and my heart broke for her. In the midst of being back home, Grace was then face to face with the town’s bad boy, Jackson Emery, a grump and straightforward comments that made Grace hate me, but it seemed like he was the only one who genuinely helped her out. 

Jackson Emery was no stranger to the townsfolk whispering horrible things about him and his dad. Not to mention, the gossip and rumors surrounding him, it was just part of the bad boy persona that Jackson went with, and didn’t bother to correct or fight anyone about it. From the moment Jackson’s mom left him and his dad, his life changed and not for the better. Jackson faced a life of struggles from drug abuse to getting into fights, and sleeping around. In other words, Jackson feed into the image of being the bad seed of Chester, and he didn’t care about anyone’s feelings. Although, just because Jackson use to use drugs and what not, didn’t mean he was that same man anymore, as well as being a totally bad guy. Jackson did his best to take care of his dad, do his job, and live his day to day life as normally as possible. Despite the many bad things people said about him, if anyone took the chance to get to know Jackson, they’d see he wasn’t all bad. So, when Grace Harris came literally crashing into town, it seemed like things were going to change since, Grace was the only person to ever speak to Jackson both honestly and kindly. Although, their very first interaction wasn’t all flowers and kisses since, Jackson was being plain rude to Grace. After a while though, little by little Jackson started to see Grace in a different light and she too started to see that there was more to Jackson than meets the eye. 

In the beginning of the story, Grace was still reeling from the end of her marriage as well as the grief of all that she had endured from her miscarriages, but along the way, she was able to rise from the ashes, and become even stronger. Grace was use to being the good, dutiful, graceful daughter, but being back in town and constantly being badgered by her mother and everyone gossiping about her, Grace finally said enough and took matters into her own hands. Not going to lie, when Grace legit told the whole town about Finn’s cheating and him getting with her best friend, it was giving major, “IDGAF” attitude and I was here for it! Go Grace! I loved seeing Grace stand up for herself, especially against her own mom and Finn. For the longest time, Grace followed the rule, but as the story progressed she became more firm and did what she wanted. No one had the right to tell Grace what to do, and she learned that if she wanted to spend time with Jackson because she felt comfortable and happy with him, then that was perfectly fine! But yeah, totally hated Finn and Autumn, those two were absolute trash!

Grace and Jackson have to be protected at all costs! I love those two wholeheartedly! Dang the relationship between them was so profound and beautiful, and omg I was near tears reading about them! Don’t even get me started on when Tucker was mentioned in the book, *starts sobbing. Grace and Jackson were complete opposites from one another, and yet together they were not only stronger, but lifted each other up. Grace found her strength along the way and Jackson found happiness. Both Grace and Jackson evolved over the course of the story and it was thanks to the support they gave one another. Sure, in the beginning things were a bit rocky with Jackson’s rude, angsty, and grumpy attitude, but Grace didn’t give up on him, and was able to get him to open up to her which provided Jackson the person he never knew he needed, Grace. This story was full of emotion, sadness, but along the way there were some equally lighthearted and loving moments that made me smile and again close to crying. When I got to the part where Jackson got seven bouquets of red roses for Grace for Mother’s Day, representing each child she lost for her! That was thoughtful, sweet, and spoke to the highest level of love that Jackson had for Grace! (Sniff) cried like a baby reading that part.

I MOST DEFINITELY CRIED! THE EMOTIONAL TUG GOT TO ME! Aside from me crying, this was another beautifully written story by Brittainy C. Cherry, and of course I fell in love with Grace and Jackson. Grace and Jackson came a long way from the beginning of this story. From their hardships, Grace and Jackson managed to find themselves individually, and ultimately became better to fully commit all their focus to being together. There’s just something about the way that Grace and Jackson were that captivated my attention and my goodness the bond they formed was so heartfelt. Towards the end of the story it was even more heartbreaking, but also heartwarming to see what ended up happening. Jackson’s character growth was amazing and Grace became a stronger woman learning to find herself as an independent person. The ending and epilogue were so amazing (obviously me crying again) and (sigh) it was so beautiful to see Jackson and Grace’s story come to a lovely ending. Another great book by Brittainy and highly recommend if you’re in the mood for a small town, opposites attract, bad boy/ good girl romance, grumpy/sunshine, angst, and the likely possibility you’re going to cry, and heartfelt declarations of love.