Surrender My Heart

Caught Up in Love (Book 3)

by L. G. O’Connor

 

Series: Caught Up in Love (Book 3)

Publisher: Collins-Young Publishing LLC (February 6, 2018)

Follow up to the 2017 Kindle Scout Winner, Shelter My Heart

Do you remember your first love in high school? What if you never stopped?

For decades, Katherine “Kitty” McNally has secretly loved John Henshaw, the man lying shot and unconscious in the hospital bed next to her. Then again, maybe not so secretly. Those closest to her, including her soon-to-be ex-husband, have suspected it for years. Their story ended with a gunshot wound the last time, too. Life seems to have taken her full circle, but only the dead know the secrets she still keeps.

Detective John Henshaw fell in love with his “Kat” the moment she became his geometry tutor in high school. When they graduated, he thought their future was sealed. Wrong. Enter life’s nonstop curveballs. The worst two moments of his life were the two times he lost Kat. After thirty-five years and one failed marriage trying to forget her, he can’t escape the fact that he’s never stopped loving her. Maybe it’s just his ego, but he could swear he sees a spark of love in her eyes every time she looks at him. That’s what keeps him in the New Jersey town that holds his most painful memories. That’s why he accepted his place decades ago as a family friend to the McNally sisters.

As John recovers from his injuries in Kitty’s care, she has one last chance to confront her past and rekindle their love–if John can forgive her once he learns the truth.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Someone once asked me what I’d tell myself if I could go back in time. I wouldn’t say anything. I’d be too busy kicking my own ass from here to kingdom come for making the wrong choices. For thinking life would always be as good as it was when I was eighteen.

 

“Great job, Kitty!” says the overly friendly instructor. “You did awesome for your first class.” I give her a tight smile and try to ignore the fact that I’m saturated and most assuredly going to wake up crippled tomorrow… They barely broke a sweat and look like fresh-cut flowers in their stylish weekend wear. I hate them.

 

Being this close to Kat and not being able to touch her makes me feel like I’m dying of hunger in front of a locked refrigerator.

 

In the end, I made the best of the worst choices for all of us.

 

Sometimes you gotta surrender your heart and go all in. That’s what I’m doing. With us. One life, Kat. That’s all we’ve got.

 

My Review:

 

I adored this book and resented each and every interruption to my rapt perusal, and I should be ashamed to admit… I may have hissed at and ignored the ringing phone. This was my virgin voyage with L.G. O’Connor but I plan to haunt her listings from now on, she is a gifted scribe, a master storyteller, and my new favorite – even though she gutted me. The writing and storylines were simply superb, addictive, and well-crafted. I instantly fell in and remained immersed in Ms. O’Connor’s emotive and richly textured writing style, which featured my favorite dual POV and covered the characters’ history through three different timelines which each involved an epic, sensual, and bone-deep love for a soulmate, bad timing, family drama, betrayal, horrendous luck, and heartbreaking tragedy. Despite the sound of all that, the emotional tone was thoughtfully paced, deeply moving, and well-balanced without being overly angsty. I was engaged and intrigued throughout this heart-squeezing book with the only possible improvement being a longer epilogue as I didn’t want to say goodbye to the characters just yet, but I’m greedy like that.

About L. G. O’Connor

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LG O’Connor is a corporate marketing exec by day who takes her author cape out at night. An avid reader, she loves books with memorable characters that make her heart sing. She’s the author of the urban fantasy / paranormal romance series, The Angelorum Twelve Chronicles, and Caught Up in RAINE, her contemporary romantic women’s fiction debut. Shelter My Heart (a Kindle Scout Winner) is the second novel in her romantic women’s fiction series, Caught Up in Love, a series which follows three women in the same family on their road to redemption and a second chance at love. A native ‘Jersey Girl,’ she’s always in search of the perfect cup of coffee and fine Italian leather. Her perfect hero always keeps the heroine fed. You can find her new book, Recipes from Raine’s Roost (which first appeared on Joyce Lamb’s USA TODAY Happy Ever After blog), by Caught Up in RAINE hero, Raine MacDonald, on Amazon under the Cooking & Wine section.

As an avid book lover, she enjoys connecting with readers.