Lost in Between

‘It takes a special girl to open a boy’s eyes to what’s right in front of him, Willow. But when he realizes it, he’ll fight to the death for her and only her. Don’t settle until you find that man.’This is my first time reading this author’s work, but I heard great things about her and I could not wait to delve into the pages of her latest book.  “Lost In Between, which is the first book in a two-part series, is a beautifully written story about sacrifice, survival, and love.The prologue was intriguing and it made me eager to see how the rest of the story would unfold. In it, we see the heroine, (Willow Blackwell), running out on fiancée. It was clear from that moment that she was dealing with some deep-seated issues and I was curious to discover what they were.“Lost In Between which is told from dual POVs tells the story of Willow Blackwell and Shaw Mercer. Willow dreamed of being an actress, however, circumstances led to her giving up on that dream. In a bid to survive financially, she narrates audio books by day works as an escort by night. The latter was a last resort, as it was the only way to secure enough funds to pay her mother’s medical bills.We look pretty, we adorn our clients, we dote, we mingle, we act the part we’re given, and we go home at the end of the ‘date’ a few hundred or thousand dollars richer, with our legs shut and our pride intact.She lived for the day when she will be able to give up her night job. Shaw Mercer, the golden boy of Seattle may just be the answer to her problems. Shaw is in need of a girlfriend, preferably a fake one and this is where Willow comes in, for only $250,000.00, and she would pretend to be just that for four months. Four months of my life is a small price to pay to get out from under this financial stress plaguing me. If Shaw wants to pay me a stupid amount of money to play his girl friend, I will take it and walk away with a clean conscience when our contract ends. Willow is not looking to have a committed relationship. Her focus is on getting her business off the ground. She experienced loss at an early age. The kind of loss that brought about devastating changes as a result, she is still trying to figure out who she was as a person. She feels lost and as a result, she does not allow anyone to get close to her. She pushed people away to protect herself from hurt. She is a woman with many secrets. She is a complicated character and I enjoyed uncovering all her layers. ‘…if loving someone – anyone – eventually leads to heartbreak, loss, and mourning, why do we do it? Why do we continue to let people into our lives, our hearts? Steal our very soul out from under us before we realize a vital piece of us is forever missing?’ Shaw is a player and just like Willow, he has commitment phobia. Long-term commitment is not on his list of priorities, but his family had other ideas. He is arrogant, over-confident and sexy. Willow was unlike any woman he has ever been with before. She challenged him, she had him jumping through hoops and she made him feel things he never felt before.  Will he be able to walk away when the contract expires? This is so much more than a romance story.  It touched on some heavy issues such as drug abuse and suicide. These issues, in general, can be traumatic as such, it was it easy to understand the pain and hurt the protagonists were experiencing being so close to such a situation.Sexual tension permeated the pages of the book. The attraction between them is instantaneous and undeniable. They fought the attraction as giving into it could lead to complications, but lines are easily crossed and when they did, it was explosive.No story is worth its salt without a dynamic supporting cast; well this story had it in spades.  The secondary characters helped to stir things up, making for an interesting read, especially that twist near to the end. I certainly never saw that one coming.I loved everything about this book, well, except for the ending. It left me hanging and now I will be waiting, somewhat impatiently, for the release of the sequel.