Leah Omar

This small-town romance features a number of tropes. Carrie is a shy, introverted heroine with self-esteem issues and a long-time crush on one of the town's golden boys. Dax is a widower with an adorable daughter and a determination not to risk his heart. Throw in the fact that Dax lost his wife to cancer and Carrie is nearly one year cancer-free and you have a whole novel full of complications.
I really like Carrie. She is dealing with past trauma but does come into her own. It is not that she remakes herself but that she finally becomes her true self. Her one failing is that she lets Dax jerk her around emotionally too many times for my liking. He's kind of a dick. I get that he is dealing with emotional trauma but his push-pull with Carrie had me wanting to kick him to the curb or slap him upside the head.
To be honest, the relationship that interested me the most was the one Carrie had with Malik, her best friend, confidante, and emotional support human. If only he wasn't gay. Then we could have had a "friends to lovers" romance.
Sweet with an engaging heroine and a welcoming community. I liked it despite the less than engaging hero.… (más)

Thanks to Bronzewood Books and LibraryThing for this reader's copy. I'm glad I have requested for it as The Lives Between Us turns out to be an enlightening and engaging read.

Carrie is a cancer survivor. Her best friend Malik pushes her to create and fulfill her wishlist in lieu of her beating cancer. Everything turns out to be good for her until Dax, her crush from high school, started to look her way and tumbles her life upside down. Dax has not recovered from the loss of his wife to cancer as such having difficulty in committing to a relationship. With his daughter in tow, he tries to be a good dad. When he started having feelings for Carrie, he became more cautious and paranoid that flips both his and Carries lives.

This novel reminds me of Nicholas Sparks - John Green type of books. Grief. Sickness. Love lost and love found. I do enjoy Leah Omar's version but with each dilly dally, I became a little more anxious to know how it ends! The self-discovery of their own individual fault was very slow indeed, thus added a little depth to the climax of the story. I liked how it ended and glad that it is a HEA one.

"You'll always be grieving, but you don't always have to be sad. You get to live life, Dax. Why waste that? What happened wasn't fair. But you're here. And there's a reason for that."

The story is told in alternate views of Carrie and Dax. Carrie is headstrong and yet vulnerable to Dax. Dax is such an insecure guy that I truly felt like shaking him up LOL! It truly was an engaging read and with the alternate views, I didn't get lost through both Carrie and Dax journey. It sure felt like the author has experienced both sides of the story, keeping me so in tuned to their plight and grievances. Definitely one to pick up if you are looking for a HEA romance fiction.… (más)