Review....Steve's Story by Jess Dee

.............Stop reading books that make me cry, Stop reading books that make me cry, Stop reading books that make me cry! I am going to keep chanting until it works. But in all seriousness this was a good cry, a cry for happiness. I so loved ONLY TYLER which was book one in this Circle of Friends Series by Jess Dee that reading STEVE's STORY for a no brainer for me. Well, I was not disappointed, I was captured, enamoured, angry, sad and happy all at once. So many emotions I felt at the end of this story that it took me a while to post this review.

*****SPOILERS*****

If you have not read ONLY TYLER.... please skip review any further
The story pics up with Tyler's motorcycle accident, Pen has arrived back from London and thinking that Steve and Kate are still engaged and emotions that both Steve and Pen feel upon seeing each other slam into them like a freight train. BUT, Pen holds back because she believes that Steve is in love with his fiance only to discover that the engagement has been canceled and that Kate has chosen Tyler. The worst part that crushes all of Pen's restraint is that Steve tells her that Tyler never made it to Kate's that night, he is in a coma with no idea that Kate loves him still and chose him. As her mental exhaustion and breakdown soon follow while in the car with Steve he consoles her. He is so torn with seeing her grief and still working through his own has his best friend lays in a coma with his ex-fiance at his side while the love of his life just walked back into his life. A lot of a guy to handle I would think! With one kiss though, Steve is hooked.......again. He realizes that this is a chance in a lifetime having Penelope back in his life and he will be damned if he will be giving her up ever again. The funny thing is that he lets her in on his plan, tells her she isn't going back to England and that she is going to stay her and marry him. Period, end of story. Go Steve I say. Dispute what he was put through with Tyler and Kate he isn't a weak character, he was just beaten down and battered a bit. But with Pen back and his new declaration he is stronger than ever. I adore his tenacity with Pen as he wears her down. But for Pen she knows that she must be honest with him and tell him that she does in fact carry the Huntington's Disease that will eventually kill her. After eating away at her mental health in about 10 years she won't let Steve live through what her and Tyler did with their dad. She doesn't want to have him watch her wither away and die. I must say the strength that Steve has and the love for Pen really captured me, this second book in the Circle of Friends Series is addictive and you move through the ups and downs of Steve's ultimate pursuit of his true love. Especially knowing full well she does in fact carry the gene and she will die. This one broke my heart in so many places for their lost time together and with a somewhat happy ending I felt it was more true to life then most Disney endings we Romance Readers do end up with. Don't get me wrong I love my HEA Endings just as much as the next gal, but I appreciate Jess Dee not wrapping this particular ending in a pretty little bow.

SNIPPET: "Steve Sommers is having a gut-wrenching week. His fiancée has left him, the woman who broke his heart is back in town—and they’re all gathered at the bedside of his best friend, who’s in a coma. The emotional ties between them are strained to the breaking point. Like it or not, it’s up to Steve to find the strength and compassion to support the four of them through the toughest ordeal of their lives.
In the midst of the turmoil and trauma, passion unexpectedly flares anew between Steve and the woman he loves. Suddenly the future he’d believed lost lies within his reach. But she still carries the secret that once tore them apart, and determined to protect Steve from the truth, she fights their rekindled relationship every step of the way.
Now the fragile bond they’ve developed hangs in the balance, threatened by a reality that love may not be strong enough to overcome"