Christie's review: Never Stop Falling by Ashley Drew

Title: Never Stop Falling

Series: Standalone

Author: Ashley Drew

Release Date: March 1, 2016

Rating:3.5 stars

Cliffhanger: No

She didn't expect to fall for her best friend. He was always waiting to catch her.

Corinne Bennett lives in the moment. Whether she's skydiving out of an airplane, or setting off on the road to anywhere, she's ready to dive into the next adventure. That is, if best friend and always-by-the-book Nicholas Kelley doesn't put his foot down on her wild stunts first.

When Corinne gives in to her growing feelings for Nicholas the summer before their freshman year of college, she takes the ultimate risk, making this one adventure he has longed to explore with her.

But the moment they take that irrevocable leap, a shocking revelation blindsides Corinne, exposing her vulnerabilities, baring her fears, and shattering her beliefs about love. With their future—and more importantly, their friendship—now clouded in doubt, she must decide if love is really worth the risk.

Because when it comes to love, you never stop falling.

[ No (hide spoiler)]

In Ashley Drew's debut novel, Never Stop Falling, she manages to address many different themes in the romance genre. Fans of friends to lovers, coming of age, forbidden love and tempestuous second chance love stories will find something to relish here. It's a story of a boy and girl-best friends. They journey through an awakening of passionate young love, facing trials and hardships that their fragile bond can't withstand. Life moves on, and people change, but their feelings for one another are deep-seated and unwilling to dim. No matter the impossibility of their circumstances when they meet again.

"Yesterday makes me weak and vulnerable, and I can't let that get to me. I'm Corinne Bennett-confident, fearless, and certainly not vulnerable. Or at least, that's what I keep telling myself."

As an eighteen-year-old, Corinne is a young woman who's headstrong and daring. She's impulsive and adventurous. And she's also blind to the fact the boy she's shared countless memories with growing up has deeper and more mature feelings for her. You experience the first rush of stepping past that line of friendship when they start to explore their feelings. They were young and naive and sure that the risk was worth the reward.

If this is how addiction starts, then I'm fucking screwed because I want to keep drinking her until I can't see straight.

Until Corinne's whole foundation is devastated, and everything she ever believed in didn't make sense anymore. She makes a shocking discovery, something that she can never come back from. It alters the course of their lives and sets them on separate paths. It isn't until six years later, that she returns home and faces her hometown that she ran from those years ago. It's painful and uncomfortable, even more so when she walks into Nick's bar and faces the man who she could never forget.



This is where the forbidden love part comes in.
(view spoiler)[They are both engaged to other people when they reconnect. And if you're worried about possible cheating, it falls in a murky area. For me personally, I did feel there was some emotional cheating as well as physical to a small degree. Because they did cross lines with each other they never should have. It didn't go all the way, but I would have been happier if they had cut all ties with their fiancés before they let it get that far. Some people won't have as much of a problem with it, though. (hide spoiler)]

I did appreciate Corinne's evolution. She went from that stubborn girl who made rash choices, to a woman who was able to seek the true longing of her heart. Her forgiveness that she resisted for so long allowed her to find true happiness. At times, her choices frustrated me, but then again, they were consistent with her character and something that made her all the more real and human. I found the characters to be believable and well developed, especially for a newbie author. I was really impressed with Ashley Drew's ability to create a story that drew forth so many emotions from me.

So why not a higher rating? A 3.5 is a perfectly respectful rating, falling somewhere between liked it/really liked it. However, I found it hard to stay completely invested in the characters as much as I would have liked. While I did enjoy them, there wasn't anything that I could completely identify with and it made it more difficult for me to wholeheartedly love the story.

As a debut story, I'm really impressed with this author's natural ability and I will most definitely be watching out for future offerings from her.



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