Review: Written in the Scars by Adriana Locke

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Standalone
Release: October 18, 2016
Length: 302 pages

Falling in love is easy.

Falling out of love is the hardest thing in the world.

And Elin and Ty Whitt are terrible at it.

The first time the local basketball star smiled at Elin, she was a goner. It was just so damn easy to fall for the dark-haired hometown hero with his charming smile and strong, athletic build.

Thousands of sleepy smiles, aimless drives down country roads, and squeaks of the backdoor after a swing shift later, reality hits. And it hits hard. Falling in love was definitely the easy part. Watching it break apart was impossible.

Through the tears, the second-guesses, the memories of a life built together, the world keeps spinning. With each turn comes clarity and hope—sometimes in the form of a pair of muddy boots by the back door or from the words of a wise friend.

When Ty shows back up with a new found determination to put his family back together, Elin's torn between the fights of the past and the possibility of a new start. This is the man that holds her heart, the man she loves beyond anything else. But this is also the one person in the world that can cause her the most pain.

Life’s not always easy. Love’s not for the faint of heart. But with life comes lessons and Ty and Elin have the scars to prove it. But it's their love written in those scars that will hold them together … or break them apart.

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My Review

FEELS!! FEELS!! FEELS!! FEELS!! FEELS!!

Be warned that the following statements DO NOT detract from my affection for this story. I adored it. It was soooooo good. But I had a grievance and I HAVE to share it.

Am I the only one who sometimes wants to reach into a book and get in the character's face? Shake them? Slap some sense into them? That's how I felt towards Elin for the first 50% of this story. I wanted to tell her that being strong doesn't necessarily mean you have to be a bish. That in any relationship we have to accept the good and the bad. And that when you take the plunge and tie yourself to someone in wedlock, you don't quit at the first sign of trouble. You persevere. If your mate isn't someone you'd fight for, battle hardcore demons for, or love through the good, the bad and the ugly, you shouldn't be with them in the first place. Much less married to them.

Rant over!

This book wasn't about falling in love in the first place. It's not a fairy tale. Elin and Ty have been married for 7 years. The going got tough and they took a timeout. Or so Ty thought. It wasn't even two months when he was back to fight for his marriage when Elin was going on and on about them being over. Less than two months!!

Yeah, that's what I feckin said too!! Who does that??? Was I supposed to take that seriously???

Okay. Wow. Obviously my rant wasn't QUITE over.

This was a story about hope and most of all love. About finding the ray of light within the desolate darkness. About keeping love alive and strong. Building on it and nurturing it and believing that it is love everlasting. There are plenty of FEELS throughout this story and I especially loved the relationships between the five friends (Ty, Elin, Jiggs, Lindsay and Cord). I had a couple of moments where my eyes literally stung but luckily not a teardrop fell. I beat that ish back. But I think I can guarantee that you will fall in love with these characters too!

"Scars stick around to prove you showed up for life. That you lived. That you fought. That you loved."